Land A Job In A Tough Economy Janet Civitelli, Ph.D. Associate Director [email protected].

Land A Job In A Tough Economy

Janet Civitelli, Ph.D.

Associate Director

[email protected]

State of the Union

2009 – College hiring for new grads is down 22%

2009 – February unemployment rate is 7.6% 2008 – Highest annual job loss (2.6M) since

1945 2008 - Underemployment rate is estimated at

12.5%

How The Economy Affects Job Search

Boom Economy: Tough Economy:

Jobs are plentiful Jobs are scarce

Job seeker’s market Employer’s market

Salary negotiation First offer, best offer

Short job search Long job search

Dream job Compromise job

Top 5 Labor Market Areas: 2008

1. Houston, TX2. Austin, TX

3. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

4. Raleigh, NC

5. Seattle, WA

Source: BizJournals.com

Industries That Are Hiring

Government Education Health care Energy “Green” employers

Jobs Seeking Employees

Nursing Sales and Business Development Mechanical Engineering Software Design and Development Account Management / Customer Support Accounting

Source: jobfox.com

More Jobs Seeking Employees

Administrative Assistant Counseling and Social Work Accounting & Finance Executive Networking / System Admin Store Management Finance Staff

Source: jobfox.com

The Big Picture

Interests – What do you love to do? Abilities – What are your strengths? Values – What matters to you? Personality – Who are you? Labor Market – How is the economy?

What Does It Take To Get Job Offers?

1. Focus

2. Accomplishments

3. Attitude

4. Action

5. Connections

Focus

Candidate #1: I can do anything. Please hire me.

Candidate #2: I’m a marketing major who completed internships at Disney and ABC. I’m seeking to use my communication and project management skills in a public relations role.

Accomplishments

Work history of on campus or off campus employment

Internships Volunteer work Leadership positions with student

organizations Team leadership from class projects

Attitude: Optimism

“Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”

Colin Powell

Optimism is helpful but not required. Optimism facilitates greater sense of control

and well-being during a job search. Optimism can be learned.

Attitude: Courage

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.”

Mary Anne Radmacher

Attitude: Persistence

“It is not that I’m so smart…it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

Albert Einstein

Attitude: Persistence

Dr. Seuss’ first book was rejected 27 times by publishers; he went on to write 60+ books and sell 222 million copies

Action

22 hours per week is a good goal

More hours = diminishing marginal returns

Talk to everyone you meet about your specific goal

Action

Pretend your job search is a semester-long school project

Use techniques from project management

I can predict who will land jobs by looking at a job seeker’s written plan

Use The Internet:

Research careers and companies – UCS pays for Vault.com and CareerBeam subscriptions for students – log in at career.uh.edu

Use The Internet:

Visit company Web sites Get contact information Online networking like listservs and

LinkedIn.com Personal job search agent at Indeed.com

More Internet Tips

Stay off line during the valuable time of the business day

Do not hide behind the computer screen

Focus on niche sites for specific careers, such as JobsInTheMoney.com, MarketingPower.com, etc.

Connections

Human nature hasn’t changed

The more people you know who like you, the better your chance of being hired

You can make connections through work or non-work avenues

Homework: Have Conversations

Every week, describe your job goal and your skills to five people.

Example: How To Start Conversations

“I’m an English major graduating from UH and I want to find a position where I could use my writing and project management skills. I’d like your advice about which companies in the advertising industry might be hiring.”

Connect Through UCAN

UCAN = University Career Advisory Network

Professionals with experience, skills, and ADVICE

Available through www.career.uh.edu

Graceful Networking

It is always a good strategy to ask for advice and information, which are free to give. Jobs are not free to give.

Practice Conversations

Career counselors are great at role playing networking conversations until you become comfortable doing them in real life.

Where Employers Find New Hires

Internship programs Co-op programs Campus recruiting Employee referrals Career / job fairs Professional

associations

Faculty contacts Direct application to

the company’s Web site

Student organizations Job advertisements Conferences

Resume 101

Include a Career Summary that tells what you have to offer and what you want to do:

CAREER SUMMARY:

Mathematics major with strong analytic skills seeking entry level position in the actuarial field.

Resume 101 (cont.)

An ad, not a legal document

Tailor each resume and cover letter

Ask faculty, professional contacts, and career counselors to critique your resume

No spelling or formatting errors!

Resume Grade

A resume gets an A+ if it lands you interviews!

Interviewing Tips

Prepare!

Two column method

Practice with a career counselor

Practice with a voice recorder

Interviewing Tips: C A R

Challenge – Situation you faced

Action – What you did about it

Result – The outcome

Survival Strategies for a Long Job Search

Temp

Volunteer

Survival job

More education or specialized training

Self employment or consulting

Portfolio career

A Word of Warning!

Never pay thousands of dollars to anyone who says they can introduce you to potential employers

University Career Services

Individualized Career Counseling

Workshops

Campus Recruitment

JOBank

Extensive online resources at http://www.career.uh.edu

Walk In Hours For University Career Services, Spring Semester

Monday and Tuesday, 9 am to 11 am, 2 pm to 6:30 pm

Wednesday and Thursday, 9 am to 11 am, 2 pm to 4 pm

Please come visit us!

Questions & Answers