Researching Jobs

2. To learn how to Analyze your own values and interests. Find information about employers. Use the Internet in your job search. Find posted jobs and tap into the hidden job market. Researching Jobs

3. To learn how to Deal with difficulties in your record. Decide whether to keep your current job or look for a new one. Researching Jobs

4. Start by answering these questions: What do I need to know about myself to job hunt? What do I need to know about companies that might hire me? Should I do information interviews? Researching Jobs

5. Start by answering these questions: What is the “hidden job market”? How do I tap into it? What do I do if I’ve got a major weakness? Researching Jobs

6. Before Job Hunting, Know • What achievements give you satisfaction and why. • Whether you prefer • Firm or flexible deadlines. • Solitary or group work. • Specific or general instructions. • High or low pressure. • Fast or slow tracks to promotion.

7. Before Job Hunting, Knowcontinued • If you’re willing to • Take work home. • Travel. • Spend less time with friends and family. • How important money is to you. • Where you want to live. • If the job serves a personal goal or is simply “a way to make a living.”

8. What to Know About Companies • What the job itself involves. • Who will receive your correspondence and the corresponding address. • What the organization does and at least four or five facts about it.

9. Where to Get Information • General Directories • Standard and Poor’s Register of Corporations, Directors, and Executives; Thomas Register of American Manufacturers. • Specialized Directories • Accounting Firms and Practitioners; O’Dwyer’s Directory of Public Relations Firms. • Trade Journals • Advertising Age; Cable Communication Magazine; Canadian Business; The Practical Accountant; Today’s Realtor.

10. Where to Get Informationcontinued • Web Resources • America’s Job Bank (www.ajb.dni.us/index.html). • Asia Net (www.asia-net.com). • CareerMosaic (www.careermosaic.com). • Career Path Online (www.careerpath.com). • Federal Jobs Central (www.fedjobs.com). • Monster Board (www.monster.com). • SkillSearch (www.skillsearch.com). • Vault (www.vault.com).

11. Information Interviews • Let you know whether or not you’d like the job. • Give you specific information. • Create a good image of you.

12. Information Interview Questions • Consider asking • What are you working on right now? • How do you spend your typical day? • Have your duties changed a lot since you started working here? • What do you like best about your job? Least?

13. Information Interview Questionscontinued • Consider asking • What do you think the future holds for this type of work? • How did you get this job? • What courses, activities, or jobs would you recommend for someone who wants to do this kind of work?

14. Hidden Job Market • Consists of unadvertised jobs. • To tap, use referral interviews. • Ask people you know for a referral to someone in the profession you’re interested in, then schedule an interview with that person.

15. Hidden Job Market continued • Clarify that you’re not asking for a job, but just for information about the field or general job opportunities.

16. Hidden Job Market continued • Take along a résumé, but only for tips on how to improve it; at the end of the interview, consider asking for a referral. • Send follow-up letters.

17. Potential Job Hunting Challenges • “All of my experience is in my family’s business.” • “I’ve been out of the job market for a while.” • “I want to change job fields.” • “I was fired.” • “I don’t have any experience.” • “I’m a lot older than they want.”