According to the latest Fortune 500 issue the job market has improved a great deal this past year -- but it is still competitive. So how can you improve your chances? Anna Ivey, a consultant on Generation Y, says she frequently sees job-seekers making 5 basic mistakes. Here they are - and how to avoid them:
1. Allowing "helicopter parents" to contact employers. Even if you're one of those Millennials who routinely involve one or both parents in every aspect of your life, your job search is one time when you should ask your folks to back off. "You'll stand out from the pack as exceptionally mature and professional if you keep your parents' advice entirely behind the scenes," Ivey says.
2. MySpace misjudgments. "Don't post anything on any publicly accessible Web site that you wouldn't feel comfortable showing a recruiter or hiring manager - for example, racy photos or rants about a job or professor you hate," Ivey says. Employers will Google you, so make sure your online act is squeaky-clean.
3. Failure to network. "You may think you don't know anyone of consequence, but if you sit down and draw up a list of everyone you know, you may be impressed at how wide your network really is," Ivey notes. Include your friends' parents and your parents' friends: "Each one of them in turn has a network." Let everyone know you're job hunting, explain what kinds of roles or industries you're aiming for, and be sure to follow up on any leads. Your school's alumni association is an often-overlooked source of great job leads, too.
4. Forgetting to say a simple "thank you." "When someone goes out of his or her way to help you, send a short e-mail expressing your gratitude and promising to stay in touch," Ivey says. "Most new college graduates show poor manners, so being polite is just one more way to stand out from the crowd.
5. Bad voice-mail greetings. Ivey says that 90% of the greetings she hears when she calls new grads sound "immature and much too casual. Make sure to give recruiters your cell phone number so they can reach you easily, but remember to change your greeting." Instead of, "Whassup, it's Greg, leave a message," say something like, "Hello, you've reached Greg. Please leave a message." And if the phone rings at a time or in a place where it would be hard to hold an important conversation, Ivey says, let the call go to voicemail: "Don't talk to a recruiter during a basketball game."
CNNMoney.com
By
Anne Fisher, Fortune senior writer
May 16 2007: 5:48 AM EDT
Don't let your parents get too involved in your job search
Congratulations on your upcoming graduation!
What are you going to do now? We want to know about your new job or grad school plans. Why tell us? So that we can give out the most up-to-date info about job opportunities, salary offers, and graduate school attendance to graduating students and hiring employers.
Please take a minute to complete the secure online form at www.rit.edu/~964www/aftergrad.htm (You will login using your RIT computer account which will take you to our short data form). The information will remain confidential and be used in group format only. Want to know what people have reported in the past? Go to the salary page of our site. Thank you for helping us by reporting your post graduation plans.
If you are still looking for a job please contact us to help you. You should know that we are always available to assist you throughout your career. All our services continue for you as alumni. Here are just a few key services that are available to you:
RIT Job Zone is our job database. If you have not been using it - take advantage of it now. Check for job postings, as well as on-campus interviews. Request an Alumni Account so that you can continue to access our site, including Job Zone, well after your RIT computer account has expired. Update your profile in Job Zone with the email address you will be using after graduation so that we can communicate new openings and career events to you.
Personal Job Search Advisement -- a program coordinator is assigned to your major and is available to give you advice about your job search, feedback about your resume and letters to employers, help you identify resources that will help you find a job, and more.
Graduate School Advisement. Annette Stewart is available to help you through the process. She is available to answer quick questions as well as one-on-one appointments.
RIT's Online Community -- did you know you can access this database of RIT alumni as a senior? Search alumni by major, state, employer, etc. Networking is still the most effective way of finding a job.
Good luck! And please don't hesitate to ask for help.We are confident that your hard work here at RIT will lead you to a successful future. We wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors!
As the Spring quarter comes to an end, we want to check to see how your co-op job search has progressed.
