Job Search
Content
THE JOB SEARCH
Job Search Suggestions
Competing effectively in today’s job market requires self-knowledge, persistence, ingenuity, and substantial amounts of hard work. In a job search you will need to: • know your skills and what you have to offer an employer, • identify and target employers that would hire people with your skills and education, • develop effective job search tools (i.e., resumes, cover letters and interview skills), • contact employers for job opportunities, and • interview for jobs. People who are successful in obtaining jobs they enjoy are not necessarily those possessing high grade point averages and/or substantial work experience. Knowing how to effectively pursue a job can be as important as the specific qualifications required for the position. This article discusses the steps you can take to conduct a full-scale, competitive job search.
Know Yourself and Your Objective
• Identify and be prepared to discuss your interests, skills, experiences, knowledge, and attributes. • Identify and research occupations and work environments of interest. This can be done through books, classes, information interviews, and experiential learning opportunities. You should learn about the tasks and responsibilities involved in the job, salary you might expect, and the training required. You can also learn where and how people obtain entry-level positions, what skills and information are important on a resume, and how various work settings differ. If you need assistance in clarifying your objective, we recommend that you make an appointment with a Career Counselor. Counseling appointments are made through the Intake Office in 112 MBNA Career Services Center, open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday and until 8:00 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Prepare Your Job Search Tools
Please refer to the “Resume Writing” and “Correspondence” handouts for a discussion of tips and examples. You might also want to attend one of the many seminars offered by Career Services each semester.
Establish a Network
One of the most effective ways to obtain a job is to learn about it from another person. Networking and direct approaches to employers have been reported by graduates as the top two methods of securing positions. It is critical, then, that serious, career-minded candidates invest in building and utilizing networking skills. You might not believe it, but you have “contacts” who can become the basis for your network. Contacts are not only relatives and friends, but also your neighbors, Penn State staff/faculty members, former high school/college classmates, and even strangers. Your contacts include anyone who will give you assistance in obtaining information on career opportunities or job openings. While these people might not have specific information on job openings, they might refer you to influential people who can inform you about career opportunities.
Networking How To’s
The most important step in the job search is identifying what kind of job you want and what you have to offer an employer. Employers are most interested in individuals who have focused their career interests. To know what job you want, you should:
Effectively promoting your skills and experiences will catch the attention of employers. That communication might take the form of resumes or cover letters, information interviews, networking, or telephone calls. You must express why you are interested in that employer and position and why you believe you are qualified for the job.
1. Make an exhaustive list of possible contacts. Also, look to other
814.865.2377
MBNA Career Services Center
www.sa.psu.edu/career
2
CAREER SERVICES
resources to identify possible leads to employers. For example,
PRINTED MATERIAL
(visit 115 MBNA Career Services Center and/or Pattee Library) • Employer Directories: —NACE Job Choices —The Career Guide —National Job Bank or Job Bank series —Standard & Poor’s Corporation Directory • Telephone books • Professional journals, newsletters, trade magazines • Chamber of Commerce membership directory • Professional association membership directories
NEWS MEDIA AND JOURNALS
you are seeking. Ask them if you may use their name as a referral. • Ask them to keep you in mind if they should hear of any openings and offer to send them a copy of your resume. • Ask for their business for your files. 4. Using index cards or a database, develop a “prospect file” in which you maintain all pertinent information about that prospect. Record any contacts that you have with them as well as your anticipated “Next Action.” 5. Follow through and contact any prospects provided by the people in your network. 6. Set goals for networking and keep working to achieve them. For example, decide how many people you will try to call in one week, how many meetings you should attempt to schedule, how many follow-up letters and resumes you should send out, etc. 7. Keep your prospect list updated and accurate. 8. Always reciprocate. When you ask others for help, be prepared to return the favor. Write a thank-you note. Keep supporters informed about your progress and any success you may have had. You will also want to consider other networking options like joining professional organizations and attending their regular meetings. There are also many networking groups on the World Wide Web (WWW) in which you can become involved. One of the keys to effective networking is being willing and able to talk to new people. Get into the habit of introducing yourself to people in and outside of your field. Take an interest in what they do and say, and be willing to share ideas and information that may be helpful to them.
