(From Our Archive)

Are you getting ready for entering the job market?  Here we will discuss a few points and tips on how to get ready and get started.

Set Goals
The first and foremost of all is to have a goal in your mind.  You need to think and find out what exactly you want to do in your life in long term. Based on that, you need to come up with your short term goals that will help you move towards your long term goal.  For example, Perhaps you have a degree in business but really enjoy interior decorations and would eventually like to start your own business some day, may be a furniture store like Ethan Allen or so.  Therefore, you can include the followings as your short-term goals.

• Get a job in a furniture store as store manager or assistant manager and learn the business.
• Get a sales position in any industry to get some sales experiences.
• Become a merchandising analyst for a furniture manufacturing company or design center/store.
• Become a designer.

If you would like to start a job (not become a designer), you need to look at all the career options you put down (3 choices as in above case) and try to find out your best interest. If you are neutral, you may look at all job openings that apply to any or all of the choices.

If you think you would rather become a designer than anything else, you better go back to school to earn a degree in arts/design. Therefore, your priority goal then would be to look for a good school of arts and apply.

One important thing to remember though, do not get carried away trying to figure out your long-term or short-term goal.  You may not even have one at this time.  That does not mean you cannot start looking. You may get interest at something as you go.  In that case, I would say you look at all job openings and carefully read the descriptions and requirements.  Apply for all that interest you even a little.

Resume
A good resume is the single most important tool you need for your job search. Your resume should speak for you and so it needs to have all the key words that apply to you. There are books on effective resume writing that you can get help from.  There are softwares available in the market as well.  Below are some websites where you will find helpful tips on resume writing.

http://www.rockportinstitute.com/resumes.html

http://www.jobweb.com/Resumes_Interviews/

http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/careerdev/resources/resume/

http://jobsearchtech.about.com/od/resumewriting1/l/aa032403.htm

If you have have BS/MS degree in Computer Science with zero to couple of years of industry experience, don’t forget to check Sharmin’s Resume writing tips

Remember, your resume is your key tool to sell yourself and so it is very important to have one that stands out.  You need to use a precise and clear objective customized to the job you are applying for. Also, next to the objective is often recommended to add a summary that tells about your qualities in a few sentences. It may include one of your great accomplishments, your strengths or experiences that directly apply to the job.  Next you need to show your special strengths and qualifications that are required/ preferred for the job or will help you accomplish the job.  Your computer skills and experiences usually should go in this place. Then chronologically add your work experiences (starting with most recent) and finally your educational background.  Do not include references on a resume, instead, say references available upon request at the end.

You will also need a good cover letter to go with the resume.  However, cover letters should not be too long as most employers do not even read the entire letter carefully.  They directly go to the resume and look for key words.  Some companies have computers read the resumes and again computer will look for those key words.  Therefore, it is very important to have a good resume that will do the initial work for you.  If you need help updating your resume and would like us to review your resume, please send it to me (ishretshimu@adhunika.org) and I will be happy to assist you.  It is always a good idea to have it checked by another pair of eyes.  Often times, we do not catch our mistakes or the weak sentences which could be pointed out and/or corrected by another person quickly.

Search & Apply

Once you are confident about your resume, you should start looking for job postings and apply. Here are some of many ways you can get started.

Some useful sites where you can go search for jobs and post your resume.

http://www.monster.com/

http://www.careerbuilder.com/

http://www.jobsinthemoney.com/

Look at the help wanted section under classified on the Sunday newspapers. You can also go to the newspaper websites and then look at job postings as well.  The newspaper sites will have job openings in a specific state in most cases.  For example, Star Tribune  (http://www.startribune.com) or Pioneer Press (http://www.twncities.com/mld/twincities/) will have jobs in Minnesota. New York Times (www.nytimes.com/) will have jobs in NY.

You can also do research on companies you are interested in and then send your resume to the Human Resources department of the company along with a nice cover letter expressing your interest in the company.

Getting registered with head-hunters (companies who will find jobs on behalf of you) is another way of job finding a job.  You may start with a short term/temporary contract/assignment and then later get hired by the company.  A lot of companies these days prefer temp to hire policy.  This way, both parties get to know each other and then can decide whether to make it permanent or not. Internship is another way of getting into the market.  Some companies hire from the interns. Even if you do not get hired by the same company, still you earned internship/contract work experiences to put on your resume.

As you start sending your resume out to different companies, create a log (could be done is Microsoft Excel or Word document) with the name of the company, name and contact info of the contact person who you sent the resume to, brief job description and the source of the posting meaning which newspaper (or website, etc.) from what date, the date when you sent your resume, etc.  You can also enter dates for follow up calls, interview dates, thanks you notes sent, etc.

Do not forget to attend the career fairs arranged by colleges and businesses.  A lot of times well known businesses come to college campuses to recruit from the graduating students.  Many people I know started their first job this way.

Hope these tips we talked about will help you getting ready for entering the job market.  Remember, most importantly you need to have strong confidence in yourself. Your ‘can do’ attitude will take you anywhere you want to go!  Good luck!