The following was written by a June 2008 Evans School graduate who found a great full time position working on environmental issues in local government after six months of searching.
Tips for the Job Search
- Tell a lot of people that you are looking for work—this helps with getting job announcements sent to you personally and also with the recommendation process.
- Set up informational interviews. These are actually a lot of fun and will become your professional network in the future if you do it right.
- Get on a lot of list-servs.
- Go to job sites frequently. Things open and close quickly, and it also gives you a sense of the demand by employers. What skills and abilities are frequently coming up in job descriptions?
- Know what you want to do—applying for jobs you don’t really want becomes evident in the application & interview. It is about finding a good fit.
- Get as much real work experience as possible, via internships and other. My impression is that my grad school experience didn’t really help me get ‘ahead’ of the crowd in any of the application process—mostly because others had similar levels of training.
- Study the job description. Study the terms in the job description. Research these concepts and terms well. Study the organization’s website.
- Who do you know in the organization? Take them out to coffee and tell them that you’ve applied for the job. Keep it friendly and low-key. They might offer to put in a recommendation for you.
- Get relevant certifications if you can afford it.
- Have friends read your cover letters.
- Be extremely thoughtful in the interview. Admit where you don’t have exact experience in an area but highlight what you can do to learn it (and use examples).
- Be personable, warm, and considerate.
- Have great references.
- Take Heather’s Job Search class, and learn how to write your resume.
Published on January 6, 2010