Other Job Search Strategies
ads, vacancy announcements, or job vacancy listings on the WWW have proven to be helpful to candidates. Presented in the chart on the next page are some of the most popular methods of looking for a job, as well as helpful hints, pros and cons. For all job search strategies, you should follow up with employers, even when you have gotten no response. You can make a networking opportunity out of your follow-up by asking for an appointment to discuss employment opportunities (even if there are no present openings) and any job search suggestions they may have.
Keep At It...
• News items indicating growth and expansion of organizations or establishment of new companies • Journal articles on topics of interest, written by experts or employees of target organizations
WORLD WIDE WEB
• Employer home pages • News items • Discussion groups • Job vacancy databases/ job listing services 2. Before contacting anyone, decide on what kind of information or assistance you would like and can expect from the people you meet: • Referrals to specific job openings • Information on a career • Advice on the best strategies to break into a career • A secondary contact 3. Contact these people and let them know that you will be graduating soon, what your specific skills are, and the type of position/organization that you are seeking. • Ask them for any information and advice they might have for someone seeking to enter their field or find employment with their organization. • Be prepared to impress these individuals-your goal is to get that person on your side. • Ask if they can suggest someone for you to talk to who has a connection to the industry or position that
For even highly qualified people, rejection and disappointment are part of the job search process. You might need to look at the amount of time you are spending on job search activities to determine if you are doing enough. You might also need to reassess your job objectives-are they focused enough? Are you following up on leads? Are your resumes and cover letters tailored to the positions you are seeking? Are your interview skills strong enough? To obtain assistance in any of these areas, you might want to make use of Career Services programs and services: • Seminars are offered repeatedly during the semester on resume writing, interviewing, and job search methods and strategies. • Career Services job search courses are offered for academic credit in several colleges ). • Intake counseling is available from 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. weekdays and until 8:00 p.m. on Wednesdays for job search related questions. • Individual counseling appointments are available for you to discuss longer-term issues related to career planning and implementation. • The Career Library in 115 MBNA Career Services Center houses employer directories, job descriptions, and books on the job search process. It also houses videotapes on employers, the job interview, and resume writing. • The Employment Services Center in 114 MBNA Career Services Center includes literature sent by employers and Career Services handouts.
There are other ways to come in contact with employers who would be in the market to hire someone with your interests, skills and experience. Targeting your mailings after significant research of companies can be quite fruitful. Want
814.865.2377
MBNA Career Services Center
www.sa.psu.edu/career
CAREER SERVICES
3
Job Search Methods
There are many ways of looking for a job. Some are better than others. Presented below are some of the most popular ways of looking for a job as well as helpful hints, pros, and cons.
STRATEGY
NETWORKING Talk to everyone you know to develop a list of possible contacts; ask for information on job/companies and to circulate your resume. ON-CAMPUS RECRUITING (OCR) Attend OCR orientation meeting; register with Career Services. Monitor job postings daily. TARGETED MAILING Develop good cover letter tailored to a specific type of job and the needs of the company. Send letter with resume to selected companies. WORLD WIDE WEB Scan job vacancies on hundreds of databases. E-mail cover letter and resume tailored to jobs. • Access to the Web • Electronic Resume Actual job openings. Many employers use a wide variety of job listing services. Many listings have free to low cost access. Worldwide geographic reach. Competition is growing as use of the Web increases. Many jobs listed are technical in nature, though the visibility of “non-technical” fields is growing. • List of well researched companies • Tailored cover letters • Resumes Better approach than the mass mailing method. Investment of time and effort should merit stronger response from employers. Requires a significant investment of time in researching companies and writing cover letters as well as following up with contacts. • Resumes • Employer literature • Business Attire One of the primary ways in which companies recruit for technical and business positions. Declining as a method employers use to identify candidates. May be less effective for nontechnical/ nonbusiness candidates. • Check postings each week for interviewing opportunities. • Use postings as a way to identify possible employers. • Find out who is in charge of the area in which you want to work; send your materials to that person. • Great method when used in conjunction with networking. • Use the Web frequently as information and sites