Hired Before You Graduate

Whether you are a soon-to-be graduate looking to land your first job after college, or possibly a college junior seeking an internship, you are ready to launch your career.  You are committed to moving to the next, new personal and professional level, and prepared to do whatever it takes to bring that result.

It's time to commit to the process that will bring you a successful job search.   To stand head and shoulders above the rest of the job-seeking crowd, it's important to lay out an effective job search plan.

Picture yourself one year from now.  What do you see?  Doing working you love?  Living in your place of choice?  Success feels pretty  good.

A first step in achieving success is defining your goals.  Take time over the holidays to really analyze what you want and need most from your life, career and education over the next year.

To get started, brainstorm writing down your initial ideas.

Next, create a framework to evaluate your ideas following these steps.

1.   Create a clear statement of what you want and need. Your brainstorm should give you a 30,000-foot overview of your goals for the next year.  Now you need to distill them down to one, actionable sentence.

For example, "In 2012, I will work in New York for leading marketing services company in its client service department. "

2.  Understand the career path to achieving your goal. It is helpful to  distinguish your long-term goals from your short-term goals.

For example: if your long-term goal is to use your degree in cultural anthropology, know the fields where this degree will be most valued.

  

3.  You need a plan to START.

            Specific –  goals and action steps

            Targeted – to those organizations where you potentially are a good fit

            Achievable – apply only for the position you are qualified for

            Risk – you have to put yourself out there

            Time sensitive –do something related to your job search every day

4.       Tweak your plan.  Your job search plan is a living document. By doing your research you will learn more about what you want, what fields are right for you, the employers to  target and the best tactics to uncovering the job you want.

As you celebrate the new year, celebrate that you have a jump-start in planning your future. 

For more job search strategies visit www.morethanaresume.com