Recommend page to a friend

Contact us

Web site comments

Add to favorites (bookmark)

JOB-WINNING STRATEGIES FOR NEW GRADS

By Bruce J. Bloom,


Author of the book, FAST TRACK TO THE BEST JOB:  HOW TO LAUNCH A SUCCESSFUL


CAREER RIGHT OUT OF COLLEGE.

Good jobs today are found and won by job-seekers who are well-organized,
resourceful, aggressive, and relentless. The most basic truth in job hunting
is equally valid in bad times and good:  the best available positions go to
the candidates who market themselves most effectively -- NOT necessarily
those who are best qualified to do the jobs.

Here are some PROVEN strategies to sharpen your competitive edge.

NETWORKING:  WHERE THE JOBS ARE

More than 80 percent of new graduates who win jobs find them through some
form of networking --building webs of referrals and personal contacts within
their chosen fields.

ADVICE CALLING is a straightforward networking strategy that enables you to
meet influential people and enlist their help. Typically, you can get
meetings with more than half the people you contact if you seek ADVICE,
while you're likely to be turned down if you ask for a job. By making advice
calls you tap the knowledge and influence of insiders to find out where the
job openings really are. Influentials can refer you to other influentials,
and steer you to job leads you'd never find on your own.  First, send a
BRIEF letter. Write that you're a new graduate making important career
decisions, that the influential's advice will be valuable to you and that
you want just twenty minutes of his or her time. (Don't get into a lengthy
description of your qualifications. Remember, you're asking for advice, not
a job.) Then follow up on the phone to set a time for your visit.

Be prepared to ask meaningful questions. At each meeting, use your time to
explore personnel needs and career opportunities in the influential's field.
 And finally, ask -- diplomatically -- if he or she knows anyone who might
have a need for someone with your abilities.  Networking is today's most
powerful job search tool. Dedicate yourself to it.  You'll soon know scores
of influential people-and they'll know you.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Show up at each job interview and advice call with a background of
information about the organization. You win valuable points when you talk
knowledgeably about the company -- a subject that's dear to the manager's
heart.

BE THE IDEAL JOB CANDIDATE

Many candidates lose out on promising opportunities because they reveal too
much about themselves too quickly.  Be perceived as the ideal candidate by
finding out what qualifications the organization really wants, and then
showing you have those qualities. Stay focused. Stick EXCLUSIVELY to what
the interviewer thinks is important. DON'T volunteer new information about
yourself until you get some sense of whether it will count for you or
against you.

ASK QUESTIONS

The candidate who answers questions but doesn't ask any is seen by an
interviewer either as shy, or not terribly interested in the job. Show up
ready to ask meaningful questions about the position and the company.  A
good rule is -- Ask a lot of questions, and listen more than you talk.

SPOTLIGHT YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

It's one thing simply to CLAIM you have a specific strength or ability, and
another to PROVE you have it by citing an appropriate accomplishment. You're
far more credible when your answers are filled with EPISODES FROM YOUR
EXPERIENCE.

BE READY to talk about significant achievements in your studies,
extracurricular activities, work experience and personal life.

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVES

Confine yourself to a rigorously POSITIVE view of the world. Employers want
enthusiastic, upbeat people who think in terms of opportunities, not
failures.  DON'T talk about weaknesses or limitations, in yourself or anyone
else.  Resist the impulse to speak critically of people -- teachers,
employers, anyone.

FOLLOW UP

After every meeting, write a follow-up letter to the interviewer at once,
and get it right into the mail.  Your letter should contain four elements:

1) a thank-you for the interview,
2) an enthusiastic expression of interest in the job,
3) a recap of your strengths that are consistent with the requirements of
the job,
4) a request to meet again. (You want to keep having meetings until they
offer you the job.)

WORK LONGER, WORK HARDER

Most of your competitors will spend an hour or two a day on their job
searches. You should spend six -- phoning, writing, researching,
interviewing.  Your competitors will meet with two or three organizations a
week. Your advice-call networking should put you face to face with a half
dozen influentials a week.  You want more action, more exposure, more
POSSIBILITIES. The more ground you cover every day, the more likely you are
to discover the opportunity that's right for you.

For More Information:  If you'd like to know more about the author's book,
FAST TRACK TO THE BEST JOB: HOW TO LAUNCH A SUCCESSFUL CAREER RIGHT OUT OF
COLLEGE, e-mail your request to:
DUKEA1@AOL.COM -- ask for INFORMATION PACKAGE T.