Published by Career Services January In this Issue... New Year Equals New Changes. .page 2 Drop-in Career Counseling Provides on the Spot Help.. .pages The Value of Internships... page 5 Building a Professional Resume ..pages Networking Your Way to Success.. page 7 Spring Events Calendar .pageB & 9 Nhtany Lion Career Network (NLCN).....page 10 Are Your References “Available Upon RsqiipM” ............. ••■•■Paso io VVhatEmployefsWMt..... The Job Search Is A Trip Tips for Reaching Your Job Destination in a Tight Market When taking a long trip, you’ll usually go through the following five stages: 1. Decide where you want to go 2. Pack your bags 3. Map out the best way to get there 4. Hit the road 5. Make stops along the way and meet people The process of conducting a job search is similar to that of taking a trip. You must first figure out what you want to do and where you want to work (Decide where you want to go). Once you figure out the type of positions you’re pursuing, you can prepare an appropriate re sume, reference list, and portfolio (Pack your bags). The next step is to determine the best strategies to help you find a job (Map out the best way to get there). Once these strategies are identi fied, you'll be able to start searching and applying for jobs (Hit the road). Finally, when you obtain those all important interviews along the way, you want to capture the moment and present the best "you'' that you can (Make stops along the way and meet people). As you read through the five steps below, take special note of the quotes from em ployers, alums, and fellow students. They offer some great advice and perspective to help you find a job in a tough economy. ■RE YOU DECIDE WHI WANT TO GO Choosing the type of posi tions that you want to pursue is much more difficult for some than it is for others. If you're majoring in Account ing, Nursing, and Elementary Education (or some other "career-track major”), you'll most likely choose to be an accountant, nurse, and ele mentary school teacher re spectively. The decision is pretty straightforward (unless you have a change of heart and want to pursue some thing outside your major). However, if you're majoring in History, Math, English, Philosophy (or some other "non career-track major"), the decision isn't as clear. You could find yourself work ing for a large corporation, a museum, a social services organization, a hospital, a government agency, or for a technology company. The sky's the limit! “The best advice I can offer is that even if you are not sure of the career you want to pursue, get involved with professional organizations and seek out the resources of the career services early on so that you will be able to hit the ground running when your career goals come into focus.” Daniel O’Dea Senior Finance Major Because of the many changes in the world of work, most of you, whether you're in a career-track major or not, must clarify your career goals to some extent. One - way to approach this deci sion is to break it down to (a) "what” you want to do and (b) "where" you want to do it. The What & Where The "What" deals with what skills you have, and more specifically, what skills you enjoy using. The "Where" relates to where you want to utilize those skills. For ex ample, if you have skills in sales (the what), you must determine where you want to utilize those skills. Selling insurance is very different from selling a college as an admissions representative. Both utilize skills in sales, but do so within two very different environments. Con versely, you may be sure you want to work in the Edu cation industry (the where), but you're not sure whether you want to become a teacher, counselor, adminis trator, or a curriculum devel oper (the what). To identify more clearly what you want to do and where you want to work, it's important to learn more about yourself and ex plore the world of work. “No job is going to be your dream job. Sometimes you have to work with difficult people, in challenging and mundane roles, and partake in less than ideal situations; however, until you challenge your limitations, you are never really certain what you are capable of. Penn State Career Services helped me to explore all job possibili ties.” Hillary Lewis, Analyst Barclays Capital Inc. Penn State Class of 2008 Self Assessment The first step to clarifying your career goals is to en gage in a process of self assessment. See Job Search on Page 3
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers