JOB SEARCHING 101
Everything you've ever wanted to know about finding your first job
hv Melissa Byrrd
Guess which of the following job-searching faux pas Perry Golden, campus recruiter for Cerner Corporation in Kansas City, has seen students commit:
- A student walking around a career fair with her mom. The student's mother then proceeds to pick out which companies her daughter should talk to.
- A student unfamiliar with the Midwest thinking Missouri lies along the Canadian border.
- A student submitting a graph explaining the rise and fall of his GPA.
- A student submitting a résumé with a family portrait on the last page — in full color.
I know what you're thinking. Nobody in their right mind would commit any of those job-searching blunders, right? Wrong. Golden witnessed each and every one of these fatal mistakes.
College, like all good things, must come to an end. And when it does, it's critical to be armed with the skills necessary to find that first job after graduation.
With more employers expecting college degrees, students must learn how to make themselves stand out from other equally talented and
accomplished applicants. As David Gaston, director of the University Career Center, puts it, a degree is an entrance to the fair, not a ticket for a ride.
Professionals who specialize in career advice, authors, recent graduates and former students have valuable bits of wisdom to impart on what is a challenging and frustrating but, ultimately, rewarding rite of passage for all students.
How am I supposed to find a job I'll like?
Billy Jonathan Claustro Abando, Lawrence senior, needs a job, preferably in the technology field, when he graduates in May. Abando constantly fine-tunes his résumé and checks his e-mail, hoping that a company will offer him a job — a seemingly easy goal that's proving more difficult than he imagined. Especially when his mother calls him every day to ask if he has found a job vet, he says.
Gaston recommends beginning with a detailed self-assessment of what you want in a position and what skills you possess. This includes evaluating your personality, values and interests. Maybe you care about making a lot of money. Or perhaps
Abando at least knows what he wants in an entry-level job. But what if you don't even know where to start?
you are willing to sacrifice a little pay for a job you can't wait to get to every morning. You need to know what's important to you and what your talents are. "It's more on what you bring to the table than your major." Gaston says.
Make the career center your first stop when embarking on your job search, advises Louise Kursmark author of Best Résumés for College Students and New Grads.
"Exploit all your resources," Kursmark says. "Sit down and talk to people about the kinds of jobs available. Speak to actual people in the work force. Check out books." If you're really at a loss, you may even consider hiring a professional career coach, she says.
Never underestimate the importance of networking. Approximately 80 percent of jobs available are "hidden jobs," or unadvertised ones you must network to tap into. This is especially important for entry-level employees because employers would rather spend advertising dollars elsewhere, Kursmark says.
Gaston says networking is like playing six degrees of separation. Start by thinking of whom you know. If you're not comfortable with the person, don't ask for help directly. Ask for advice in an offhand way and he or she may surprise you by naming a contact. Gaston says.
The the old adage "it's not what
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