change quickly. • May need to conduct your search at off-peak times (early morning or late at night). WANT ADS Scan want ads. Mail resume with cover letter tailored to specific job qualifications. • Newspapers • Journals • Newsletters • Trade Magazines • Cover Letters • Resumes RESUME REFERRAL Register with one of the many national referral services. As jobs are listed by employers, the data bank of registrants is searched for matches. If your materials match they are sent to the employers. IN-PERSON VISIT Visit many companies. Ask to see person in specific department. Submit resume and application, if possible. EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES Respond to employment agency ads in newspapers; check phone book for names of agencies to contact. • Resumes • Business Attire Fee-paid jobs for graduates in technical fields or those with marketable experience. Usually of less help to non-technical/inexperienced graduates. Likely to charge fees. • Business attire • Company address list • Resumes Resume and application are on file with the company. Requires a great deal of time to make a relatively small number of contacts. • Research the companies prior to your visit; ask for a specific person or ask about a specific type of job. • Identify agencies that specialize in your field. • Make frequent contact with your counselor to obtain better service. • Registration form supplied by service Another way to monitor the job market and get your qualifications to the attention of employers. May involve a fee. Often more helpful to those in technical or specialized fields. May not learn of any activity of your materials. • Use only in conjunction with other job search strategies. Involves minimal investment of time in identifying companies. Resume and cover letter are sent for actual job opening. Resume and cover letter will compete with large number of others. Ads follow job market; least effective in times of economic downturn. • Use as a meter on the job market in a certain geographical area. • Try to get your materials in as early as possible.
TOOLS
• List of contacts • Resumes • Business Attire
PROS
May learn of unadvertised openings. May result in a courtesy interview. Often results in a closer match of your interests to a job.
CONS
A contact in itself is not enough to get you a job. You may exhaust all leads without landing a job. Quite time consuming.
HINTS
• Follow through on all leads. • Keep broadening your network of contacts.
814.865.2377
MBNA Career Services Center
www.sa.psu.edu/career
4
CAREER SERVICES
Job Searching on the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW) can provide you with a great deal of information, including job listings, salary statistics, employer information, and more. To best utilize the Internet, you will want to: • prepare a version of your resume for e-mail, • consider posting your resume for employers to look at, • research and target employers, • access job announcements, and • become part of a newsgroup (or discussion group) for networking. Below we have listed some of the many resources available to you to conduct a job search. By no means is this list complete, as resources are expanded almost daily. In fact, you may find that each time you visit the WWW, it will have changed somehow. Be prepared to keep up with your search. Career Services at University Park has its own home page on the WWW www.sa.psu.edu/career. Many of the following resources will be linked from Career Services’ home page, so access can be gained from this source as well.
Some Good Starting Points
Guides to the WWW
CareerBuilder
www.yahoo.com or www.google.com Yahoo! and Google are hierarchical search engines for the Web through which you can conduct a search for job listing services, research companies or access company job posting pages.
Job Listings for Penn Staters
www.careerbuilder.com
Pennsylvania CareerLink
www.pacareerlink.state.pa.us
Yahoo Careers
careers.yahoo.com/
Career.com
www.career.com
JobDirect.com
Nittany Lion JobLink
www.sa.psu.edu/career/joblink.shtml This is a fairly easy database to use and has many opportunities for internships, entry-level, and experienced positions, which are specific to Penn State. Log on to create your own username and pasword, and take advantage of the job search agent feaure to have new job postings sent to you.
Resources to Research Companies and Organizations
www.jobdirect.com
jobs.com
www.jobs.com
America's JobBank
www.ajb.org
FlipDog.com
flipdog.monster.com/
HotJobs.com
hotjobs.yahoo.com/
Vault.com
Through the World Wide Web, you can search for and research employers by field, type, size, or other characteristics. You can either search the WWW for a specific employer by typing the name in at a search engine (like Google or Yahoo!) or you can go to some commercial sites, like the following:
JobWeb
www.vault.com
Career Magazine
www.careermag.com/
Federal Jobs
www.usajobs.opm.gov
State Civil Service Commission
www.scsc.state.pa.us
Tips for Using the Web
These are especially good for those job seekers who need some instruction on utilizing the WWW. They have also done some of the research for you and offer links to a wide variety of resources.
The Riley Guide
www.jobweb.org Home page for the National Association of Colleges and Employers: JobWeb links you to career planning and employment information, job search articles and tips, job listings, and company information.
