Job Search Process

• Take the Focus 2 Career Assessment to explore your interests, personality, values and skills sets to guide your career choice and job search.
• List all your transferrable skills gained from previous work and projects.

• Determine where you want to work and your geographic targets.
• Create your list of desired work tasks. Maybe, for example, you like to organize schedules, develop and manage projects, or communicate with a variety of vendors.

SMART goals are ideal:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

Create a job search schedule. Following is an example:

• Monday: search
• Tuesday: research
• Wednesday: apply
• Thursday: networking
• Friday: follow-up
• … repeat

Create and/or update your resume and cover letter. Refer to the Career Services resume examples specific to your major and concentration.

• Search weekly for positions, and apply based on the application instructions: ClawLink, powered by Handshake
• Attend campus career fairs – available in both spring and fall semesters – to talk with employers about part-time and full-time opportunities and get information from visiting universities about graduate school.

Practice for upcoming interviews whether for a job or graduate school with the online tool Big Interview. Create a free account, learn how to build your interview stories, answer questions and record yourself during an online interview.

You should have three to five professional references from the following:

• Former and/or current supervisors
• Colleagues and/or direct reports
• Former customers/clients
• Former professors
• Contacts from volunteer work or student organizations

Before listing someone as a reference, ask that person’s permission.

• Present yourself professionally by creating a professional voicemail greeting and using a professional email address (student or personal).
• Send thank you letters or emails within 24 hours.

Develop a spreadsheet or tracking tool to document and manage your progress.

Collect the following information:

• Company name
• Web address
• Contact name
• Contact phone
• Contact email
• Date applied
• Application deadline
• Application summary
• Interview date
• Follow-up
• Notes
• Status

Obtain salary information, using Glassdoor, and calculate your salary using the salary calculator.