Job hunting has gone from searching the Monday Classifieds to roaming online job boards and career search engines. But before you sit down in front of your computer, ask yourself 12 important questions and then be prepared to go social.
Marc Scoleri, Director of Career Services at The Art Institute of New York City recommends doing a self-directed job search in conjunction with other search techniques. A self-directed job search requires the job-seeker to take into account personal preferences and businesses of interest. Realizing personal preferences and having a sense of self-awareness as it relates to a career is important when clarifying which companies to research. In working with students attending Art Institute schools, he has compiled the following inventory questions:
1. What industry is most interesting to you for a career? Why?
2. What geographic location is most appealing?
3. What duties do you enjoy doing most as it relates to your industry?
4. What duties do you enjoy doing least as it relates to your industry?
5. What is the minimum pay you can survive on?
6. What topics within your industry do you want to learn most about?
7. What position do you want three to five years from now?
8. What personal goals can you achieve by obtaining a position in your chosen industry?
9. What is your ideal work schedule?
10. What employer offered benefits are important to you?
11. What are some of the job titles that interest you?
12. Whom can you contact within your industry of choice?
Afterwards, target companies based on the answers. Then, contact managers within the department of interest, even if they are not presently hiring. "Personally, I'd prefer to interview someone who went out of his or her way to call me directly over someone who found a posting on some stale job board," Scoleri said. This is where socializing begins and networks are developed.
LinkedIn.com has become one of the most respected online networking tools for professionals. Complete a profile on LinkedIn.com and get one step closer to creating a powerful online network. It takes, on average, 65 contacts to create a network large enough to result in substantial and meaningful findings on LinkedIn.com said Victoria Snabon-Health, career services director at The Art Institute of Tampa (a branch of Miami International University of Art & Design). Snabon-Health urges the job-seeker to set themselves apart from the load of resumes that inundate companies on a daily basis. "Go social. Begin utilizing virtual, social marketing techniques in addition to your online job search."
Snabon-Heath says it's important that students, recent graduates, and the unemployed extend themselves by joining and volunteering with professional organizations in their field of focus. Attend a monthly professional organization meeting such as the local American Advertising Federation meeting, if advertising is your profession.
"Students have participated in monthly social mixers in order to meet the hiring managers and directors that may be too busy to respond during the workweek to emails and phone calls from eager prospective hires," Snabon-Heath said. "Put yourself out there. It's who you know that can help get you in the door and what you know that keeps you there."