CareerMagazine
www.rileyguide.com The Riley Guide’s official title is Employment Opportunities and Resources on the Internet. It contains instructions on everything from how to maneuver through the Internet, through incorporating the Internet into your job search. It also offers links to field-specific on-line resources as well as resources for international job opportunities and specific resources for jobs in each state of the U.S.
www.careermag.com/careermag
Monster.com
www.monster.com
Resources to Locate Job Opportunities
While opportunities for Penn Staters are listed on Nittany Lion JobLink, you can also link to hundreds more commercial job listing databases on the World Wide Web. You will need to assess their utility in your job search. Some of the larger ones are:
• Sites are created so frequently and information changes so quickly that there is no way we can include everything in this article. Keep looking, be creative in your searches, and try a lot of different search engines. • Graphics are big and they take time. If you are working from a modem, turn graphics off or be prepared to wait for a while. • Web sites have a tendency to move. They become popular and the local administrator or owner is forced to move the pages or the whole site to a new server to accommodate the traffic. Watch for warnings of sites moving. • Web sites get overloaded just like everything else. Try again or try at an odd time, like 6:00 a.m. or late at night.
814.865.2377
MBNA Career Services Center
www.sa.psu.edu/career
CAREER SERVICES
5
Making the Most of Career Days
Throughout the fall and spring semesters, several career fairs will be sponsored by various colleges and Career Services. At these career fairs, you can come in contact with many employers in a few short hours. You can speak with the organization representatives about career opportunities and present your qualifications for positions you may be seeking. First year students are encouraged to use career days as part of their career exploration and development. Talk with employers to learn about careers and get advice on increasing your marketability. It is a valuable opportunity to start and/or enhance your job search network. At all career fairs, employers will be looking for candidates who are professional, articulate, career-directed and prepared. Although most employers attend career fairs to look for potential employees, many use career fairs as a pre-recruiting screening tool. Therefore, you should present yourself to them as a prime candidate. To make the most out of career fairs, we recommend that you: 1. Prepare your resume and bring several copies with you that day. If you need assistance in preparing a resume, attend the resume workshops offered by Career Services, use the discussion and samples in the “Resume Writing” handout as a guide, and have an intake counselor review your resume. 2. Dress as you would for a job interview. Jeans, sweats, and backpacks won’t do it. You will only have a few minutes to present yourself as a candidate; positive first impressions are vital. 3. Identify the organizations with which you are interested in speaking. You may want to tour the arena and contact all the organizations to learn more about them and what they have to offer. 4. Introduce yourself to the representative in a positive and confident manner; offer a firm handshake. Include your name, your major, and the year you are graduating. 5. If looking for a job, give the representative a resume and be ready to discuss your background, qualifications and career goals. Ask what you should do to apply for a position. 6. Tell him/her what your interests are, such as: • discussing a particular career or job with that organization, • learning more about the organization and available opportunities, • learning more about what someone in a particular career does, • discussing internship or summer job opportunities. 7. Think of questions regarding your area(s) of interest. Take notes on what you learn. Some questions might be: • What are common career paths with your organization? • What is the training program for new hires? • What do you look for in a candidate? 8. Make sure you obtain the representative’s name, title, address, and phone number so you may follow up. Collect business cards and literature. After the career fair, you should make it a point to follow up with an additional resume and a letter expressing your interest in the company and in what they have to offer.
Career Days and On-Campus Recruiting
your selection, nor be able to schedule an interview time. Remember that Career Services handles full-time positions and internships for certain majors. If you are a business student pursuing an internship, register with the Smeal College of Business Internship Program. If you are an engineering, earth and mineral sciences, or science under-graduate pursuing a cooperative education or internship experience, register with your college’s co-op office, not Career Services.
