{"id":75,"date":"2016-05-20T17:42:33","date_gmt":"2016-05-20T21:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/chapter\/4-8-starting-your-job-search\/"},"modified":"2019-05-08T14:14:20","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T18:14:20","slug":"5-8-starting-your-job-search","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/chapter\/5-8-starting-your-job-search\/","title":{"raw":"5.8 Starting your job search","rendered":"5.8 Starting your job search"},"content":{"raw":"The job search is more than finding a job posting for which you fulfill the requirements. This planning phase allows you to gather the information and language that you need to make yourself a strong applicant.\r\n<h2>Know yourself<\/h2>\r\nAs you begin the process of finding and applying for employment in your chosen field, it is important to take stock of your education, technical skills, and the experiences and characteristics that make you an ideal employee and co-worker. This self-assessment is the foundation for building strong job materials.\r\n\r\nBeyond evaluating your skill set, this is also an opportunity to take stock of the types of environments you will thrive in:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Do you work better independently or in groups?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Have you always imagined working for a large company, with the structure and perks that offers? Or do you see yourself working on a smaller team, perhaps taking risks for a project you believe in personally?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Do you like developing new ideas and planning? Do you like seeing through a complex project to the finish?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nUse this information as you search for potential jobs and evaluate employers. Seeking out a work environment and job that suits your strengths and preferences will give you an advantage in the job search and in your career.\r\n<h2>Know your field<\/h2>\r\nUse the resources available to you (such as career services, job websites, networking events) to find positions. Go to career fairs and make connections. Even before you are truly \u201con the market,\u201d career fairs and networking events are great ways to build your confidence and become comfortable in professional environments.\r\n\r\nKeep yourself informed and up-to-date on the projects and initiatives happening within your chosen field and especially of those employers that most interest you. This is not something you only do the night before a career fair or an interview \u2013\u00a0expose yourself to these ideas and discussions over a long period of time. These types of resources are a great place to get started:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Organizations and conferences.<\/strong> Connecting with and simply being aware of the national organizations will expose you to current ideas and developments in the field. Most host conferences on a regular basis and even just reading the call for presentations or the titles and abstracts from a recent conference will introduce you to new terms and concepts, laying groundwork for future learning or research.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Company blogs or white papers.<\/strong> Most companies \u201ctalk to\u201d the public or the industry in some way to manage public perception, promote accomplishments, and (often) recruit employees. These might be highly technical or more casual or promotional in tone, depending on the company culture, industry, and their goals \u2013 any of these provide valuable insights.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Social media.<\/strong> Following both companies and individual professionals will introduce you to their work, concerns, and developments in the industry. It also might make it easy for you to get exposed to these ideas as part of your regular online habits.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Local networking or meetup groups.<\/strong> Professionals often hold events at a local level to meet each other and learn about what other companies in the area are doing. These might be purely social or they might include learning opportunities in the form of talks and presentations. On campus, you will also find a variety of discipline-specific groups and students organizations that can also expose you to new ideas and resources, not to mention great professional connections.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Learn your industry language<\/h2>\r\nBuild a vocabulary! Part of what you are doing as you prepare yourself for your career is learning a language \u2013 you are developing vocabulary and learning the language of your profession in addition to developing the required technical technical skills.\r\n<h2>Soft skills<\/h2>\r\nIn the process of completing your self-assessment, you probably discovered that you have lots of skills and strengths seemingly unrelated to your field. It\u2019s important to remember that even unrelated experiences have taught you \u201ctransferable skills\u201d \u2013 skills that may not be technically related, but are considered important to any field.\r\n\r\nThese \u201csoft\u201d skills are consistently ranked high on employer lists of desired attributes and include organizational skills, leadership abilities, teamwork experience, communication skills, problem solving, meeting deadlines, and so on. In the job search process, it is important to be able to describe your previous experiences in language that employers recognize as valuable. Table 4.8.1 lists some common skill attributes and ways to describe them.