A few new grads find their niche early, but most use that first job to get a taste of the world of work, and to test their assumptions regarding career paths.

Finding the “Learning Experience”

Statistically, that first job generally lasts no more than two years, but as an entre’ into the real world those two years can represent much more.

If those two years are viewed as a “learning experience”, the recent graduate can build a knowledge base of strength from which they can launch a real career, including a significant shift to alternatives not previously considered.

This is especially important for those who find that first job as unfulfilling, and recognize their first idea of a meaningful career is misguided.

That first job can arm them with enough practical knowledge to move towards the right path. They understand, or should understand, how to network, write a resume, research other organizations, look for mentors to provide advice and take a more well-informed and knowledgeable approach to a career search.

Missing that Learning Experience

However, for those who have graduated and do not pursue that first job successfully because of uncertainty, fear, or lack of sufficient aggressiveness, the situation is more serious.

Some who have a degree may take any kind of work just to keep busy or for economic reasons.

But the inability to consider and aggressively pursue opportunities that take advantage of their education might actually compromise their long-term efforts because the real-world learning from that first job as a career building block is missing.

As a result, the difficulty in moving ahead increases, and when I meet with them, so many seem lost.

One of the most disheartening components of my job is working with people who have basically given up. Some have simply lost self-respect, view themselves as failures, and are suffering from a collapse of motivation. The risk to the individual now begins to get serious.

Rather than take action, there is a feeling of being immobilized, unable to move forward, unable to generate a momentum. Eventually that can spill over into personal life affecting relationships at all levels. For recent graduates, it is a disaster.

Recovering

So what can be done? For starters, it is essential to actually begin to think more broadly. This means expanding options beyond the narrow discipline of the degree, doing research, seeking out expert advice, and looking for that first job that will provide real world experience that involves creativity, decision making, and thinking.

Most young people do not understand the broad applicability of their formal training as well as their skills and do not consider the wide range of options a college degree can offer.

Since false impressions or uninformed advice may be a limitation, it is essential to seek knowledgeable advice from mentors, teachers, working professionals, and others who have real experience and can give informed advice. False assumptions based on impressions from friends, from the Internet, or other sources may very well be misleading or represent only limited experience.

Reality is the daily grind of following a set routine five days a week, working on projects that require decision making with the expectation of meeting deadlines, budgets and goals. Without that real experience, impressions concerning working conditions, job descriptions, employment prospects, interviewing, and a host of other factors are just too theoretical.

Finding the Right Job

It is unlikely that the perfect job exists.

But it is also likely that there are many jobs and many careers that would provide challenge and satisfaction, as well as the economic benefits.

Statistically, many people have six to eight careers through their lifetime, a sign of growth, maturity, and changing values and not necessarily unhappiness.

Finding the right job or career requires:

• Preparation, diligence, and a tool kit of resources that are up-to-date and well prepared for the recruiter, HR manager, or hiring manager.
• Thinking carefully about the type of company with which you want to be associated. It is important to find an organization that will provide a learning environment for professional growth. An environment that will enable you to develop those soft skills that demonstrate commitment, energy, social skills in a creative environment, trust building, organizational awareness, and other factors is critical.

Bottom Line

It is essential to be candid and honest, look at yourself, your ambitions, skills, interest and values, and try to see yourself two years from now. What you see should be a motivator as the first step to action.

About the author…

Judit Price CDFI, CCM, IJCTC, CPRW has an M.S. in Counseling and is a certified career guidance counselor in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. She counsels college students and adults regarding career and college options. Judit was the biweekly career and employment related column for The Lowell Sun newspaper. She also authored and published Your Career and Life Plan Portfolio, a workbook for adults and college students.

The post You’ve Graduated from College – Now What? appeared first on Job-Hunt.

In addition, recent government statistics show that college graduates still command the lowest unemployment rate among all demographics, although the number is still historically high.

So What Should a New Grad Do?

So, the good news is that jobs are out there. The bad news is that except for a few specialties the opportunities are fewer, the competition is greater, and the locations may require a major move. And finally, that dream job may not be available at all, requiring significant compromise. In fact, even public service jobs, such as AmericaCorp, are massively oversubscribed with applicants.

The Internship Option

I well understand that a realistic appraisal of personal or family economic conditions may preclude any alternative to finding a full time paid position.

But for many, especially young people who can live at home and/or combine a part-time job with an internship, this may be a short-term viable option.