Some employers conduct interviews as part of the various career days. You are NOT required to register with OCR for these interviews. Many companies attending the various career days conduct interviews sometime after the event, through the regular on-campus recruiting system. If you hope to interview with companies interviewing later through on-campus recruiting, you should register with OCR before, during, or shortly after the career days. Scheduling for these interviews will take place through OCR; if you are not registered, you will not receive notification of
© The information contained in this publication is the property of Career Services. As such it is protected; no part of this publication may be used or reproduced without written permission. Proper citation is required. This publication is available in alternative media on request. Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce. U.Ed. STA 03-69
Job Search Suggestions
Competing effectively in today’s job market requires self-knowledge, persistence, ingenuity, and substantial amounts of hard work. In a job search you will need to: • know your skills and what you have to offer an employer, • identify and target employers that would hire people with your skills and education, • develop effective job search tools (i.e., resumes, cover letters and interview skills), • contact employers for job opportunities, and • interview for jobs. People who are successful in obtaining jobs they enjoy are not necessarily those possessing high grade point averages and/or substantial work experience. Knowing how to effectively pursue a job can be as important as the specific qualifications required for the position. This article discusses the steps you can take to conduct a full-scale, competitive job search.
Know Yourself and Your Objective
• Identify and be prepared to discuss your interests, skills, experiences, knowledge, and attributes. • Identify and research occupations and work environments of interest. This can be done through books, classes, information interviews, and experiential learning opportunities. You should learn about the tasks and responsibilities involved in the job, salary you might expect, and the training required. You can also learn where and how people obtain entry-level positions, what skills and information are important on a resume, and how various work settings differ. If you need assistance in clarifying your objective, we recommend that you make an appointment with a Career Counselor. Counseling appointments are made through the Intake Office in 112 MBNA Career Services Center, open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday and until 8:00 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Prepare Your Job Search Tools
Please refer to the “Resume Writing” and “Correspondence” handouts for a discussion of tips and examples. You might also want to attend one of the many seminars offered by Career Services each semester.
Establish a Network
One of the most effective ways to obtain a job is to learn about it from another person. Networking and direct approaches to employers have been reported by graduates as the top two methods of securing positions. It is critical, then, that serious, career-minded candidates invest in building and utilizing networking skills. You might not believe it, but you have “contacts” who can become the basis for your network. Contacts are not only relatives and friends, but also your neighbors, Penn State staff/faculty members, former high school/college classmates, and even strangers. Your contacts include anyone who will give you assistance in obtaining information on career opportunities or job openings. While these people might not have specific information on job openings, they might refer you to influential people who can inform you about career opportunities.
Networking How To’s
The most important step in the job search is identifying what kind of job you want and what you have to offer an employer. Employers are most interested in individuals who have focused their career interests. To know what job you want, you should:
Effectively promoting your skills and experiences will catch the attention of employers. That communication might take the form of resumes or cover letters, information interviews, networking, or telephone calls. You must express why you are interested in that employer and position and why you believe you are qualified for the job.
1. Make an exhaustive list of possible contacts. Also, look to other
814.865.2377
MBNA Career Services Center
www.sa.psu.edu/career
2
CAREER SERVICES
resources to identify possible leads to employers. For example,
PRINTED MATERIAL
(visit 115 MBNA Career Services Center and/or Pattee Library) • Employer Directories: —NACE Job Choices —The Career Guide —National Job Bank or Job Bank series —Standard & Poor’s Corporation Directory • Telephone books • Professional journals, newsletters, trade magazines • Chamber of Commerce membership directory • Professional association membership directories
NEWS MEDIA AND JOURNALS
you are seeking. Ask them if you may use their name as a referral. • Ask them to keep you in mind if they should hear of any openings and offer to send them a copy of your resume. • Ask for their business for your files. 4. Using index cards or a database, develop a “prospect file” in which you maintain all pertinent information about that prospect. Record any contacts that you have with them as well as your anticipated “Next Action.” 5. Follow through and contact any prospects provided by the people in your network. 6. Set goals for networking and keep working to achieve them. For example, decide how many people you will try to call in one week, how many meetings you should attempt to schedule, how many follow-up letters and resumes you should send out, etc. 7. Keep your prospect list updated and accurate. 8. Always reciprocate. When you ask others for help, be prepared to return the favor. Write a thank-you note. Keep supporters informed about your progress and any success you may have had. You will also want to consider other networking options like joining professional organizations and attending their regular meetings. There are also many networking groups on the World Wide Web (WWW) in which you can become involved. One of the keys to effective networking is being willing and able to talk to new people. Get into the habit of introducing yourself to people in and outside of your field. Take an interest in what they do and say, and be willing to share ideas and information that may be helpful to them.
