I’ve recently graduated from college in December with my Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering Technology, and here is what I’ve learned, so far, from my pursuits in career hunting.
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More than a majority of jobs are filled either internally within a company or by word of mouth. By the time you’ve seen an online posting about a job more often than not it has already been circulated through these channels.
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Searching on job boards is a good way to find potential opportunities, but simply applying is just sending your resume into cyberspace. Your second task after applying to a job is to find that particular companies human resources department and their telephone numbers and email addresses. As I’m sure many of you know (hopefully) we’re in a recession and nothing less that being aggressive and assertive is going to land you a job.
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Having solid resume and cover letter writing skills are a must. Just google templates and samples to get a good idea, and you damn well better be using grammar and spell checking. Getting your resume thrown out due to a typo is a great way of shooting yourself in the foot.
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Don’t be put off by job postings in which you don’t meet every single criteria on their checklist. You have to realize that this is their ideal candidate, and if you meet a majority of the requirements don’t hesitate to apply. Obviously have some common sense about what jobs you’ve applied for, I’ve heard of someone with an Interior Design degree apply to be an HTML Coder.
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Use social networking sites as resources. I often update my status on facebook that I am currently looking for work, and Linkedin.com is another great networking site.
Post up if you’ve got anything that you think helped or hurt you in your job search whether you’re looking for work or are well into your career.