\r\n\r\nTable 4.8.1 Phrasing for common skill attributes\r\n<table class=\"lines undefined alignnone\" style=\"height: 542px\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 71px\">\r\n<td style=\"height: 71px;width: 203px\"><span style=\"color: #333300\"><strong>Organization management &amp; leadership<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 71px;width: 170px\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080\">Research &amp; planning<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 71px;width: 198px\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff\"><strong>Communication<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 71px;width: 220px\"><strong><span style=\"color: #008000\">Interpersonal<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 71px;width: 192px\"><span style=\"color: #333333\"><strong>Other<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 471px\">\r\n<td style=\"height: 471px;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 203px\"><span style=\"color: #333300\">Initiating new ideas<\/span><span style=\"color: #333300\">Coordinating tasks<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333300\">Being detail\u2010oriented<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333300\">Managing or directing teams or groups<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333300\">Coaching<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333300\">Selling ideas or products<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333300\">Decision\u2010making<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333300\">Managing conflicts or problems<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333300\">Managing budgets<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 471px;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 170px\"><span style=\"color: #800080\">Forecasting<\/span><span style=\"color: #800080\">Coming up with ideas<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #800080\">Identifying problems<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #800080\">Developing solutions<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #800080\">Solving problems<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #800080\">Imagining alternatives<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #800080\">Gathering information<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #800080\">Analyzing and evaluating information<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #800080\">Setting goals<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #800080\">Defining needs and requirements<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 471px;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 198px\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Speaking effectively<\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Writing concisely<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Listening attentively<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Facilitating group discussion<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Providing appropriate feedback<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Being tactful<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Negotiating<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Persuading<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Interviewing<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Editing<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 471px;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 220px\"><span style=\"color: #008000\">Being sensitive to feelings and moods of others<\/span><span style=\"color: #008000\">Listening<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #008000\">Developing rapport<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #008000\">Providing support<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #008000\">Motivating<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #008000\">Negotiating<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #008000\">Sharing credit<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #008000\">Teaching\/training<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #008000\">Delegating<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #008000\">Cooperating; working with a team<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 471px;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 192px\"><span style=\"color: #333333\">Managing time effectively<\/span><span style=\"color: #333333\">Setting and meeting goals<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333\">Being a self\u2010starter; self\u2010motivated<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333\">Working independently<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333\">Enlisting help when needed<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333\">Meeting deadlines<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333\">Being diligent; tenacity to get the job done; follow\u2010through \u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333\">Being responsible and\u00a0reliable<\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<div>\r\n<div>\r\n<h2>Know the job<\/h2>\r\nOftentimes, a job description describes the a \"perfect\" candidate. The advertisements are a long list of every possible skill, attribute, and set of experiences a company wants in a potential employee. However, realistically, very few people may have all the qualifications listed. Employers will likely have in the backs of their minds the skills they consider transferable or learnable, and it is in your best interest to figure out where the employer may be willing to make skill\u00a0and\/or experiential trade-offs.\r\n\r\nWhen you've found a job advertisement, you should read it several times and highlight key words and skills. Note what specific qualifications are required for the position and the language used to describe these qualifications (such as \"must have,\" \"needs,\" \"should be,\" and \"ideally\"). Compare this to the qualifications you have that are the same or transferable and note how you can effectively and specifically describe your qualifications to address the needs and wants outlined in the job description. In your cover letter and resume, it then becomes your mission to persuade the employer you should be interviewed (and then hired) based on your qualifications and transferable skills.\r\n<h2>Attribution<\/h2>\r\nThis chapter contains material taken from <a href=\"https:\/\/ohiostate.pressbooks.pub\/engrtechcomm\/chapter\/preparing-job-application-materials\/\">\"Preparing job application materials\"<\/a> in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ohiostate.pressbooks.pub\/engrtechcomm\/\">A Guide to Technical Communications: Strategies &amp; Applications<\/a>\u00a0by L. Hall and L. Wahlin and is used under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">CC-BY-NC 4.0 International<\/a> license.