CSOblog

While there’s plenty of advice out there for the job searcher, this brief article is a good reminder for the recent graduate who’s still searching.

Top 4 Tips for Recent Graduates

The best tip may be to prepare yourself as best as possible. If you are lacking a skill that’s necessary for the roles that you are seeking, take the time to develop that skill and make yourself a better candidate for that next job.

The Partnership for Public Service will be hosting its annual Public Service Career and Internship Fair on July 16, 2009 from 3:00-7:00 p.m. at the National Building Museum. Last year’s fair brought together 67 federal agencies and 3,000 students and young professionals to promote government career and internship opportunities.

Use following link to learn more and register - Public Service Career and Internship Fair.

If you”ve managed to find an internship or a job, congratulations - you are taking the next step in your personal and career development and one of the key things that will help you move forward are the skills that you develop in your current role.

If you haven’t found the right opportunity yet, or if you are realizing that it’s necessary to go to Plan B, I encourage you to think about opportunities that will build transferrable skills. If, for example, you know that you want to go into the marketing world, ask yourself what skills set you will need. Then, ask yourself if your summer job, volunteer work, internship, or job is helping you develop those skills.

If the position is not helping you develop those sklils, see if you can take on new responsibilities. If you are developing transferrable skills, great - you’ve just taken step in the right direction!

You only need one person to say “Yes” one time for all of your efforts to pay off.

This advice is from the CNBC website and it applies to everyone - CNBC article.

Two of the key tips, from my perspective, are:

1. Don’t hide behind job posting sites.

and

2. Set yourself apart. (In other words, highlight your skills to employers and differentiate yourself from other college graduates.)

…it would probably me The Riley Guide, created by Margaret Riley Dikel.

The site is simple and straightforward in its design, it doesn’t make big promises about what the Internet can deliver (quite the opposite actually), and it has thoroughly reviewed and vetted the resources it suggests.

While there might be other sites that are better for one specific purpose (e.g. job searching, networking, etc.), I can’t think of a better site to start with.

No doubt you’ve heard about the importance of networking. The Career Services office suggests networking, your parents have probably told you to network, and so on. Well, there are two widely used sites that you should consider using to networking for opportunities.The first site to take advantage of is LinkedIn. This site is widely used by professionals in a variety of fields and should be included in just about any networking effort.

The second site you should consider using for networking purposes is Facebook, but the site comes with pluses and minuses.

The obvious plus to this site is that a huge number of people use the site. Find “friends” at employers of interest, then communicate with them about your interest in their employer. The minus is that most people have listed personal information on their Facebook accounts that could be detrimental to the job search. Before you start using Facebook for networking purposes, be SURE that you are comfortable with professional contacts reviewing the information and pictures on your page.

Want to make a difference?Looking for an employer that’s hiring, even in a difficult job market?Seeking an employer that offers great job security?

The federal government is hiring for a wide variety of positions in a number of locations.Interested in learning more?

Start with this website - Making the Difference.

Sites we like - ArtSearch

ArtSearch is a job and internship posting service provided by the Theatre Communications Group.The service is targeted to those interested in working in and around theatres and includes opportunities in a variety of field including Administration, Production, Education and more.

Here’s a link - ArtSearch.

Username and password are available from the Career Services office or by clicking on the link for “Online Resources” in ECHO.