Other Job Search Strategies
ads, vacancy announcements, or job vacancy listings on the WWW have proven to be helpful to candidates. Presented in the chart on the next page are some of the most popular methods of looking for a job, as well as helpful hints, pros and cons. For all job search strategies, you should follow up with employers, even when you have gotten no response. You can make a networking opportunity out of your follow-up by asking for an appointment to discuss employment opportunities (even if there are no present openings) and any job search suggestions they may have.
Keep At It...
• News items indicating growth and expansion of organizations or establishment of new companies • Journal articles on topics of interest, written by experts or employees of target organizations
WORLD WIDE WEB
• Employer home pages • News items • Discussion groups • Job vacancy databases/ job listing services 2. Before contacting anyone, decide on what kind of information or assistance you would like and can expect from the people you meet: • Referrals to specific job openings • Information on a career • Advice on the best strategies to break into a career • A secondary contact 3. Contact these people and let them know that you will be graduating soon, what your specific skills are, and the type of position/organization that you are seeking. • Ask them for any information and advice they might have for someone seeking to enter their field or find employment with their organization. • Be prepared to impress these individuals-your goal is to get that person on your side. • Ask if they can suggest someone for you to talk to who has a connection to the industry or position that
For even highly qualified people, rejection and disappointment are part of the job search process. You might need to look at the amount of time you are spending on job search activities to determine if you are doing enough. You might also need to reassess your job objectives-are they focused enough? Are you following up on leads? Are your resumes and cover letters tailored to the positions you are seeking? Are your interview skills strong enough? To obtain assistance in any of these areas, you might want to make use of Career Services programs and services: • Seminars are offered repeatedly during the semester on resume writing, interviewing, and job search methods and strategies. • Career Services job search courses are offered for academic credit in several colleges ). • Intake counseling is available from 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. weekdays and until 8:00 p.m. on Wednesdays for job search related questions. • Individual counseling appointments are available for you to discuss longer-term issues related to career planning and implementation. • The Career Library in 115 MBNA Career Services Center houses employer directories, job descriptions, and books on the job search process. It also houses videotapes on employers, the job interview, and resume writing. • The Employment Services Center in 114 MBNA Career Services Center includes literature sent by employers and Career Services handouts.
There are other ways to come in contact with employers who would be in the market to hire someone with your interests, skills and experience. Targeting your mailings after significant research of companies can be quite fruitful. Want
814.865.2377
MBNA Career Services Center
www.sa.psu.edu/career
CAREER SERVICES
3
Job Search Methods
There are many ways of looking for a job. Some are better than others. Presented below are some of the most popular ways of looking for a job as well as helpful hints, pros, and cons.
STRATEGY
NETWORKING Talk to everyone you know to develop a list of possible contacts; ask for information on job/companies and to circulate your resume. ON-CAMPUS RECRUITING (OCR) Attend OCR orientation meeting; register with Career Services. Monitor job postings daily. TARGETED MAILING Develop good cover letter tailored to a specific type of job and the needs of the company. Send letter with resume to selected companies. WORLD WIDE WEB Scan job vacancies on hundreds of databases. E-mail cover letter and resume tailored to jobs. • Access to the Web • Electronic Resume Actual job openings. Many employers use a wide variety of job listing services. Many listings have free to low cost access. Worldwide geographic reach. Competition is growing as use of the Web increases. Many jobs listed are technical in nature, though the visibility of “non-technical” fields is growing. • List of well researched companies • Tailored cover letters • Resumes Better approach than the mass mailing method. Investment of time and effort should merit stronger response from employers. Requires a significant investment of time in researching companies and writing cover letters as well as following up with contacts. • Resumes • Employer literature • Business Attire One of the primary ways in which companies recruit for technical and business positions. Declining as a method employers use to identify candidates. May be less effective for nontechnical/ nonbusiness candidates. • Check postings each week for interviewing opportunities. • Use postings as a way to identify possible employers. • Find out who is in charge of the area in which you want to work; send your materials to that person. • Great method when used in conjunction with networking. • Use the Web frequently as information and sites