Employment

Job placement services help people find work in their field of interest. They can give you the inside edge and connect you with prospective employers that may not advertise in the paper or on Internet job sites. Sometimes they have additional resources that can help you in your job search.

Who Provides Job Placement?
Some schools–particularly academies for specialized professions such as graphic arts or computer technology–offer placement services for graduates. Organizations often contact these schools when looking for entry-level employees. Generally the more reputable the school, the better your chances are for job placement.

There are also independent job placement services available, sometimes for a fee. Be wary when considering one of these services. Find out exactly what its idea of job placement entails. Some companies simply provide access to a database of employers, but you have to do all the legwork. Others, such as recruiters, actually send your resume to potential employers and set up interviews for you. Recruiters should never charge you for their services–the company that hires you pays the recruiters fee.

Also be aware that very few services guarantee job placement. A third party can only do so much. They can put you in touch with the right people and provide advice, but it is up to you to give a great interview, impress the employer, follow up and seal the deal.

Job search help can be found fairly easily today. The Internet has been a tremendous boon to job seekers. As little as 10 years ago, the most popular resource for job openings was the newspaper classified ads. Now there are a countless number of employment websites boasting hundreds of thousands–perhaps millions–of available jobs.

Many of these sites also offer job search help such as resume dos and donts, interviewing tips and salary advice. Some also have message boards where you can share and learn information amongst other job hunters like yourself. Information gained from other job seekers can be extremely helpful because they are actually out there interviewing and networking in the present job climate. There is much to learn from their success and horror stories–for example, what worked for them or what possibly cost them the job.

Job Search Help from Career Counselors
Maybe youve exhausted all your online resources, read all the articles and are still having trouble finding a job. If this is the case, it may be time to enlist the services of a career counselor for job search help. Career counselors provide hands-on, customized assistance in your quest for employment.

While Internet sites and articles can divulge the basics of a good resume or cover letter, they cant actually help you write them. A counselor should also be a good motivator and coach you through disappointments and rough spots. Be sure to check credentials and references before choosing any counselor to help you in this momentous endeavor.

It is prudent for all job hunters to devise job search strategies before even beginning to type their resumes. Job search strategies define your goals and the steps you must take to get there. I strongly suggest typing it all out and referring back to it periodically. When you put it in writing it is easier to organize your thoughts and makes your plan legitimate.

Developing Job Search Strategies
The job search is really all about marketing. You are the product and the hiring manager is the buyer. Your resume and cover letter are the marketing materials used to sell yourself and describe why they should buy you instead of your competitors.

You should first distinguish your brand image. Do you want to present yourself as a technical genius or an effective, hands-on manager? Then write down your unique selling points. Determine what makes you special and more appealing than the other candidates.

Unfortunately, not all of us are clever marketers, and even if we are, it is much harder when the product is you! We sometimes have trouble seeing ourselves from an HR managers viewpoint. A career coach with experience creating job search strategies can help you market yourself, get in the door and close the sale.

Before you make a resume, you must first understand the basics. Creating your resume will seem less daunting if you know the general formats. There are essentially two types of resumes: chronological and skills.

Make a Resume that Suits You
The chronological resume is the most common and often preferred by employers because is it organized logically and allows them to look at your latest activities first. Your job history is listed in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position. The first line of each previous job should list the title you held, then the company name and location, and lastly, the dates of employment. Following this general information, provide a few sentences or bullet points describing your responsibilities, and more importantly, your accomplishments while you were there. The idea is to convince the hiring manager that you will be a valuable team member.

The skills resume emphasizes your abilities and talents without calling attention to work experience. You can hone valuable skills in school or doing volunteer work that would not be described in a chronological resume. Choose skills that are most relevant to your career objective and expand on them, providing examples of how your expertise garnered impressive results. People who have little work experience, those who are entering the workforce after a substantial hiatus or individuals embarking on a career change are often best served by this type of resume.

Whichever format you choose, you want to make a resume that underscores the qualities most attractive to a prospective employer. Focus on what he or she is looking for and let your resume tell how you can bring it. When you make a resume that addresses the employers needs rather than your own, you already importantly differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack.

A new career may be exactly what you need if you are feeling unmotivated and unfulfilled in your current position. If you work eight hours a day (ha!), not including commute time and lunch breaks (which people often skip these days), you are spending the better part of your waking hours either on the job or thinking about it. Call me a maverick, but in my opinion its simply not worth wasting so much of your life doing something you hate.

If you go to college right out of high school, youre forced to pick a career path by choosing a major when youre just 18 years old. How can anyone make such an important decision that will affect his or her entire future at this age? You havent experienced life and are unaware of all the options the world has to offer. Most likely, you dont know what you have to offer either.

Whats more, even if you think you know the job you want, once you actually start working in the real world it can turn out much differently than you had thought. Most of the time, theories and principles you learn in school deviate vastly from what is actually put into practice on the job. Its no wonder so many people are unhappy in their careers.

A New Career, A New Life
Dont feel bad if youre thinking about a new career. It really never is too late. Go back to school, make a lateral shift, volunteer in your spare time. Contact a career counselor for guidance on how to effectively make the transition. Its extremely difficult to be happy in life if you are dissatisfied in your job. A new career can change your life for the better and drastically improve your well-being.