Got A Degree, Now Want a Job Too !?!

You snagged your sheepskin; dibbed your diploma, posed for pictures, justified the financial investment of your parents and now you want a job too?

Ok.

Life rewards actions, so take these actions and be among the top 4% of job seekers.

Discover what you want to do. No consultant, prospective employer, recruiting firm or heavenly being can help you find work if you haven’t already defined clearly what skills you possess, what work you want, and in which area you wish to work.

But I don’t know! you exclaim.

Sure you do.

You just haven’t thought deeply enough about it yet. In fact, you probably avoid thinking about it. In your heart you already know what kind of job you want but that feeling hasn’t percolated up to your conscious mind yet.

Here’s what you do: sit still in calm silence pondering the question for no more than two solid hours.

I guarantee you’ll receive insight.

Fast.

Because your brain doesn’t want to sit there for two hours any more than your ass does. So it deliver answers once you show that you’re serious.

It’s a fact: if you don’t know where you’re going, you probably won’t get there. So identify a suitable (not final) destination before embarking upon your employment expedition.

Good News! A company wants to hire you right now.

Bad news: that company doesn’t know how to find you any more than you know how to find it. That company can’t look you up so you must track them down.

This is a simple research project entailing homework, legwork and networking.

• Homework is researching the companies for which you wish to work

• Legwork is hitting the street, phoning people, and creatively finding ways to meet people who can help you continuallynarrow your focus to companies that might suit you

• Networking is constructing a web of contacts that can supply you with useful information.

Advertised jobs are the tip of the iceberg. Just as 90% of an iceberg is hidden below the water, 90% of upcoming jobs are unadvertised and thus ‘hidden’. You locate these opportunities through homework, legwork and networking.

There are too many jobs available for you. Even in a recession there are millions of available jobs. Far smarter to narrow down the particular sector in which you wish to work rather than apply for every vacancy that’s advertised.

Not any job, but the right job. Don’t panic and take the first —and usually wrong— job that is offered to you. Remember, your goal is to commence your career rather than begin a string of dissatisfying stints of employment.

Your individual job search path is as unique as you are.

But these steps take you down the road of success.

Remember the Spanish proverb:

“Traveler, there are no roads, roads are made by walking,”

So keep marching.

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Other articles:

The Only Career Advice You’ll Ever Need

How The Job Market Really Works

5 Fictions About Recruiters

Why Top Performers Get Axed

Your 27 Second Interview

Your Shoes Talk (about you)