change quickly. • May need to conduct your search at off-peak times (early morning or late at night). WANT ADS Scan want ads. Mail resume with cover letter tailored to specific job qualifications. • Newspapers • Journals • Newsletters • Trade Magazines • Cover Letters • Resumes RESUME REFERRAL Register with one of the many national referral services. As jobs are listed by employers, the data bank of registrants is searched for matches. If your materials match they are sent to the employers. IN-PERSON VISIT Visit many companies. Ask to see person in specific department. Submit resume and application, if possible. EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES Respond to employment agency ads in newspapers; check phone book for names of agencies to contact. • Resumes • Business Attire Fee-paid jobs for graduates in technical fields or those with marketable experience. Usually of less help to non-technical/inexperienced graduates. Likely to charge fees. • Business attire • Company address list • Resumes Resume and application are on file with the company. Requires a great deal of time to make a relatively small number of contacts. • Research the companies prior to your visit; ask for a specific person or ask about a specific type of job. • Identify agencies that specialize in your field. • Make frequent contact with your counselor to obtain better service. • Registration form supplied by service Another way to monitor the job market and get your qualifications to the attention of employers. May involve a fee. Often more helpful to those in technical or specialized fields. May not learn of any activity of your materials. • Use only in conjunction with other job search strategies. Involves minimal investment of time in identifying companies. Resume and cover letter are sent for actual job opening. Resume and cover letter will compete with large number of others. Ads follow job market; least effective in times of economic downturn. • Use as a meter on the job market in a certain geographical area. • Try to get your materials in as early as possible.
TOOLS
• List of contacts • Resumes • Business Attire
PROS
May learn of unadvertised openings. May result in a courtesy interview. Often results in a closer match of your interests to a job.
CONS
A contact in itself is not enough to get you a job. You may exhaust all leads without landing a job. Quite time consuming.
HINTS
• Follow through on all leads. • Keep broadening your network of contacts.
814.865.2377
MBNA Career Services Center
www.sa.psu.edu/career
4
CAREER SERVICES
Job Searching on the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW) can provide you with a great deal of information, including job listings, salary statistics, employer information, and more. To best utilize the Internet, you will want to: • prepare a version of your resume for e-mail, • consider posting your resume for employers to look at, • research and target employers, • access job announcements, and • become part of a newsgroup (or discussion group) for networking. Below we have listed some of the many resources available to you to conduct a job search. By no means is this list complete, as resources are expanded almost daily. In fact, you may find that each time you visit the WWW, it will have changed somehow. Be prepared to keep up with your search. Career Services at University Park has its own home page on the WWW www.sa.psu.edu/career. Many of the following resources will be linked from Career Services’ home page, so access can be gained from this source as well.
Some Good Starting Points
Guides to the WWW
CareerBuilder
www.yahoo.com or www.google.com Yahoo! and Google are hierarchical search engines for the Web through which you can conduct a search for job listing services, research companies or access company job posting pages.
Job Listings for Penn Staters
www.careerbuilder.com
Pennsylvania CareerLink
www.pacareerlink.state.pa.us
Yahoo Careers
careers.yahoo.com/
Career.com
www.career.com
JobDirect.com
Nittany Lion JobLink
www.sa.psu.edu/career/joblink.shtml This is a fairly easy database to use and has many opportunities for internships, entry-level, and experienced positions, which are specific to Penn State. Log on to create your own username and pasword, and take advantage of the job search agent feaure to have new job postings sent to you.
Resources to Research Companies and Organizations
www.jobdirect.com
jobs.com
www.jobs.com
America's JobBank
www.ajb.org
FlipDog.com
flipdog.monster.com/
HotJobs.com
hotjobs.yahoo.com/
Vault.com
Through the World Wide Web, you can search for and research employers by field, type, size, or other characteristics. You can either search the WWW for a specific employer by typing the name in at a search engine (like Google or Yahoo!) or you can go to some commercial sites, like the following:
JobWeb
www.vault.com
Career Magazine
www.careermag.com/
Federal Jobs
www.usajobs.opm.gov
State Civil Service Commission
www.scsc.state.pa.us
Tips for Using the Web
These are especially good for those job seekers who need some instruction on utilizing the WWW. They have also done some of the research for you and offer links to a wide variety of resources.
The Riley Guide
www.jobweb.org Home page for the National Association of Colleges and Employers: JobWeb links you to career planning and employment information, job search articles and tips, job listings, and company information.