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<p>The job search is more than finding a job posting for which you fulfill the requirements. This planning phase allows you to gather the information and language that you need to make yourself a strong applicant.<\/p>\n<h2>Know yourself<\/h2>\n<p>As you begin the process of finding and applying for employment in your chosen field, it is important to take stock of your education, technical skills, and the experiences and characteristics that make you an ideal employee and co-worker. This self-assessment is the foundation for building strong job materials.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond evaluating your skill set, this is also an opportunity to take stock of the types of environments you will thrive in:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do you work better independently or in groups?<\/li>\n<li>Have you always imagined working for a large company, with the structure and perks that offers? Or do you see yourself working on a smaller team, perhaps taking risks for a project you believe in personally?<\/li>\n<li>Do you like developing new ideas and planning? Do you like seeing through a complex project to the finish?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Use this information as you search for potential jobs and evaluate employers. Seeking out a work environment and job that suits your strengths and preferences will give you an advantage in the job search and in your career.<\/p>\n<h2>Know your field<\/h2>\n<p>Use the resources available to you (such as career services, job websites, networking events) to find positions. Go to career fairs and make connections. Even before you are truly \u201con the market,\u201d career fairs and networking events are great ways to build your confidence and become comfortable in professional environments.<\/p>\n<p>Keep yourself informed and up-to-date on the projects and initiatives happening within your chosen field and especially of those employers that most interest you. This is not something you only do the night before a career fair or an interview \u2013\u00a0expose yourself to these ideas and discussions over a long period of time. These types of resources are a great place to get started:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Organizations and conferences.<\/strong> Connecting with and simply being aware of the national organizations will expose you to current ideas and developments in the field. Most host conferences on a regular basis and even just reading the call for presentations or the titles and abstracts from a recent conference will introduce you to new terms and concepts, laying groundwork for future learning or research.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Company blogs or white papers.<\/strong> Most companies \u201ctalk to\u201d the public or the industry in some way to manage public perception, promote accomplishments, and (often) recruit employees. These might be highly technical or more casual or promotional in tone, depending on the company culture, industry, and their goals \u2013 any of these provide valuable insights.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Social media.<\/strong> Following both companies and individual professionals will introduce you to their work, concerns, and developments in the industry. It also might make it easy for you to get exposed to these ideas as part of your regular online habits.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Local networking or meetup groups.<\/strong> Professionals often hold events at a local level to meet each other and learn about what other companies in the area are doing. These might be purely social or they might include learning opportunities in the form of talks and presentations. On campus, you will also find a variety of discipline-specific groups and students organizations that can also expose you to new ideas and resources, not to mention great professional connections.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Learn your industry language<\/h2>\n<p>Build a vocabulary! Part of what you are doing as you prepare yourself for your career is learning a language \u2013 you are developing vocabulary and learning the language of your profession in addition to developing the required technical technical skills.<\/p>\n<h2>Soft skills<\/h2>\n<p>In the process of completing your self-assessment, you probably discovered that you have lots of skills and strengths seemingly unrelated to your field. It\u2019s important to remember that even unrelated experiences have taught you \u201ctransferable skills\u201d \u2013 skills that may not be technically related, but are considered important to any field.<\/p>\n<p>These \u201csoft\u201d skills are consistently ranked high on employer lists of desired attributes and include organizational skills, leadership abilities, teamwork experience, communication skills, problem solving, meeting deadlines, and so on. In the job search process, it is important to be able to describe your previous experiences in language that employers recognize as valuable. Table 4.8.1 lists some common skill attributes and ways to describe them.<\/p>\n<p>Table 4.8.1 Phrasing for common skill attributes<\/p>\n<table class=\"lines undefined alignnone\" style=\"height: 542px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 71px\">\n<td style=\"height: 71px;width: 203px\"><span style=\"color: #333300\"><strong>Organization management &amp; leadership<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 71px;width: 170px\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080\">Research &amp; planning<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 71px;width: 198px\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff\"><strong>Communication<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 71px;width: 220px\"><strong><span style=\"color: #008000\">Interpersonal<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 71px;width: 192px\"><span style=\"color: #333333\"><strong>Other<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 471px\">\n<td style=\"height: 471px;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 203px\"><span style=\"color: #333300\">Initiating new ideas<\/span><span style=\"color: #333300\">Coordinating tasks<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333300\">Being detail\u2010oriented<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333300\">Managing or directing teams or