CareerAlley

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss

Many of us grew up on Dr. Seuss (and if you didn’t, my condolences), and as wacky as those stories were, each and every one had  a point to make. So for recent grads, time to leave Dr. Seuss behind as you head over the waterfall into the real world. It is a wild ride and with any luck (and lots of hard work), it should become the working world for you.

So what can you do differently? For one, you need to have a good research plan (what, where and who). Another point is that you should not forget that it is never too late to take on an internship or volunteer work. This will help you get some relevant experience (internship) or show that you are keeping engaged and active (volunteering). The longer you are job hunting the more likely it is that you will get questions like “so what have you been doing?”. Looking for a job is not the recommended answer.

Now back to reality and finding that job. So first some advice and then some resource links.

Career Advice:

• Advice for a Recent Graduate Looking for a Job – Some pretty neat stuff in this article posted on myliferoi.com. The economy, wrong degree, getting the right job plus loads of other tips, this article is definitely worth a read.

• How College Graduates Can Land a Job in a Down Market – This article, from nocopages.com, provides some great advice – get organized, be persistent, network and more. It covers the basics of what you should be doing to find that job.

• Gradspot Careers – This career page, which is part of Gradspot.com, provides a broad range of resources for recent college grads. The main section of the career page includes excellent articles (such as “Surviving the 2009 Recession” and “5 Common Resume Mistakes“) plus many more, as well as links to “Finding the Perfect Job” and “Preparing for the Job Hunt”. This is a great resource for both your job search. Check out the rest of their site as well.

• “Preparing new grads for uncertain job market” – This article, presented on ColoradoDaily.com, covers what the job market is like for this year’s college grads. The good news is that (according to the article) based on a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, employers are expecting to hire the same number of college grads as in prior years. The article is certainly worth a read

Job Search Resources:

• THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online – This site’s tag line is “The Career Site For Students of Color“. The left hand side of the page has sponsors and employers, while the middle of the page lists career related articles and resources. Tabs at the top of the page include Job Tools and Career Center. Clicking on Job Tools takes you to Job Search, My Resume (resume management) and My Account (for registering). The site has a wealth of information and resources.

• Graduating Engineer – This site, which is for both graduating engineers, provides a broad range of career related resources. The tabs at top cover “Articles & Advice”, “Search Jobs”, “Research Companies” plus much more. The left hand side of the main page has a job search tool and clicking the “Search Jobs” link takes you to a listing of jobs which can be further refined by using criteria (at the top of the page).

• Chevron – Chevron’s Student and Recent Grad Site provides background on the company, a listing of upcoming campus recruiting events, a list of internship programs and a special page for MBA students. You can click on “Types of Jobs” which lists all of the job types at Chevron

• RecentGraduate – This website is geared to recent grads and students. You can search jobs, post your resume, build a portfolio (cover letter, personal references, etc.), browse books related to job search and link to job resources (like Resume Rabbit). The site also provides a way for potential employers to link/review anyone who has posted their resume on the site.

• Indeed.com – While I’ve covered Indeed.com in a previous post (Job Searching – Top Job Sites), I did not discuss leveraging Indeed’s search engine to narrow the search to recent grads. Clicking the link at the start of this paragraph (or click here) will take you to a pre-defined search for recent grads. Similarly, you can narrow the search to Entry Level Jobs. You can further focus your search by entering criteria in the “Where” box at top or by using any of the items listed down the left-hand side of the page.

Good luck in your search.

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