CareerMagazine
www.rileyguide.com The Riley Guide’s official title is Employment Opportunities and Resources on the Internet. It contains instructions on everything from how to maneuver through the Internet, through incorporating the Internet into your job search. It also offers links to field-specific on-line resources as well as resources for international job opportunities and specific resources for jobs in each state of the U.S.
www.careermag.com/careermag
Monster.com
www.monster.com
Resources to Locate Job Opportunities
While opportunities for Penn Staters are listed on Nittany Lion JobLink, you can also link to hundreds more commercial job listing databases on the World Wide Web. You will need to assess their utility in your job search. Some of the larger ones are:
• Sites are created so frequently and information changes so quickly that there is no way we can include everything in this article. Keep looking, be creative in your searches, and try a lot of different search engines. • Graphics are big and they take time. If you are working from a modem, turn graphics off or be prepared to wait for a while. • Web sites have a tendency to move. They become popular and the local administrator or owner is forced to move the pages or the whole site to a new server to accommodate the traffic. Watch for warnings of sites moving. • Web sites get overloaded just like everything else. Try again or try at an odd time, like 6:00 a.m. or late at night.
814.865.2377
MBNA Career Services Center
www.sa.psu.edu/career
CAREER SERVICES
5
Making the Most of Career Days
Throughout the fall and spring semesters, several career fairs will be sponsored by various colleges and Career Services. At these career fairs, you can come in contact with many employers in a few short hours. You can speak with the organization representatives about career opportunities and present your qualifications for positions you may be seeking. First year students are encouraged to use career days as part of their career exploration and development. Talk with employers to learn about careers and get advice on increasing your marketability. It is a valuable opportunity to start and/or enhance your job search network. At all career fairs, employers will be looking for candidates who are professional, articulate, career-directed and prepared. Although most employers attend career fairs to look for potential employees, many use career fairs as a pre-recruiting screening tool. Therefore, you should present yourself to them as a prime candidate. To make the most out of career fairs, we recommend that you: 1. Prepare your resume and bring several copies with you that day. If you need assistance in preparing a resume, attend the resume workshops offered by Career Services, use the discussion and samples in the “Resume Writing” handout as a guide, and have an intake counselor review your resume. 2. Dress as you would for a job interview. Jeans, sweats, and backpacks won’t do it. You will only have a few minutes to present yourself as a candidate; positive first impressions are vital. 3. Identify the organizations with which you are interested in speaking. You may want to tour the arena and contact all the organizations to learn more about them and what they have to offer. 4. Introduce yourself to the representative in a positive and confident manner; offer a firm handshake. Include your name, your major, and the year you are graduating. 5. If looking for a job, give the representative a resume and be ready to discuss your background, qualifications and career goals. Ask what you should do to apply for a position. 6. Tell him/her what your interests are, such as: • discussing a particular career or job with that organization, • learning more about the organization and available opportunities, • learning more about what someone in a particular career does, • discussing internship or summer job opportunities. 7. Think of questions regarding your area(s) of interest. Take notes on what you learn. Some questions might be: • What are common career paths with your organization? • What is the training program for new hires? • What do you look for in a candidate? 8. Make sure you obtain the representative’s name, title, address, and phone number so you may follow up. Collect business cards and literature. After the career fair, you should make it a point to follow up with an additional resume and a letter expressing your interest in the company and in what they have to offer.
Career Days and On-Campus Recruiting
your selection, nor be able to schedule an interview time. Remember that Career Services handles full-time positions and internships for certain majors. If you are a business student pursuing an internship, register with the Smeal College of Business Internship Program. If you are an engineering, earth and mineral sciences, or science under-graduate pursuing a cooperative education or internship experience, register with your college’s co-op office, not Career Services.
Some employers conduct interviews as part of the various career days. You are NOT required to register with OCR for these interviews. Many companies attending the various career days conduct interviews sometime after the event, through the regular on-campus recruiting system. If you hope to interview with companies interviewing later through on-campus recruiting, you should register with OCR before, during, or shortly after the career days. Scheduling for these interviews will take place through OCR; if you are not registered, you will not receive notification of
© The information contained in this publication is the property of Career Services. As such it is protected; no part of this publication may be used or reproduced without written permission. Proper citation is required. This publication is available in alternative media on request. Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce. U.Ed. STA 03-69
