The 10-Minute Job Search-Why This Career?
By Lisa Correu, Principle/Job Search Advocate, AfterSchool Career Workshops
Photo Courtesy of Leo Reynolds
Welcome back to our series, “The Ten-Minute-Job-Search”. We’ve designed it to spare you from the self-harm and guilt that comes when time gets away from you and your job hunt. So just when you’re about to shut your hand in that drawer to atone just read on!
The Ten-Minute Job Search
By Lisa Correu, Principal/Job Search Advocate AfterSchool Career Workshops
Looking for a job doesn’t always have to be an all-day, um, job. There are things you can do in just a few minutes that will take the edge off the anxiety when you might not have time for a deeper commitment. Here are five things to choose from that you can do in ten minutes to keep your momentum going.
Photo Courtesy of Jon Jordan
Are You Afraid of Employment?
By Lisa Correu, Principal/Job Search Advocate, AfterSchool Career Workshops
Are you derailing your career before it’s even begun? On the outside do you look like a gung-ho job seeker, sending out resumes, networking with a vengeance and plotting world domination while on the inside (and in reality) you’re hesitating, procrastinating and really only plotting your next Facebook post? It happens a lot more than you think and one reason can be sheer size of scope.
Do Your Online Homework!
We are proud to debut a new blog series, "How I Stopped Worrying and Got the Job", guest posts from past workshop attendees, new acquaintances and other clever job seekers who used their noggins and landed their first job.
Jacklyn Cremer attended one of our first AfterSchool Career Workshops sessions and graduated from KU with a Bachelors in Marketing and now has a full-time job in account services at ER Marketing. More about her job search can be found at JacklynCremer.com. This is how she used the Internet to search more than job boards.
“You don’t stand a tinker’s chance of producing successful advertising unless you start by doing your homework. I have always found this extremely tedious, but there is no substitute for it. First study the product you are going to advertise. The more you know about it, the more likely you are to come up with a big idea for selling it.” – David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising.
As a marketer searching for a job, I was the product.
The hunt is about finding a job that really fits with what you want to do and will help you to reach your career goals. If you do your homework, then you will find a company, a job description, and a location that fits your interests and skills. When you know everything there is to know about the company and the position, it’s easy to let the company know that you are the right choice for the job!
Does Your Resume Bore Even You?
By Lisa Correu, Principal/Job Search Advocate, AfterSchool Career Workshops
How’s your resume? Have you read it, really read, it in the past month? If not, open it up and dust it off. A resume is a living document and should be reevaluated regularly. And if you're not getting the responses you expect from it this is definitely the time to examine the content.
Read it carefully and think about what you’ve learned in your job search since you created it, asking yourself these questions:
Would You Ask Employer to Plan Your Career?
By Lisa Correu, Principal/Job Search Advocate, AfterSchool Career Workshops
I think there’s a saying somewhere that trying to be all things to all people results in being no things to no people. I probably (undoubtedly) have that all wrong but you get the point. When I was recruiting for an ad agency I would frequently get resumes with covers that read, “I’m open to whatever you think I’d be qualified for.” Or something to that effect. I could only guess that their strategy was to be flexible and willing to help with whatever need that I might have.
This is wrong on about fifty-nine levels.
Does It Have to Be X vs Y?
By Lisa Correu, Principal/Job Search Advocate, AfterSchool Career Workshops
When I was an advertising recruiter I looked forward to entry level hiring. My agency was smart enough to know that the new ideas and new perspectives of recent graduates were vital to a progressive organization. So I’ve been a little startled in the last few years to watch so called Gen Y being looked at a bit like a new breed of human or exotic zoo animal. “What do we feed them? Can they get wet? What's a Band of Horses?” It’s also discouraging to see so many comments from resentful Gen Xers along the lines of “turn down that damned rock and roll!”
Mastering the Bad Interview
By Lisa Correu, Principal/Job Search Advocate, AfterSchool Career Workshops
We’ve all read some great advice on how to ace an interview and get hired (if you're a hiring manager here are a couple of tips for you, too) but we sometimes make the mistake of thinking we’re interviewing in a perfect world. Unfortunately, it’s entirely possible you’ll meet with someone who doesn’t actually know how to conduct an interview. 
Need a Job? Join the Club. No Really, Join a Club
By Lisa Correu, Principal/Job Search Advocate, AfterSchool Career Workshops
I'm asked a lot by our attendees or other students, “So how do I meet people to network with? I don’t know anyone in marketing (PR, accounting, business, basket weaving, etc.)” I tell them to hang out at the bus station and when they turn to head downtown I almost always stop them. It’s one of those million dollar questions with a completely doable answer. For a highly social group like college students and recent graduates reaching out to people who can help you doesn’t have to be a chore.