IF
YOU HAVE FOUND A JOB:
- Report your job through our student main page -- go to www.rit.edu/co-op/careers,
login to 'Student' and
- Click on “Report Your Co-op Job” under the My Co-op Info
section
- Register for the appropriate co-op course through SIS or your department
IF
YOU ARE STILL LOOKING:
Don’t give up your efforts – For a single block you have until
June 25th to start a job and still complete your 10 week requirement.
For a double block you have until July 16th to start a job and still complete
your 20 week requirement. If you plan to stay in on-campus housing and
have not registered for co-op on SIS, please alert RIT housing of your
situation.
Check
Job Zone daily because we will continue to post last-minute jobs.
.
If you have any special concerns or questions, contact your program
coordinator before you leave campus. We'll be available to you even
after you leave the area but it really helps to connect with you before
you leave campus.
Also, let us know if you are considering a return to classes instead of continuing your co-op search. There are certain important issues (e.g. financial aid, course scheduling) you must consider before making any final decisions.
Good luck with your search and stay in touch.
Where'd that job go? Ever want to get to a job whose deadline has passed in RIT Job Zone? Well you can and here's how:
Login to Job Zone through our main student page www.rit.edu/co-op/careers. Click on 'Jobs' on the toolbar, then the 'Archived Jobs' tab. This allows you to search by major, position type, job function, industry or key words. Key word a quarter (ie: 064) to locate co-op jobs starting that quarter or full-time jobs listed during that particular quarter.
What is the best way to use this feature? Follow up and researching potential employers.
Use RIT Job Zone to see a complete schedule of all the career-related events we are organizing or promoting like the following:
Career
Fairs
Spring Career Fair Biggest to Date!
Our recent Spring Career Fair was a huge success! Over 2,200 students
and alumni attended the event, and met with more than 500 representatives
of 207 companies. The following day, 81 companies conducted 792 interviews
with students for co-op and full-time positions.
Be sure to mark your calendar for our Fall Career Fair,
which will be held on Wednesday September 26th, with
interviews the following day. With the job market predicted to remain
strong, we anticipate another strong turnout by employers, many of whom
do much of their hiring for the year in the fall. More information will
follow; check your emails and Job Zone!
The
13th Annual Global MBA/Masters Employment Conference
An interviewing event exclusively for foreign nationals,
dual U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. Second-Year MBA's &
MS/Information Technology & Engineering
November 1-3, 2007 - Caribe Royale Resort Suites - Orlando, Florida
The initial application deadline is June 11, 2007
http://www.careerconferences.com/gmba06/international.html
It's been estimated that between 70 and 80 percent of all jobs that get filled today are filled by people who first heard about the job through word of mouth: Someone told them about the job or told someone who told someone who told someone about the job. That's why networking is so important. It puts eyes and ears in places where you yourself can't look or listen. The larger your personal network, the more likely it is that you'll find out about job openings when they materialize.
Getting
Started
Believe it or not, the easiest part of networking is getting started.
All you need is something that you can write names on — a tablet
or computer screen, for example. Before you get to the business of writing
down names, however, consider what help you need. You can look at the
word help in terms of what various people may be in a position to do:
- Offer
you a job right now.
- Offer
you a job in the near future.
- Introduce
you to someone who is currently looking to hire someone — or may
be looking to hire someone in the near future.
- Inform
you about a job opening or situation that could produce a job opening.
- Give you information about a particular person or company and, by doing so, increase your chances of converting a job lead into an interview or converting an interview into an offer.
Notice that each of these points is keyed to one of two objectives: to uncover leads to job openings, and to help you convert those leads into offers. You need to keep both objectives in mind as you launch and manage your networking campaign.
Excerpted
from Networking Your Way to a New Job
Adapted From: Job Hunting For Dummies , 2nd Edition
Click
here for complete article
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Institute of Technology | Office of Cooperative Education and Career Services
| Bausch & Lomb Center | 585.475.2301, 585.475.6905 TTY | www.rit.edu/co-op/careers