strategy

My job search strategy varies from day to day. Sometimes I attack head-on, and then sometimes I get sidetracked. Lately I've begun to cast the net too wide, so I think it's time for some self-reflection and refocusing.

Here are the methods I've tried:

Strategy 1 - University Career Center / Site 

First I use my University's career center and website. It makes sense right -- it should have the most direct access to companies. I made several appointments with career counselors, but most were exceedingly unhelpful. Heck, I didn't know what I wanted to do and every time I would sit down and talk about my skills and interests, they would treat me like just another of the hundreds of students. They handed me some papers and told me to read through them and network.

I know it's important to network, and I hate doing it. I did what the sheets told me to do. I prepared an elevator pitch. I went to the career fairs. I never found anything that interested me. Career fairs were such a bust because you'd spend most of the time waiting in line to talk to someone who didn't really want to talk to you anyway. I'm being negative, sorry. That's just what happened most of the time. Occasionally someone would take my resume and stash it along with the dozens of resumes they had already collected.



So then I also applied to a bunch of jobs via the career site. I got a few calls and interviews from that. I went to a bunch of info sessions, and then had an on-campus interview for one company that also involved me taking an exam. That experience got me to the second round interview. It went fairly well. I could definitely see myself working at that company. The interviewers were going to make the decision that very same day, so I braced myself for the answer.

Three months later I find out through an e-mail that I haven't been selected for the position. Three. Months. Talk about organizational inefficiency. That whole time I thought I was a shoe-in for the job. I've since learned better.

Other calls and interviews were no more successful. Not the right fit. I can't blame myself, no matter how pressing the urge is.

Strategy 2 - Job Boards & Social Networking Sites 

The next strategy involves sites like www.monster.com, www.careerbuilder.com, and Google. I did a lot of Googling to find entry-level jobs. For the most part, all these sites did was get put on a spam list. Now I get random phone calls from companies soliciting salespeople. No thanks, not my style.

As far as Googling goes, this also led to applying directly on companies' websites, but I've found that it's basically like entering all of your personal information into a giant vacuum.

Career Builder worked in that I got interviews with some headhunters/recruiters in the city. Unfortunately, the jobs they're staffing for are typically temporary and/or administrative assistants. I don't really want to be an administrative assistant, no offense. Sure I can type quickly and answer phones, but that's not my calling, and I couldn't see myself doing it for more than a month. Tops. So they stopped calling me too.

Other than that, Career Builder was another largely unsuccessful attempt.

So I started paying for a service called www.doostang.com. There I got some more hits in that some employers downloaded my resume. Some even called me the same day! On the other hand, I blew it. I was totally unprepared for the on-the-spot interview that the company was throwing at me. Lesson Learned. From now on, I am screening all of my phone calls from people I don't know. That, and I've actually learned about financial ratios and analysis and reading financial statements.

Strategy 3 - LinkedIn

I've been on LinkedIn for a few years now, mostly to "keep in touch" with colleagues and professors. It's there for the people with whom I don't want to be friends with on Facebook but would like to contact eventually.

I've applied to a few jobs on LinkedIn, but usually it just leads me to the sites of individual companies that are allegedly hiring.

Strategy 4 - Contacting Alums
I've contacted a few alums since I graduated - just to get a sense of what kind of jobs are out there and how they got the job they have. Most alums are really nice and willing to talk about their jobs, so in that sense it's been pretty useful. On the other hand, they ask for your resume and then that's the end. You can always call with more questions, but if the company they work for isn't hiring, it's a no-go.

Strategy 5 - Contacting Old High School Friends 
A bunch of my high school friends have jobs, so they've also been looking out for me (thanks guys)! They forward my resume to important people and hope that maybe the system will work in my favor. It's networking -- but with people I actually have a friendship with. Ideal.

Strategy 6 - Finding startups 
My next step might just be to find some startups that are hiring. Sure it might not be that stable income I've been looking for, but it could be a really great learning experience.

I realize this is a very long post, so sorry, but I thought it might be a useful exercise to assess and compare strategies.

Plus I've got a new idea after talking to a college buddy -- all you jobseekers out there, join me in blogging! Just send me an e-mail and we'll start our own blogging community.