Chapter 29: Job Search
Graciela Martinez and Elizabeth Shaker
Learning Outcomes
- Review the steps involved in creating a productive job search and the importance of networking while building your campaign.
- Create a strong resume and cover letter to make you stand apart from the crowd.
- Illustrate a professional presence through social media to support your campaign.
- Appraise your interviewing skills to help get you in shape for your next job or internship.
As you prepare for your selected career path it is important to make yourself stand out from the crowd. You will do this by designing your own personalized marketing campaign. It is important to understand the steps involved in creating a productive job search and the importance of networking as a framework to building your campaign.
The Job Search Process
Searching for a job requires patience and perseverance. The process may seem overwhelming at first, however if you treat it like a job and commit the necessary time and effort towards each step, the process will seem more manageable. There are five essential steps to creating a successful job search.
- Step 1: Focus on what you want.
- Step 2: Determine where you want to do it.
- Step 3: Develop your self-marketing campaign.
- Step 4: Build your network.
- Step 5: Take action and commit 100%.
Step 1: Focus on what you want
This step entails evaluating the information you have learned about yourself through self-exploration in unit 2. Taking into consideration your needs, values, interests, personality, strengths, skills and abilities and how you wish to apply them in terms of a career.
At the same time, you probably don’t want just any job. You want a job for specific reasons. These reasons might be the following:
- Starting on your dream career path.
- Supporting yourself in a comfortable way.
- Fulfilling a specific mission or personal legacy.
- Working with people you like and respect.
When you know what you want in your next job, you can search for these specific criteria. If your priority is to start on a specific career path, then you look for growth, advancement, learning, and mentorship in your next job. If you have specific financial obligations that you need to meet (e.g., student loans to repay, family to support, a relocation), then compensation is a main criterion. If you have a mission or legacy you wish to impart (e.g., to help a specific underserved community), then you will be looking at the mission of your next employer to see if it aligns with yours. If you value your relationships and day-to-day interactions with people, then you will be looking closely at who your boss and colleagues will be in your next job. These are just some examples, and people often have multiple considerations. You will want to look closely at your interests and values to determine overall what you want and how you might prioritize jobs that meet some but not all criteria.
Step 2: Determine where you want to do it
This step involves knowing what industry, what function and what geographic location you wish to pursue. The industry you target is the type of business in which you want to work.
Industries include the following examples:
- Arts
- Education
- Energy
- Food
- Fashion
- Health care, pharmaceuticals, and biotech
- Hospitality and leisure
- Financial services
- Government
- Legal
- Luxury goods
- Management consulting
- Manufacturing
- Media and entertainment
- Nonprofit causes
- Retail
- Sports
- Technology
- Telecommunications
- Transportation, aerospace, and automotive
These are just some examples, and they are of very broad industry categories. You can specify even further into subcategories. You will want to subcategorize because if you pick too broad an industry, you will have the same dilution-of-efforts problem as if you haven’t specified an industry at all.
If you look at the arts, subcategories include the following examples:
- Type of art—visual or performing arts
- Type of organization—venues for exhibiting and performing, arts education, artist support, or art supplies
- Sector—nonprofit (e.g., Lincoln Center, a venue for performing arts), private sector (e.g., Warner Music Group, a record label), government (e.g., National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency supporting artists and arts organizations)
It is not enough to say, “I want a job in the arts.” Do you mean visual arts, as in painting or sculpting? Do you mean you’d like to work in a venue, such as a museum or a theater? Do you want to work for educational programs that focus on the arts?
Do you want to work in support of artists—at a foundation that gives grants for creative projects, or at an artists’ union? Do you want to be in and around artists, selling or manufacturing art supplies? Finally, you can be in the arts and work for a nonprofit, a private company, or a government agency. Each of these sectors is very different.
In a later section of this unit, we will give ideas for how to explore different industries and the different subcategories of your industry choices to see what might be right for you. We will also talk about how to research industries for specific organizations and company names and other information that will help you find the jobs you want. You can see already how useful it can be to focus on being specific. Being specific in describing the jobs you want is necessary to find where those jobs are.
Let’s take another example from the list so you can get more ideas on how to break an industry down. If you look at energy, the following subcategories are included:
- Types of energy—oil, gas, coal, nuclear, or alternative
- Types of organizations—exploration companies, utilities, research firms, regulatory agencies, equipment and support, or capital raising
- Sector—nonprofit (the US Energy Association, a nonprofit professional association), private sector (e.g., Exxon Mobil, an oil and gas company), or government (e.g., the Environmental Protection Agency)
If you are interested in energy, you could work for a private company that is involved in many types of energy and at many stages, from exploration to delivery.
You could research energy-related issues for a nonprofit. You could be focused on regulations for a government agency. There are multiple, different possibilities for that single energy industry choice.
Finally, let’s look at sports as a possible interest. Perhaps you have been a long time athlete or a diehard fan. Can you take a personal interest and make it into a career?
- Types of sports—a specific sport (e.g., football) or sports in general
- Types of organizations—sports team (e.g., New York Giants), sports league (e.g., NFL), sports venue (e.g., Madison Square Garden, Meadowlands), sports program (e.g., an after-school program dedicated to foster competitive skills among youth), sports product (e.g., Under Armour), sports retailer (e.g., Footlocker), or sports business (e.g., agencies who represent athletes, marketing and advertising firms who help companies with sports-related campaigns)
- Sector—nonprofit (e.g., Turn 2 Foundation, which supports sports programs and is funded by Derek Jeter, a professional baseball player), private sector (e.g., Under Armour, Footlocker), or government (local departments of parks and recreation)
If you are interested in sports, you might focus on a specific team or sport and look at different organizations involved with that team. Or you might focus on sports in general—perhaps take on the mission of expanding the spectator base, increasing participation among youth, or determining the impact of sports on culture.
Here is a list of possible subcategories for common industries:
Table 29.1 – Subcategories in Common Industries
|
Overall Industry |
Subcategories |
|
Arts |
|
|
Education |
|
|
Energy |
|
|
Food |
|
|
Fashion |
|
|
Health care, pharmaceuticals, biotech |
|
|
Hospitality and leisure |
|
|
Financial services |
|
|
Government |
|
|
Legal |
|
|
Luxury goods |
|
|
Management consulting |
|
|
Manufacturing |
|
|
Media and entertainment |
|
|
Nonprofit causes |
|
|
Retail |
|
|
Sports |
|
|
Technology |
|
|
Telecommunications |
|
|
Transportation, aerospace, and automotive |
|
Function
The function of a job refers to your overall responsibility and what you are doing day to day. Examples of job functions follow:
- Management
- Sales
- Marketing and public relations
- Finance and accounting
- Human resources
- Operations
- Technology
In both of the industry examples for arts and energy, you could be doing many different things within any of the subcategories. If your industry choice leads you to an art museum as a possibility, you might do several things:
- Manage a program or exhibit (management).
- Handle membership or ticket sales (sales). Raise money (at a nonprofit, this is referred to as development).
- Create brochures and advertising (marketing).
- Analyze and report on the finances of the museum (finance and accounting).
- Act as the point person for employees on questions about pay, benefits,
- Day-to-day role and advancement, and other career-related issues (human resources).
- Organize the open and close, facilities, and maintenance or other daily operations (operations).
- Run the customer database (technology).
In a later section of this chapter, we will give ideas for how to explore different functional areas to see what might be right for you.
Geography
Finally, even if you know what you are doing (function) and who you are doing it for (industry), you need to know where you will physically be. Geography is the third element of a well-defined target. How many potential art museums are located in your desired area? If your desired location has few or no art museums, then your search is unrealistic, and you have to expand your industry (to include other types of museums or other types of art-related organizations) or change your geography. If there are art museums in your desired location, but they are all small and do not need the fundraising skills you have, then you need to expand your function (do something else within the art museums) or change your geography. Geography gives you another critical point of focus for your job search.
