Career Center

Check out the article below to see the top 10 companies hiring for the holidays.

http://www.theworkbuzz.com/job-search/companies-holiday-hiring/

Click this link to view an optimistic article about the survey results from the National Association for Business Economics.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/26/news/economy/NABE/index.htm?postversion=2009102607

Visit this link to find out the top 25 companies hiring recent college graduates this year.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/05/25/cb.whos.hiring.2009class/index.html

Click here for a great article on how to avoid job scams! 

Know what you really want.  Where do you picture yourself working?  For many graduates, this is the biggest hurdle to overcome when conducting a job search.  If you just apply to anything and everything, you are just taking a “shot in the dark” and hoping that you’ll eventually hit something.  But this approach leaves everything to chance – and do you really want to end up with “whatever“?  

Take into consideration your interests, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses when planning the next step in your career.  What are your skills? Just because your previous experience hasn’t been in your chosen career field doesn’t mean that you don’t have relevant skills.  Perhaps you’ve also gained transferable skills from part-time or volunteer work. A job search takes time and energy, so it is critically important that you focus your energy on jobs and career fields you would want to do – for now anyway – even if not forever.

If you don’t know why you want the job, you cannot convince an employer to hire you.  We see this all the time, a graduate just thinks, “Well, here I am, and I have a college degree, and I have a great personality, so you should hire me.”  But, when asked why they want this particular job with this particular company, the answer is a blank stare.  This is why research is so important.  What does the company or organization do or produce?  Why are you interested in them?  What would you be doing in the job?  Why is this type of work important to you?  How does it fit your skills, abilities, and knowledge? 

You should not just post your resume to a job listing site (like Monster, CareerBuilder, etc.) and expect to get the perfect job offer (or any job offer for that matter).  This approach requires little to no effort, and typically will yield little to no results.  First of all, many job openings (particularly those for recent college grads) are not advertised on major job boards.  Over 80% of the job openings available are not advertised.  They are filled either through word-of-mouth or through direct application (meaning you go directly to the organization, either applying to a job you see on their homepage or by contacting them directly to find out how to apply for jobs). Check out major job listing sites – absolutely!  You don’t want to miss out on any possible opportunities.  Just do not use them as your only job search tool.

Other people are your best resource in finding a job.  Utilize your former professors, your parents’ friends, neighbors, and friends who may already be working.  Tell everyone you know, (and everyone you meet) that you are seeking a job, and tell them a little about the type of job or career field you are targeting. Don’t be afraid to ask for to ask for advice or leads.  You may be surprised at how many job leads you get from networking.

Be flexible and realistic.  Maybe you are finding that you aren’t getting job offers because you don’t have relevant experience.  Could you get this experience through a part-time job or though volunteer work with an organization?  Maybe you can work two part-time jobs – one for $$ and one for experience.  Or maybe you can work a subsistence job (something for now, not related to your career, but will pay the rent), and volunteer with an organization that will help you develop skills and contacts in your chosen field of interest.  With the economy right now, you may not find the job you really want right away, but this doesn’t mean you should just give up and not try.  There are many ways to get from point “A” to point “B” and it isn’t always a straight line!

Don’t be easily discouraged.  You will be turned down for jobs, and you may be turned down for a lot of jobs.  The job search is not for the faint of heart.  This is where you show what you’re made of.   Research-time-energy-practice-patience. Repeat.

If you listen to the news about the economy, you may come away with the idea that there are no jobs out there, so what is the point in looking? Actually, there are still job opportunities, but fewer of them. This means that there is more competition, and upcoming graduates must work harder and smarter in order to find the jobs available.

Here are tips for finding jobs in the current economy:

• Don’t just look on major job sites on the internet for jobs!
  Since advertising on these sites costs money, and employers don’t want to be flooded with resumes, fewer jobs are being listed on the major internet job sites now.
• Take every opportunity to make a personal connection to get leads on job possibilities, like talking to your roommate’s parents who live in a city of interest to you….or doing an informational interview with an alumnus of the College of Charleston working in a company you’re interested in but currently isn’t listing any openings. Leads can come from faculty, friends, acquaintances, your hairdresser, anyone!
• Avoid casting your net too wide….don’t say you are interested in “anything” unless you really are! (And most of you aren’t! Would you flip hamburgers? Drive a delivery truck? No? Then you aren’t interested in anything.) Focus your search and your networking efforts on opportunities in which you are interested and for which you have some capabilities/qualifications.
• Target your resume cover letter to match the job requirements and preferences of the vacancy.
  Research the company and the job to help you in personalizing your correspondence. This is critical in today’s job market!
• Be prepared to start at a lower level than you had originally planned. Look for opportunities
  to get your foot in the door of organizations or companies that interest you. Take the opportunity to learn and to prove yourself, and to position yourself for promotional opportunities when they occur.
• Realize that the process takes time, energy and effort.

A job search in the current economy is not for the faint of heart. And experts agree that “waiting it out” and doing nothing is the worst strategy, because it shows a lack of energy and interest in your career. At least if you are trying and making an effort, employers may appreciate that fact and consider you when they have an opening come available.

Check out this recent graduate’s job search success story and learn from his experience!

As a child, when I would try something and be unsuccessful, my teachers or family would repeat this old saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!”   Nowhere is this advice more true than in the job search.

The job search always requires persistence and resilience, even in good economic times, but even more so in bad economic conditions like we are now experiencing.  The job search will likely take more time and effort than it may have in the past.  There is no use sugar-coating it, hiding from it or complaining about it.  (Okay, you are allowed to complain a little).

In this economy, you are likely to apply for many, many positions before successfully landing a post-graduate job opportunity.  Upcoming graduates seem to be shocked when we tell them that applying to 3-4 jobs will probably not result in a job offer.  You will most likely have to apply to many more than 3-4 jobs in order to even land an interview!  This is where the persistence part comes in.  Apply to as many jobs as possible, as long as they are opportunities that interest you in some way, or will provide you with skills and experience you need to move to the next level.  Also, if you aren’t getting interviews for the types of jobs you desire because you lack experience, look for positions that are the next level below the type of job to which you aspire.  Depending on the career field you are seeking to enter, this may be the only way to gain a position, due to the levels of competition for certain types of career opportunities.

Rejection is also just part of the process. You will apply to jobs, and despite following up with the employer with a well thought out phone call or email, you won’t hear back from them at all.  You’ll interview for positions and be turned down.  Here is where the resilience comes in…pick yourself up and just keep applying and interviewing.  Don’t let the rejection get you down, because this will negatively affect the next interview.  Learn from each experience and you’ll do better the next time.  And don’t eliminate a company just because they turn you down – if they have other jobs later on, apply for those as well!  Sometimes the employer may like you, but just not think you’re the right fit for one position – but you may be the right fit for a different one!   (Yours truly would not be writing this blog entry if I had given up on the College of Charleston – I applied twice for the exact same position.  I was rejected the first time, but the second time…well, here I am!)

If you have questions or concerns about how to conduct an effective job search make an appointment to see a staff member in the Career Center.  We’d be happy to assist you in developing your own personalized job search plan of action.