Beginning your Job Search

It’s time to plan a strategy for your job search. Planning ahead shows initiative and helps you stand out from other applicants. Preparing for interviews involves knowing yourself (self-assessment) and learning about the company through research.

Self-Assessment

Self-assessment involves gathering information about you to assist in making a decision about your career. Self-assessment enables you to become aware of your strengths, weaknesses, skills, abilities, interests, values, goals, and aspirations. Taking a self-assessment inventory is a great way to prepare for interview situations where the topic is YOU! You will know what to emphasize in interviews and articulate your achievements and goals that connect you with the strategic needs of the companies you are interviewing with. Not only does self-assessment help recruiters get to know you; it helps you get to know you. To conduct your self-assessment, check out CareerLeader-College™, a premier self-assessment program available in the BCC.

Company Research

You need to conduct research on a company before writing a cover letter and in advance of an interview. By understanding what an organization is seeking ahead of time, you can make sure you have the necessary qualifications and are an appropriate fit for the position. It helps define where a match exists between your interests and what the company seeks and enables you to articulate the match. This research makes you more enthusiastic about the company and the position and allows you to ask intelligent questions during the interview.

Researching a company can be done by:

• Checking the Internet; it has become the most common source to research potential employers.
• Reading and analyzing available print information (annual report, newsletters, magazines, recruiting literature, job descriptions, press releases).
• Talking with people familiar with the organization or who work there. Do your homework before talking with individuals. Ask them aspects of the company that may not be as readily apparent from printed materials or the Web.
• Viewing Vault Reports and WetFeet Guides (available on BuckyNet and in the BCC) provides overview information on the company, work environment, and opportunities available.

Preparing for interviews is just as important as the interview itself.