The advantages of an internship are substantial:

• An internship is a wonderful opportunity to work in an area that has relevance to your career aspirations.
• An internship is also a relatively low-risk way to really test your goals, especially if the internship offers some meaningful access to the organization and its challenges.In fact many internships do enable an ambitious graduate with clear career goals to test whether these goals make sense. It is not exactly the same as having real responsibility and being tested in the crucible of budgets, sales quotas, customer deadlines, profit and loss metrics, and project deadlines, but it does provide access to those who do.
• An internship is an excellent way to become familiar with the business, cultural and work demands of a going enterprise.
• An internship provides an opportunity to start a network, a critical resource in the job search.
• An internship also enables access to resources for learning, particularly if the position is an assistant to a senior manager.

The search for an internship requires skills similar to the job search. They include:

• Clearly articulating the type of internships most suitable to your career goals
• Researching those organizations that might be both a good fit and provide the right type of learning environment.
• Identifying resources to help explore options, research opportunities, and examine alternatives.
• Developing marketing material to promote yourself successfully such as a resume, cover letter and a portfolio.
• Building a strategy that points in the right direction with an action plan that supports those goals that includes intensive networking.
• Sharpening interviewing skills and learning how to prepare for that crucial interview with research, responding to those challenging questions, and creating that strong positive impression.

School and other resources can be invaluable such as the career services office, networking opportunities with staff, career fairs, company websites and, of course, family connections.

Bottom Line:

Internships are not for everyone. But the right internship can be a genuine start in the right direction for a fulfilling career.

About the author…

Judit Price CDFI, CCM, IJCTC, CPRW has an M.S. in Counseling and is a certified career guidance counselor in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. She counsels college students and adults regarding career and college options. Judit was the biweekly career and employment related column for The Lowell Sun newspaper. She also authored and published Your Career and Life Plan Portfolio, a workbook for adults and college students.

The post The Internship Option for New Grads appeared first on Job-Hunt.

If the student had some learning experience, either through an internship or paid summer work experience, that could also be helpful.

Most graduating students ultimately pursue careers that are either disconnected or only peripherally connected to their course of study. So it makes sense to begin an exploration of career options early. This especially applies to those who engage in a more general liberal arts program.

Benefits of Early Exploration

Most students have some idea regarding career choice. So exploring those choices, and there may be many options in mind, should not be ignored.

The benefits of early exploration are substantial. Taking those early steps may result in some low-cost course correction that enables better focus and avoid changing majors, transferring to another institution or taking the wrong course of study. Or, it can strengthen perceptions and ambitions, creating a firmer commitment and determination.

But most importantly, pursuing a career search that includes a practical job search strategy can provide a “real world” look at the opportunities and challenges most students will face after graduation.

As a college and career counselor, I see many students who have not prepared themselves well in investigating career alternatives and developing a substantive job search strategy. This is important at all times, but particularly in these days of economic difficulty in which thousands of dollars and years of effort are often wasted until the “right” direction is pursued. Students who graduate with a clearer direction and substantive knowledge relating to that direction have a huge advantage. So how do you do this?

The Early Job Search

1.)  The job search starts with research into “secondary” resources.

Every field has a set of elements that paint a pretty clear picture of that field. While changing conditions can result in changing priorities in each of these elements, the fact is all are important. They include:

• The nature of the work
• Working conditions
• Special training, qualifications and career growth
• Salary levels and other employment data
• Job outlook.

Also, research potential employers and read some job postings to understand the overall qualifications and responsibilities the jobs require. All of this information is readily available via the Internet at sites such as Job-hunt.org, and the U.S. Department of Labor Website.

2.)  Continue with research into “primary” resources.

Armed with a broad overview and probably a plethora of questions, the next step is finding people who are in the field.

Remember, anyone you meet exhibits personal biases.

The search is all about what you want to do, not how the other person likes their job. Seek out networks, contact professional groups, go to a few meetings and engage in casual conversation to help determine what are the factors that contribute to job satisfaction.

Seek out informational interviews, job shadowing and Internships. In my experience we live in a pretty decent community, filled with professionals who understand career issues, enjoy speaking with young people and are willing to help. You never know what opportunity may be ahead, if not with a specific manager, then perhaps through their network. All three approaches can be remarkably effective in getting plugged into the mainstream of your interest area. Keep in mind that most people are very willing to spend time with young people seeking career information.

As a general rule no student should ever interview or take an internship without thoroughly researching a firm. In fact, there are web sites where current and former employees often talk about their job experiences at specific firms. Whenever possible, seek out contacts and ask the hard questions about any targets.

