Developing career skills now, in the areas of planning, networking, conducting a job search, and persisting through the process are critical to finding that next job, whether it’s your first experience or you are a seasoned professional seeking advancement.
This 3 parts guide will help you acknowledge a number of skills important to the success of a job search, begin to navigate the job market, and make the most of your degree. These skills will not only help you to thrive as you make the initial transition from school to work, but also to manage your career for the long term. And they may be different from the skills that brought you success as a student. Your needs, the demands of the job market, and the nature of your field will all change over time.
Part 1:PLANNING SKILLS
Career planning efforts should take place before you send out your first employment applications. These activities will help you to identify employers hiring in your field, establish your professional presence online, and develop a strategy for how you will move forward with your search.
IDENTIFY POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS
Create a list of specific companies and organisations that are currently seeking people with your job skills. You may already be working in your field and have an awareness of where hiring is taking place. If so, add these businesses to your list and continue to explore similar companies and those that provide related services. If you are planning to enter a new field after graduation, now is the time to find out more about the industry you are interested in and identify potential employers to add to your list.
Keep your list of potential employers up-to-date, adding and removing information to maintain a current roster of contacts. Find a format that works for you and is easy to edit. This may be a simple handwritten ledger or a more complex spread-sheet. Create entries that include details such as: company name, websites, location, human resources contact, any vacancy announcement information, and how you found out about them (e.g. through a friend, social media, news article). Remember to focus on the skills required, not just the type of company. You may find potential opportunities that require your skills in a variety of organisations, ranging from non-profits and private businesses to government agencies and educational settings.
While you will continuously find leads and ideas about potential employers, there are a few ways you can begin your research now. Explore the following resources and get your list started.
- Venues and special events. Check with your university’s career centre to find out where you can meet employers in your local area and online through career and employment events, such as career fairs (virtual and traditional) and employer information sessions. If you don’t have access to a university career centre, you can find out about career fairs through news outlets in your local area.
- Online services. So much information is available via the Internet today. Look for job databases, online application, and resume referral systems. There are general sites which include searchable information on a wide variety of jobs and industries.
- Recruiters. Many companies use either in-house recruiters or contracted recruiting and staffing firms to identify potential applicants. Locate recruiters making placements in your career field and find out how you can work with them to identify potential job opportunities. There are several websites that provide guidance on working with recruiters that includes researching the companies to find out where they make placements and being truthful in presenting your experience and job interests.
Get in touch with your career centre advisors to find out more about how your school is working directly with employers. But don’t just compile a list of employers and leave it at that. Use it to maintain your focus on employers that are interested in hiring in your field, and to help you document future networking and application efforts.
ESTABLISH YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE
What will potential employers find out if they search for information about you online? A positive and professional online presence is gaining importance in today’s job market. Having an online presence allows you to not only participate in social networking activities related to your career field, but also present your experience, interests, and skills to potential employers in an arena where they are already active – the Internet.
A recent article in Forbes provides a sneak peak of the future of job search and placement activities, a future in which your online presence may replace your traditional resume and provide a way for employers to find you based on a match of their job needs with your skills and interests. Taking the time to thoughtfully establish your online profiles, with a job search in mind, is a key part of the preparation you need to complete before applying for positions.
DEVELOP A JOB SEARCH STRATEGY
How much time will you invest every week, every day, in looking for a job? How will you make contact with potential employers? Where will you look for job adverts? Developing a job search strategy to answer these questions helps you to focus your efforts so that the time you spend looking for a job is as efficient and effective as possible. Consider your other commitments, such as school, family, and current employment and plan wisely.
Block time on your schedule to conduct your search and create a list of specific activities you’ll engage in to complete your search. Organize a list of contacts and decide how you will follow-up with each one and what search techniques you will use. If you are interested in career fairs for example, find local events and virtual ones that are scheduled to take place and register. Keep a record of your efforts and review this periodically. Figure out which activities are working well, and which ones aren’t, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
JOB SEARCH SKILLS
“The job search process” is a commonly used term that may include a wide range of steps and tasks related to securing employment.
There are other requirements you will need to address as you submit your application for the opportunities you discover from the professional networking tasks listed above. And I am going to talk in details about all of them in part 2 and 3 of this blog series.