Aside from physical location, some jobs have another type of geography consideration. You might be targeting a job whose customers, research subjects, or constituents are of a specific geography:
- Chicago-based (geography 1) curator (function) for an art museum (industry) specializing in East Asian Art (geography 2)
- New York City–based (geography 1) equity research analyst (function) specializing in transportation projects (industry) in sub-Saharan Africa (geography 2)
- Washington, DC–based (geography 1) lobbyist (function) specializing in raising awareness for energy alternatives (industry) in the Mississippi
- Delta (geography 2)
- Austin-based (geography 1) marketing manager (function) for a computer manufacturer (industry) is charged with opening up the
- China market (geography 2)
Your job interest may be related to a specific geography, and this definitely should factor in your search. You also must then factor in your physical location.
Step 3: Develop your self-marketing campaign
Your marketing campaign includes how you present yourself both in person and on paper to prospective employers. Developing a strong resume and cover letter is crucial to getting an interview. Resume and cover letter writing and interview techniques will be addressed in greater detail later in this unit.
The way you dress, carry yourself, and physically behave also communicate your job potential. Your nonverbal communication either supports the things you say and how you say them, or it undermines you. If you are an articulate, well-spoken person but dress in a sloppy manner, slouch, and fidget, then your actions belie your verbal communication. Therefore, poise goes hand in hand with communication as a fundamental prerequisite for your search.
Professional Dress Signals Your Professional Maturity
What you wear to different job search functions signals neatness, professionalism, and understanding of general business protocol. A business suit in a dark neutral color is the standard. Black, blue, brown, and gray are neutral colors. Some industries and specific companies within industries dress more casually, so it is important to consult an experienced person in the specific industries and companies that interest you for the most relevant guidelines. For example, in media and fashion, your dress is a signal of how much you know and can fit into that field.
A dark suit would be too bland and look out of place at a fashion-forward company. For general functions, such as career fairs or professional mixers, stick to proper business attire. Even if there are a range of dress options in attendance, it’s best to be more formally dressed. In addition, most job seekers look more professional and put together with a business suit. You probably will carry yourself more professionally, have better posture, and be more alert in a business suit than in casual attire.
If you are attending an event or an interview where business casual is stipulated, this is still neater and more formal than casual attire. Khakis rather than jeans, dress slacks and a sport coat for men, and a sweater set for women are some examples of business casual.
Here is a checklist of things to remember about dressing professionally:
- Dark, neutral colors and a matching suit jacket and slacks or skirt are the standard.
- Shoes should be comfortable and polished. No open-toed styles or very high heels; even in dressy styles, shoes with open toes or very high heels look unprofessional.
- What you wear beneath the jacket will also be seen. For men, blue or white dress shirts are standard, though some other colors are acceptable. For women, stick to blouses with sleeves in case you take your jacket off (sleeveless is too casual). Women should also stay away from frilly camisoles—they can be seen under your jacket and still look like lingerie.
- Cover yourself. No body hair for men or cleavage for women should be visible. Women should make sure skirt lengths are not too short.
- Avoid overly printed ties, lots of jewelry, accessories, or too much makeup, all of which detract from a professional appearance.
- Have a professional briefcase or bag. A backpack or other casual bag diminishes the professional image.
- Fragrance is not recommended because some people are allergic.
- Keep hair neat and off your face so interviewers can see you.
- Don’t wait until you start your job search to make sure you have the appropriate clothes. It takes time to ensure the fit and length is right, and you may need tailoring or other services.
The Way You Carry Yourself Also Signals Professionalism
If you have a great suit but you slouch, that is an incomplete package. Good posture, steady eye contact, and a firm handshake are additional fundamentals to the job search process. Even if you think this is common sense, do not assume that you will be 100 percent put together once your search starts. If you are not used to dressing professionally and interacting with people in a formal business context, then you may have a weak handshake or poor eye contact and not realize it. Before you get busy with interviews, see if you can attend a business event just as a practice run.
Here is a checklist of things to remember about carrying yourself professionally:
- Maintain good posture. You don’t want to be stiff, but you want to stand and sit straight, as it keeps you looking and feeling alert. Practice maintaining good posture over time (interviews can last thirty minutes or longer).
- Maintain steady eye contact, but not 100 percent of the time. It’s preferable to look away from time to time, as glaring or staring at someone makes them uncomfortable.
- Have a firm handshake. Do not break the person’s hand, but do not be hesitant or limp, either.
