Monday, October 17, 2011

Started Yet?

We are in the middle of October already! How is the job search going? With all of the classes, midterm exams, and very important football games, who has time to be looking for a job anyway? I mean, you can deal with that over Thanksgiving break, or Winter break, or something right? Wrong. The truth is that if you haven't already had a few promising leads come your way, you may need to play catch up with some of your peers.

One event which you should really be thinking about, assuming you haven't already missed it, is any fall career fair near your college. This is a vital part of the job search in which you can learn not only what companies are out there in your field, but which companies are hiring. After all, you may be the perfect fit for a company, but if they are in a hiring freeze (not all that uncommon in this economy) you really shouldn't be wasting your time applying there. So put on that tie, polish off your resume, and get a shake some hands with recruiters. You may be surprised at who has an opportunity for you!

Another tool that you can leverage to boost your job search rather quickly is the network of friends that you have made while in college. As hard as it is to see, some of those buddies who graduated last semester are now working for the very companies that you have had your eye on. Shoot them an email to get the inside scoop on who is hiring, and whether they would be willing to recommend you, or to submit your resume. I can tell you that I have personally offered to submit the resumes of three different friends to the company that I work for, and all of them have been very excited for the opportunity, but still none of them have actually sent me their resume, so I have not been able to recommend them. The important take away is to use the resources you have.

So what happens if you haven't even started yet? Don't despair, there is still time to catch up. Start being proactive in your job search, setting aside as much time as you reasonably can during the week to apply to jobs, make calls, and arrange to meet with people who can help you with your job search. The most important thing is to start now!