Whether you are a recent high school or college graduate, the
challenge of finding your first professional job can be an ominous
one. However, with a little planning, you can be on your way to
your first job and starting your career.
The first thing you must do is put the process in perspective.
Rather than looking at it as simply a “job search,” think of it as
“career planning.” You are taking the first steps in beginning your
career and your goal should be to land a position that takes you
one step closer to achieving your career goals.
The next step should be to assess yourself. At this point, you
should take inventory of your skills, knowledge, strengths,
weaknesses, likes and dislikes. This will help you determine the
direction you will take. With all of this self knowledge in hand,
you should be able to pinpoint the types of jobs and industries
that are a good fit for you. From here, you should research key
companies, trends and issues pertaining to your area of focus so
that you can develop a targeted approach to finding the right
job.
At this point, you may feel that all of the heavy lifting is
complete; however, this is where the work really begins. Now that
you have everything in place to begin your search, you must
identify where you will go to uncover opportunities. A great way to
begin your search is through networking. Make a list of all
contacts that you have that could possibly help you and develop a
timetable for contacting them. Also, attend professional,
association, volunteer and civic meetings and events and talk with
people who can help your cause.
Of course, you will want to examine the traditional methods for
finding a job. Below are the places that you’ll want to
visit:
- Online – visit the websites of key companies
that you’d like to target, industry associations, online job
posting boards and web sites for career placement firms.
- Academic career resource centers – many high
schools, colleges and universities have career resource centers
that provide tools, resources and contacts for finding a
post-graduation job.
- Print job listings – newspaper job listings
are usually the most reliable since they are printed on a regular
basis. Industry newsletters and magazines also often post jobs, but
realize that listings published in weekly or monthly publications
are often out-of-date before they even make it to the public.
- Career placement firms – there are many career
placement firms that provide great opportunities for both degreed
and non-degreed job seekers. The most credible ones are those that
make their services available at no charge because they represent
employers with open positions.