You may think the internship or job shadowing is the opportunity of a lifetime, but it could be in a company totally unsuited for your personality, work style and future ambitions. And, most of all it may not provide the type of learning environment so essential for getting a good start on a career path. Also, the research may not be fruitful, but it is part of the learning so essential when the real job search begins.

3.)  Embrace diversity.

A great internship in one firm may have resulted from special circumstances, a key project, a great supervisor or some other factor. At the same time the opposite could occur. Consequently, a broad perspective is important.

Bottom Line

Remember the idea is to learn and prepare. Research, internships, informational interviews and job shadowing opportunities are excellent training in demonstrating maturity, determination and commitment when you meet that recruiter or hiring manager for that first job.

About the author…

Judit Price CDFI, CCM, IJCTC, CPRW has an M.S. in Counseling and is a certified career guidance counselor in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. She counsels college students and adults regarding career and college options. Judit was the biweekly career and employment related column for The Lowell Sun newspaper. She also authored and published Your Career and Life Plan Portfolio, a workbook for adults and college students.

The post A Job Search Structured = Excellent Learning Experience appeared first on Job-Hunt.

I well understand the great challenges facing graduates.

And, I also know that commitment and persistence pay off.

The current situation means that graduates must dramatically expand options for consideration. “Thinking outside the box” is more than a cliché, it is – for many – an imperative.

Despite the times there are opportunities and graduates must be prepared. Except for a limited number of high-demand, highly-specialized fields, jobs are extremely competitive and recruiters are looking for qualities that go well beyond grade point average.

Recruiters understand that most entry-level hires last on average two years or, in many cases, much less.

One big reason for the short term of employment in that entry-level job is graduating students generally do not understand, nor even think about, all the factors that contribute to success in an organization.

So, some real forethought about the work itself, organization focus, and career growth plans can be helpful.

The Right Career or First Job

Finding the right job or career requires preparation, diligence and a tool kit of resources that are up-to-date and well-prepared for the recruiter, HR manager, or hiring manager.

The students and new graduates need to think carefully about the type of company with which the graduate wants to be associated. In general, that means a set of tools, and an organization that will provide a learning environment for professional growth.

It also means an environment that will enable the graduate to develop “Emotional Intelligence”, those soft skills that demonstrate commitment, energy, social skills in a creative environment, trust building, organizational awareness and other factors.

The Portfolio as a Job Search Tool

The resume and cover letter represent the first line of communication, but there are other tools that should be considered.

One way to do that is with a portfolio, a logically organized collection of records that reflect your accomplishments, skills, and attributes. A portfolio provides a comprehensive record of accomplishments and adds credibility to the job search.

When you create the portfolio, you have to take a very hard look at yourself, analyze what you have done, and pull out all your accomplishments and attributes.

A carefully thought out portfolio can exhibit examples of leadership, motivation, organizational skills, communications skills, competitiveness and other qualities highly prized in a professional context.

Many people never take the time to thoroughly examine themselves, but knowing who you are, and what you want in your professional life can help you establish and achieve goals. In fact, you can learn a lot about yourself going through the exercise of gathering all the artifacts and information for the portfolio.

Look for Internships

Unfortunately, paid internships are relatively rare, and most students find the unpaid kind.

Despite the economics, an internship can be extremely important for three reasons:

1. An internship should be related to career goals. In this way the taste of the “real world” will enable you to make a more realistic appraisal of career goals.
2. It provides a venue for real world experience beyond the specific discipline, especially if the internship enables a broad view of an operation. While the work itself will not be very romantic, the opportunity to meet and communicate with those actually responsible can be extremely helpful.
3. An internship can help build contacts that can be enormously helpful in both your job search and your career. These contacts are the beginning of a professional network, an indispensable technique for career growth. Good networking is a critical success factor as students will learn. Most jobs are not advertised, and the best opportunities are often uncovered through contact with other professionals.

Basic Career and Job Search Research

Armed with job goals and a set of tools to pursue those jobs, the student should consider serious research on possible opportunities.

Research information takes two forms:

1. The location —

   Learn all you can about the likely geography for the best opportunities in your field, the salary levels, the number of opportunities (high growth or stable), and other factors.

   Fortunately, an enormous amount of information is available over the Internet. In fact, there are web sites where current and former employees often talk about their job experiences at specific firms.

   Whenever possible, seek out contacts, and ask the hard questions about any targets for employment.

   Once the overall market picture is clear, serious research on specific opportunities is essential.