- Develop a habit of turning off and not checking your cell phone when you are talking to someone.
- Practice eating and speaking formally. There will be situations where you are networking or even interviewing over a meal. You do not want a real interview to be the first time you experience formal dining and conversation.
Body Language and Nonverbal Communication Support or Undermine Your Words
You might look great, carry yourself well, and speak eloquently, but you also communicate with physical gestures and other nonverbal cues. Pay attention to how you use your body during conversations and meetings. You might find that you can’t sit still for long periods of time or that you use a lot of distracting hand gestures. You might be too still and miss opportunities to accentuate points with a nod of the head or finger movement. Some recruiter pet peeves include the following:
- Looking over the recruiter’s shoulder. What are you staring at?
- Fidgeting constantly. How are you going to appear to clients if you can’t sit still?
- Gesticulating in an overly dramatic way. Don’t slam your hands down emphatically on the recruiter’s desk. It looks threatening, not forceful.
- Lack of common courtesy, for example, not covering your mouth when you yawn, cough, or sneeze. How could an employer put you in front of a client with that unmannerly behavior?
- Checking cell phones during meetings or interviews. Is this job less important to you than your cell phone calls?
Start practicing good manners now so these habits are ingrained behaviors before your job search.
Step 4: Build your network
According to www.dictionary.com, networking is a supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest. Networking is an essential tool in your job search process and will be discussed in more detail later in this unit.
Step 5: Take Action & Commit 100%
Job searching should be treated like a full time job. It takes time and resources to research the job market and find positions that are a good fit. It takes time to customize your cover letter and resume for each position and to practice interviewing for each individual opportunity.
Finding and managing your time will require trade-offs. A proactive job search takes ten to fifteen hours per week. You will need to take this time from other activities. Before your job search starts, take an inventory of everything that is taking up your time. Create a comprehensive calendar that includes the following:
- Major trips or vacations when you will physically be away
- Critical projects, papers due, or exam weeks when you will be busier than usual
- Regular daily, weekly, or monthly appointments, such as classes, club meetings, or gym workouts
- Job search events that you know about in advance (for many students, include specific deadlines set by your school, such as when you should submit your resume to the employers coming to campus)
Create a comprehensive activity list that includes necessary but non-time-specific activities:
- Homework
- Laundry and housework
- Exercise and self-care
- Volunteer work
- Hobbies
- Ten to fifteen hours of job search activity, some of which must be done during normal business hours
Look at the unscheduled times and your list of activities. Block out where things might go. Be realistic about when you do your best work. If you have more energy in the morning, reserve that time for your job search activity. If you know you can’t concentrate by end of day, use that time for non-thinking activities, such as housework or exercise.
Well before you start your job search, start moving activities around and make arrangements for your replacement if you need to drop activities. You want to have a schedule in place that supports your job search, not crowds it out.
Ideas and Support Systems to Help You Set Up Your Work Space
Your job search is a project, so you need a comprehensive work space. Stocking up supplies in advance of your search enables you to stay focused and not get derailed by a surprise trip to the store. You also want to prepare in advance for services you may need, such as printing, copying, mailing, and faxing. Know the hours of the closest post office and office supply and service store. Know where you can send and receive faxes and where you can do special copying, binding, or printing. Here is a checklist of ideas for a comprehensive work space:
- Build a surplus of office essentials, such as paper, pens, mail supplies, staples, and so forth.
- Have a pen and paper by all phones if you share your workspace with others. This way, your cohabitants can easily take messages for you.
- Audit your computer, phone, and Internet access to ensure that your equipment and communication lines are in order. If you have a slow internet connection, research public access places, such as libraries, and list their availability.
- Create a professional voicemail message for all phones, including your cell phone.
- List post office, office supply, and service store addresses and hours.
- Figure out how to backup computer files, change printer ink, unblock paper jams, and any other minor but critical support services for your equipment. You do not want to be late for a meeting because you were printing a resume at the last minute and it got stuck in the printer.
- Check for privacy. If your work space is part of your bedroom and you will be making video calls, invest in a folding screen or figure out how to position the webcam to keep your environment looking professional.
