Spring Cleaning

Another step that alumni should consider in their career search, is updating all their personal marketing materials in preparation for the job search. At a minimum, this includes:

Having your resume and other application materials critiqued:

Have The Career Center look your materials over, have friends (especially ones who view resumes often) put in their two cents, and look over examples in books for ideas. Remember that a resume is a snapshot of your skills and experience relevant to the job to which you are applying and not a complete anthology of your life.

Update your list of networking contacts:

Create a list of people whom you wish to begin your networking. This list should include family members, friends, former co-workers and supervisors, professionals in your field, alumni, etc. Don’t count out anyone, the person who you sit in front of at church every week, your doctor, an acquaintance with whom you play basketball. You never know who may be that special contact that opens the right door.

Get organized:

Create a system for tracking your networking contacts, job applications, interviews, etc. Many people will place this on an online database while others prefer an index card system. Whatever medium you choose, you should be able to reference materials in a quick and easy to find manner.

Stay active:

Many job searches take months longer because of inactivity on the part of the job seeker. It is too easy to put off until tomorrow what should have been done today because there are few, if any, deadlines in the job search. Many experts recommend volunteering or becoming active in an organization as a way to structure your day. People who have time commitments, such as volunteering, are less likely to procrastinate due to scheduled time commitments.

Set goals:

Set weekly goals in order to chart your progress, evaluate your effectiveness, and stay on track. For example: Goals for the week: Contact 15-20 people for networking, Arrange 8 informational interviews, Research 10 target companies, Apply for 5 jobs, Follow-up with 10 contacts from previous weeks. By setting goals such as these, you prevent depression from setting in because you do have something to show for your week’s efforts, even if it may not yet be an offer of employment.

Get support:

Job searches are often very depressing and can be hard on one’s self-esteem. To counter this, join a support group such as a job club, networking group, or similar situation. Not only are these groups great for support, they are usually strong areas for networking as well. Also, exercise daily. Now that you have the time start an exercise regimen, do so. Exercise will make you feel better about yourself and help you look more youthful and energetic when interviewing. Sitting inside all day in front of a computer or television is not going to help your cause.