groups<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333300\">Coaching<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333300\">Selling ideas or products<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333300\">Decision\u2010making<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333300\">Managing conflicts or problems<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333300\">Managing budgets<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 471px;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 170px\"><span style=\"color: #800080\">Forecasting<\/span><span style=\"color: #800080\">Coming up with ideas<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080\">Identifying problems<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080\">Developing solutions<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080\">Solving problems<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080\">Imagining alternatives<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080\">Gathering information<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080\">Analyzing and evaluating information<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080\">Setting goals<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080\">Defining needs and requirements<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 471px;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 198px\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Speaking effectively<\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Writing concisely<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Listening attentively<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Facilitating group discussion<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Providing appropriate feedback<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Being tactful<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Negotiating<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Persuading<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Interviewing<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Editing<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 471px;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 220px\"><span style=\"color: #008000\">Being sensitive to feelings and moods of others<\/span><span style=\"color: #008000\">Listening<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000\">Developing rapport<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000\">Providing support<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000\">Motivating<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000\">Negotiating<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000\">Sharing credit<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000\">Teaching\/training<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000\">Delegating<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000\">Cooperating; working with a team<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 471px;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 192px\"><span style=\"color: #333333\">Managing time effectively<\/span><span style=\"color: #333333\">Setting and meeting goals<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333\">Being a self\u2010starter; self\u2010motivated<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333\">Working independently<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333\">Enlisting help when needed<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333\">Meeting deadlines<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333\">Being diligent; tenacity to get the job done; follow\u2010through \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333\">Being responsible and\u00a0reliable<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h2>Know the job<\/h2>\n<p>Oftentimes, a job description describes the a &#8220;perfect&#8221; candidate. The advertisements are a long list of every possible skill, attribute, and set of experiences a company wants in a potential employee. However, realistically, very few people may have all the qualifications listed. Employers will likely have in the backs of their minds the skills they consider transferable or learnable, and it is in your best interest to figure out where the employer may be willing to make skill\u00a0and\/or experiential trade-offs.<\/p>\n<p>When you&#8217;ve found a job advertisement, you should read it several times and highlight key words and skills. Note what specific qualifications are required for the position and the language used to describe these qualifications (such as &#8220;must have,&#8221; &#8220;needs,&#8221; &#8220;should be,&#8221; and &#8220;ideally&#8221;). Compare this to the qualifications you have that are the same or transferable and note how you can effectively and specifically describe your qualifications to address the needs and wants outlined in the job description. In your cover letter and resume, it then becomes your mission to persuade the employer you should be interviewed (and then hired) based on your qualifications and transferable skills.<\/p>\n<h2>Attribution<\/h2>\n<p>This chapter contains material taken from <a href=\"https:\/\/ohiostate.pressbooks.pub\/engrtechcomm\/chapter\/preparing-job-application-materials\/\">&#8220;Preparing job application materials&#8221;<\/a> in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ohiostate.pressbooks.pub\/engrtechcomm\/\">A Guide to Technical Communications: Strategies &amp; Applications<\/a>\u00a0by L. Hall and L. Wahlin and is used under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">CC-BY-NC 4.0 International<\/a> license.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":320,"menu_order":1,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-75","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":55,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/75","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/320"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":280,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/75\/revisions\/280"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/55"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/75\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=75"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=75"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}