2. The employer —

   No student should ever take an interview without thoroughly researching a firm.

   You may find the job of a lifetime, but it could be in a company totally unsuited for your personality, work style and future ambitions.

   It may make excellent sense to take a lower paying job with a firm that has great potential for growth. Most of all, look for the type of learning environment so essential for getting a good start on a career path.

Bottom Line

Remember, recruiters and hiring managers are highly selective. They want the best, which for most college graduates means high capabilities in those soft skills to go along with the technical skills acquired in formal schooling. They devote a large amount of time and care looking for you. You should be equally cautious, but well-armed to impress.

About the author…

Judit Price CDFI, CCM, IJCTC, CPRW has an M.S. in Counseling and is a certified career guidance counselor in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. She counsels college students and adults regarding career and college options. Judit was the biweekly career and employment related column for The Lowell Sun newspaper. She also authored and published Your Career and Life Plan Portfolio, a workbook for adults and college students.

The post Preparing for the Job Market appeared first on Job-Hunt.

In fact, a plethora of resources help students find the internship that is right for the student, both online and offline.  A simple inquiry on Google reveals enormous resources for exploration and opportunity. In addition, networking through professional organizations, family friends, teachers, the alumni office, the career services office, career fairs, and college library resources will uncover ideas that can provide options and opportunities for rewarding internships.

Finding Internship Opportunities

For students whose career goals are reasonably fixed, determined and focused, utilization of available resources are pretty straightforward.  Combined with on and offline networking, it is not difficult to identify viable positions.

However, with today’s difficult economic situation, finding the absolutely right internship might not be possible.  Nevertheless, almost any internship opportunity has value and should not be disregarded because there are things that students can do to help them become more marketable in the future without the perfect internship.

The Learning Experience

The challenge is more a matter of competition, location, cultural fit and other factors, but not so much the specific discipline the student is studying.  Many of these internships are paid opportunities with mentoring and work experience in key aspects of a specific profession.  These programs are often designed to provide exposure, mentoring, and training in a specific field that complements and enhances specific academic and career development goals.  For those with soild direction, the programs can be enormously helpful.

However, for students whose career choices are in flux, internship choices can be more challenging.  This is not a small problem.  According to some studies, only about 50% of incoming students secure a degree after 4 years.  The average is about 6 years.  And, many 4-year students ultimately choose careers that are totally divorced from their course of study.  As a result, an internship, as a learning experience that adds substantively to the student’s career information base, requires more consideration, more preparation, and more research.

Most employers look for candidates with communication, interpersonal, organizational, teamwork, and time management skills; all of which can be helpful in developing regardless of the venue.  In addition, many non-profit or political groups with limited resources would welcome additional help to keep their organization moving.

Setting Goals Will Help

Pursuit of the “right internship” in the “right organization” should be explored.  Goals help: considerable time needs to be spent in thinking through the reasons for pursuing the internship, and what are the desirable benefits to which a search can be configured.

There are multiple reasons for obtaining an internship independent of a well defined career specialty.  The goals may be to learn new skills, gain an understanding of how complex organizations work, become familiar with the decision-making process, become acquainted with how managers manage, make new networking connections, and a host of other factors that may play an important role in a career decision.

Once the goals are clear, the next decision concerns a determination of what type of organization will enable the student to achieve the goals.  For example, if structure is important, a larger firm with a specific set of duties might be appropriate.  If the student prefers limited structure and vague job definition enabling a bit more independence and creativity, then a smaller firm – especially one that is growing rapidly – may fit the bill.

Bottom Line

There are a number of criteria that influence the right internship choice.  But, everyone who seeks a fulfilling career reflects a set of values, interests and skills.  For students, skills are more generic.  Nevertheless, these personal characteristics are fundamental to a positive career strategy.  The student should carefully consider these factors for they are fundamental to meeting career goals as a graduate as well as when exploring internship options for a set of clearly defined objectives.

There are also a set of other practical considerations that apply to all internships.  Examples include location, paid or unpaid internships, working while taking classes or only summer positions, and the potential for college credit.

Once these decisions are explored and determined, the search can begin.

About the author…

Judit Price CDFI, CCM, IJCTC, CPRW has an M.S. in Counseling and is a certified career guidance counselor in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. She counsels college students and adults regarding career and college options. Judit was the biweekly career and employment related column for The Lowell Sun newspaper. She also authored and published Your Career and Life Plan Portfolio, a workbook for adults and college students.

The post Choosing an Internship: Considerations and Options appeared first on Job-Hunt.