Seniors: Eight Things to Know About the Job Search
1. Different fields and industries hire differently. Keep this essential fact in mind when you compare notes with your friends in other majors. The strategies and timetables that work for them will not work for you if you have different career goals.
2. You don’t have to figure out your future on your own. LAS students have access to LAS Career Services, as well as The Career Center.
3. Career services professionals will support you wherever you find yourself in the job-seeking process, whether you’re just starting to think about your post-college plans or trying to negotiate your first salary offer – or any point in between.
4. There’s no “right” place for you to be in your process – there’s just where you are. Start there.
5. Employers hire people, not academic programs. Your major may matter less than you think. Career services staff can help you think about everything you’ve done as a college student and connect it to future paths: your interests, skills, strengths, experiences (paid and unpaid, major-relevant and unrelated).
6. The resume is neither a big business card nor a short autobiography. It’s a marketing document that can and should change to reflect the specific needs of its intended reader. Career services staff can help you tailor your resume to your intended audience(s).
7. The “student” identity that has defined you for the past 12+ years (if you are a traditional student) is about to disappear – yet you are still going to be the same person. It’s helpful to take some time to inventory the strengths, skills, values, and interests that will shape your new sense of who you are – as well as your job search.
8. Job-seeking often takes longer and turns out to be more grueling than job-seekers expect. It doesn’t mean you’ve screwed up – it just means that the world can be like that. Don’t let rejection and ghosting define you: knowing who you are and what you want can help you continue moving forward productively.
For more ideas on navigating your future career path, visit our LAS Career Services Blog.