- Check for quiet. Your job search will involve a lot of phone calls, including interviews. Plan now for a space where you can be heard, hear well, and concentrate.
- Make it a space that energizes and inspires you. Add pictures, fresh flowers, and so forth.
If you have a very organized friend, enlist his or her help in setting up and decorating your space.
Ideas and Support Systems to Help Manage Your Money
Know your budget for your job search essentials in advance. You can price out the work space items listed previously and the professional dress requirements listed earlier. For job search events you already know about, budget for registration fees and transportation costs. If you want to work with a career coach, factor that into your budget.
Another financial consideration is the opportunity cost of the time spent on your search, as opposed to working. If you have to drop a part-time job to launch your search, there is the cost of lost wages. If you are a student and your job search extends past graduation, there is the cost of supporting yourself while you look. How will you pay for your living expenses? How long can you sustain yourself without a job?
Your financial situation affects the execution and timing of your job search, so you need to decide on these issues prior to your search. If you are relying on family or friends to help with your living expenses, have a candid conversation about both of your expectations before you start your search.
You Must Be Confident Your Job Search Will Be Successful
Having confidence in your job search means two things:
- You believe you will get a job. You know with 100 percent certainty there is a job somewhere out there for you.
- You believe you will get a job you want. You have a positive attitude about working. You are excited at the prospect of doing the job you are targeting, in the industry you are targeting, and for the companies you are targeting.
You have to know you will be successful, and you have to want that success. If you have just one of these two things, this is not sufficient to project enough confidence in your job search. If you believe you will get a job, but don’t believe it will be something you want, you will appear anxious, frustrated, and full of dread. If you are excited about what you want to do, but don’t believe you will get a job doing it, you will appear as if you are not good enough for your prospective employers.
A confident job seeker is someone who is energized at the prospect of finding his or her dream job. A confident job seeker may not be an expert on resume s, interviews, or other job search tactics, but he or she has an innate knowledge that he or she will be able to figure those things out. This is not arrogance. Prospective employers will shy away from arrogant job candidates who appear to be high-maintenance divas and poor team players. You don’t want to come across as someone who thinks you are better than your future boss or colleagues. Confidence is a healthy, positive attitude.
You Can Proactively Build Confidence into Your Job Search Strategy
Ideally, you have confidence before you start your job search. If confidence has been a struggle your whole life or if you feel overly depressed or anxious about your job search specifically, you should seek help from a guidance counselor, therapist, or other professional resource. You want to rule out any medical conditions, such as depression, as the root cause of your anxiety. If you have some nervousness, but not in a crippling way that keeps you from your job search, you can plan to proactively build and maintain your confidence throughout your job search by surrounding yourself with positive influences:
- Pair up with a job search buddy. Pick someone with a can-do attitude, and agree to support each other during your search. Maybe you can meet once a week or call each other right before a big event (e.g., job interview or career fair).
- Start a job search group. A larger group will have more energy than just one person. A group also has a range of personalities and perspectives that can contribute alternative points of view. A group will also have people at different stages of the search, enabling you all to see different outcomes unfolding.
- Enlist the support of a coach or mentor. A more experienced person can be a great sounding board for ideas and a champion for when you need a pick-me-up.
- Read about successful people. When you see other people’s achievements over adversity, you are able to see your own potential.
- Keep a journal that focuses on the positive. Write down things for which you are grateful. Write down past successes and wins. You will see that you have been successful in other areas, and this can give you the confidence that you can succeed in your job search as well.
Designate an allocated amount of time each day to your job search and don’t get discouraged if landing the job you want is taking longer than you had anticipated. There is something out there for everyone and with patience and hard work, you’ll find the right job!
Licenses and Attributions:
Original content: CC BY Attribution:
Career and Life Planning – An Open Educational Resource Publication by College of the Canyons 5.1 The Job Search Process. Access for free at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kTVzQ6mKcTPEVnK_YUl6UkZLd1mn7wa4
Martinez, G., & Shaker, E. (2019). The Job Search Process. In Career and Life Planning. College of the Canyons.
Modifications: Minor formatting edits, CoC references removed and minor edits for broader audience, renumbered table.