You’ve Earned that Degree – Now What?

Summer is winding down and you are NOT packing up to go to college. In fact, you are a recent college graduate.

How is that degree working for you?

Thinking about putting off life and going to graduate school? Working a (hopefully) temporary job – one that requires you to say, ‘Let me tell you about tonight’s specials.’? Sitting on the sofa in your parents’ home watching The Price is Right?

“Why didn’t I at least go to my university’s Career Services office?  Wouldn’t they have gotten me a job?”

“How can I get a job if I don’t even know what I want to do?”

If this is your first serious job search, it may be comforting to know that the job search is a process or project with manageable and measurable steps. Like all projects, there is a beginning, middle and an end. The end of your job search project is you starting your first career-worthy position.

Want to get started?

Stay tuned…

Find a Port in the Storm

Recently, I read an article about young adults moving home after college graduation. The article references a study conducted by the consulting firm, Twentysomething Inc., that reports that 85 percent of the class of 2011 have moved back home.

Elina Furman, author of Boomerang Nation, suggests that these ‘quarterlifers’ think that ‘if they can’t find a job in their chosen career, they don’t have to be working.’ WRONG! 

Ms. Furman goes on to suggest finding a ‘survival’ job while searching for the ideal position.

I call this ‘survival’ job a port in the storm, a bridge position, a stop-gap measure.  This employment strategy applies to all job seekers – not just the boomerangers.  

I believe that it is vital to fill in the gap while in job search. I know of executives who work at big box retailers for minimum wage, high-salaried folk who volunteer for no pay, and other job seekers who take positions well below their skill level. The point is that these job seekers are taking control of their situation when they lost their job or cannot find a job. They are “out there” doing what they can to stay sharp, be around others and fill that time gap between their last position and their future opportunity.

How will you answer the question, “what have you been doing since you left your last employer?’”

It Started in the Bathroom

Several years ago, I worked with a client who had unexpectedly lost her job. She was let go from a position that she did not want to lose. The loss of her position was such a shock that she felt frozen. She knew that she had to get back on the horse – update her resume, reach out to her network, look for opportunities. But she was stuck.

So this is what she did.  She updated her bathroom. She tore out cabinets, patched holes, selected new fixtures, painted, and accessorized. She enlisted her father to help and together, they completed their project within a couple of weeks. My client didn’t spend a ton of money but she invested in a project that gave her more than she ever dreamed in return.

We laughed about how her bathroom project was the start of her being able to move forward in her job search. She had never remodeled or painted anything but the energy and confidence she gained in the bathroom set her up to succeed in her job search.

A remodeling project may not be the jumpstart you need but I’ll bet that there is something that you can do to get unstuck in your job search. Ideas?

Get Yourself Some Business Cards

Everyone needs to have a business card.

When you are employed, you get a box of cards – hundreds of them, in fact – with the thought that you will be handing them out on sales calls, on airplanes, at happy hours. With all of those cards in your wallet, you belong, you are somebody.

When you are unemployed, you want to belong and to be somebody. One way to do that is to have your own box of business cards. Here are some tips:

1.  Include contact information. Now that sounds obvious but consider that you may wish to have an email address that is just for job search. Are you still using AOL? What message does that send?

2. Give yourself a title.  What type of work are you looking for? Accounting Professional, Operations Specialist, Purchasing Director, Administrative Assistant? If you are stuck, go to the Occupational Outlook Handbook and look up your occupation for ideas.

3. Keep it simple.  Include the best telephone number where you may be reached and your LinkedIn url. Edit that LinkedIn url so that it does not have a bunch of characters after your name.

4. Get help.  Go to your office supply store and look at samples. Or stay at home and go to vistaprint for endless choices.

5. Get out there. Put yourself in situation where you can meet people and exchange business cards. Look for a job search support group and attend. Follow up with the folks whose cards you collected. Be somebody  - your business card may be just the ticket.

Observations from the Trenches

Recently, I was sitting in the reception area of a company waiting to join a meeting. While waiting, I could not help but notice a number of what appeared to be new job seekers. Each one was there to see the same individual – turns out that each job seeker was to be subjected to a group interview.  Interviews are stressful enough — but to have your competition sitting around the table with you!? And to be surprised by being subjected to this kind of interview? ugh…

What I also noticed was that several of the job seekers brought nothing with them to the interview – no resume, list of references, pen, paper – nothing!  One candidate didn’t even bring the name of the person with whom they were meeting. My thoughts ranged from, “they are going to wish they had at least brought the name of the interviewer” to “in the future, they will ask more details about the interview format.”

My conclusion: bring a folder or portfolio with resume, references, notepad, pen, name of interviewer with you to an interview. Ask about the logistics of the interview. You will feel and look like you are prepared, even to the casual observer.

LinkedIn Is Not an Option

Susan Adams of Forbes Magazine wrote a fantastic article on Nine Ways To Use LinkedIn To Advance Your Career. In the article are some great basic and advanced tips on how to use LinkedIn.

 

Susan writes, “I’ve written two how-to stories on using LinkedIn, one about the basics of signing up, the other on advanced tips. Click here for the how-to slide show, and here for the slide show on advanced tip.

First Step to a New Beginning

So you’re thinking about making a change in your work life. Or change chooses you.

For some of us, the first step is PANIC. I don’t have a resume. Do employers even want a resume any more? I haven’t looked for a new position in years – way before the internet. How do I cram all of my background into a 1-page resume? (you don’t) I’ll call my cousin, Tim – he’ll get me a job. Now where is his number!!! What if Tim won’t help me?! Then I guess that I’ll call my friend, Lynn. She has some big position at a company downtown. Seems that I remembered an email telling me that that she moved. Well, that’s a dead end. AACHHH!!

Okay now, breathe. Take a deep breath. And another.

In figuring out your next move, panicking is the LAST thing that you want to do. In fact, you won’t have time to panic because you’ve got to get busy!

Your job search is like a work project. Maybe it’s easier to think of it as planning a vacation. Do you like the beach, large cities, exotic destinations, overseas adventures, quiet, night-life? Do you prefer rest and relaxation or a tightly packed schedule? Alone, large group or in between?

What I am suggesting is figure out who you are (your preferences, strengths, skills, interests and values), where you want to go (preferred work environment and location, etc.) and what you want to do when you get there (your function).

One of my favorite quotes is by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author of The Little Prince, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

You can wish that a new career will fall into your lap. Or you you can plan your wish and make it a goal.

Twitter and Job Search II

I feel so fortunate to have spent the last three weeks in the first Twitter Certified Career Strategist class taught by Susan Whitcomb and Chandlee Bryan, authors with Deb Dib of the book, The Twitter Job Search Guide.

Here are just a few compelling reasons to use Twitter as one of your job search strategies:

1.2 MILLION (and growing) job postings are tweeted each month.

Twitter gives you access to career experts, company insiders, industry information as well as job search support.

Twitter is fun. And fast – once you learn how to use Twitter as part of your job search, you won’t need to spend hours on the Internet looking through monstrously large job boards.

Mark Stelzner, creator of JobAngels , wrote a brilliant article about Why Twitter Matters. Read it and be convinced.

Even better, buy The Twitter Job Search Guide. Not only will Twitter enhance your job search, it will enrich your life.

Twitter and Job Search

I just started digesting Susan Britton Whitcomb’s new book, The Twitter Job Search Guide, and believe that this is cutting edge information for job seekers.