Resources You’ll Really Need
Talk to your high school guidance counselor – Get a jump-start on motivation! If you’re in the thick of application process, ask your counselor about ideas for basing some of your decisions on what you want to do in life. He or she can steer you to schools that match your interests, skills, and aspirations.
Check out your college career services office – Once you’re in college, you’ll find that your school devotes considerable time and effort to ensure that your post-graduation options and goals are fully realized. Visit your office of career services to find out about:
- Matching your major to your interests and career goals
- Transferring to other schools – Looking for alternative options
- Applying to graduate schools – Looking towards the next step
- Strategies and/or workshops on interviewing, résumés cover letters, and letters of recommendation
- Job-search databases – See below for more
- Local jobs on- and off-campus – Gain work experience while you study
- Internships – Within your field, offered by your school or employers
- Job-shadowing – Opportunities to see pros work in the field
- Other opportunities to help you attain your potential
Attend career and job fairs – Your school may host one or more during the year. You’ll meet recruiters from a variety of fields, practice interviewing skills, do some valuable networking, and get a real feel for what employers are looking for in job candidates.
Talk to Your Academic Advisor – Remember what we said about faculty expertise? Not only is your advisor there to help you achieve your academic potential, your advisor can steer you towards resources, especially if he or she has professional experience outside of academia.
Know your Skills Sets – Which of your abilities can you apply to problem-solving and real-world tasks? The critical connection between your major and your potential career lies in understanding your skill sets. Learn more about transferable skills sets for job seekers from QuintCareers.
Search national job-search databases – You may already have heard of some of these databases. Not only do they provide searchable job listings by occupation, location, and other criteria, they offer abundant advice for finding and keeping good jobs. They offer updated career news, help you empower your potential, and much more. Some of them allow you to subscribe to email notifications when jobs match your criteria. Point your browser to some tried-and-true resources:
- Career Builder – Salary calculators, free résumé evaluations, and much more
- Monster.com – Probably the most well-known of resources – sign up for their e-newsletters for tips on finding jobs, changing careers, and surviving the workplace culture
- Monster TRAK – Search jobs and internships, upload your résumé, and use tools and resources
- Job Bank USA – Post your résumé, find tools for searching employment openings and advancing your career, and browse multi-databases
- Quintessential Careers– Hot resources, newsletters, and loads of valuable info
- Your local newspaper – If your local publication has a website, its classified ads section has employment search capabilities, and may very possibly tie into one of the databases mentioned above. You can limit your search to geographic distances and job categories.
Narrow your searches – If you’re looking online for prospects in specific fields, use your preferred search engine and type in keywords, such as “hospitality industry job search.” You can arrow your search by location, salary, and other descriptions as well.
Study the job market and your prospects – The more you know, the more you know!
- Occupational Outlook Handbook – Courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, get job search tips, job market news, salaries, job prospects, training and education required, and working conditions for hundreds of job types.
Check out CLD’s other resources – View our pages on Majors to Careers, Internships, and Interview Skills.