Distinguish yourself from other job candidates by showing what competencies you have. Some key competencies, which apply to many fields, are analytical skills, computer skills, flexibility, foreign language fluency, interpersonal skills, leadership skills, oral and written communications skills, and teamwork skills. Marketing yourself as having a strong combination of technical skills and competencies will enable you to stand out from other applicants.
Open your eyes to the possibility of combining your passions with growth fields, such as the healthcare industry. Gerontology, for instance, is a healthcare field with a need for qualified workers. Caring for the growing number of elderly people is big business now and will continue to boom for many years. Alexandra, a recent grad with a B.A. in social work, connected her area of expertise and interest to gerontology. After hearing her parents discuss their frustration with arranging care for her grandparents, she approached one of her mentors, a social worker with an M.S.W., about starting an eldercare referral service to help adults find affordable, quality services for their aging parents. The service took off and gave her a way to go back to school part-time, and fill an immediate need in her community.
This example shows that whether your passion is to be a human services worker, a businessperson, or anything else, there are ways to combine your talents with a growing field. Some of these jobs are traditional (with a special twist), such as a social worker who does eldercare referrals or an architect who designs living communities for the elderly.
Other jobs will require your ability to work with professionals in other fields. The multimedia industry, for instance, is creating many of these jobs. Imagine working as part of a professional team, designing educational CD-ROMs. You could be the graphic artist who develops the visuals, the marketer who determines how to pitch the product, or the programmer who writes the code.
By getting involved in areas you care about and that have lots of growth potential, you can leverage your experience immediately after college and keep in synch with the job market.
Take advantage of the growing employment opportunities that have emerged as a response to economic and technological changes in the job market. There are three main types of such opportunities: small businesses, contingency work, and self-employment; and a fourth secondary type, telecommuting.
It's no longer just the big companies that can offer you career growth and opportunities. The benefits of hands-on learning and often a more casual, team environment also make small companies an appealing place to work.
Contingency work -- temporary, part-time, or contract employment -- is another way to direct your job search. This type of work has steadily increased due to organizations' changing needs, such as reducing the costs of hiring full-time employees, gaining the expertise of individuals with specialized knowledge, handling projects with highly confidential natures, addressing temporary staffing gaps, meeting cyclical or seasonal work needs, and buying time while sorting out their needs after a reorganization.
You can pursue a managerial role in an agency that hires out contingency workers or become a contingency worker yourself. You can use this work either as a stepping stone to a job in the same field or as a stabilizer while you are seeking full-time employment in another field.
Even with 5.5 percent unemployment and a recovering labor market, many companies depend heavily on temporary help. Temp outfits have added more than one million workers over the past three years, and their employment is rising at 17 percent annually ("The Temp Boom Is Here To Stay: Low Joblessness Doesn't Faze It," edited by Michael Mandel, Business Week, May 8, 1995).
You may also want to consider turning to self-employment. This is a challenging, high-risk option. But it can be a good one if you have a lot of drive and desire. This option can also help you develop a more flexible and autonomous, though labor-intensive, lifestyle.
A fourth, less available, option to seeking a regular job in a large company is telecommuting. Increasingly, organizations are offering employees the chance to work at home at least part of the week. This arrangement, called telecommuting, makes many organizations and employees equally happy. Organizations get to reduce their overhead costs and employees can better balance work/family responsibilities and their overall lifestyle needs. To telecommute, you generally need a computer, fax, separate telephone line, and work space. The equipment may or may not be provided by your employer.
Relocation can be a successful tactic when you do your homework before you move. Checking out places first will help you maximize your opportunities and minimize your costs and stress.
The three steps to take when you're thinking of relocating are: determine job growth areas, evaluate your options, and calculate the cost of living. Research job growth areas by region, state, and city or town. Books on relocation such as The Moving and Relocation Sourcebook by Diane Barlow (Omnigraphics, 1992) can help you get started.
After you've come up with some places you think you may want to live, consider whether or not each one is realistic. What are the job opportunities in your fields of interest? Are they on the rise or Pat least stable? Are there interesting, varied places to hang out, like coffee houses, art galleries or museums, and movie theaters? Are there places you could take classes? What's the housing like? Is it plentiful, affordable, and desirable? How about the public transportation systems? Remember to consider these and any other issues relevant to your situation. And, of course, ask yourself the big question: What is the relative cost of living?
As a final step, you need to figure out how much money you would need to live in your new place as compared to where you are now. Contact the local Chamber of Commerce in your prospective new location for accurate cost of living information. Chambers of Commerce also offer relocation packets, usually for a nominal fee. Also, most cities now have web sites that include their major types of employers, housing, and other relevant information for relocaters.
Another, high-tech option for getting cost of living information is to check out The Center for Mobility Resources, which lists cost-of-living indexes updated quarterly for over 450 U.S. cities based on data collected from local real estate boards, Chambers of Commerce, and other sources. The calculator enables you to estimate the income you would need in a new city in order to maintain your current standard of living.
These six strategies can help keep your job search on track. They give you a sense of how to manage the many factors that affect a successful job search. In the end, you want to keep two things in mind: What are the myths and realities of today's job market? What strategies can I use to make my job search work given these realities and their advantages as well as restrictions? The answers to the second question will become the basis for your personalized job search strategy.
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