How to Get a Great Job: Where to Look Off-line

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Step away from the computer to find more opportunities to research, find, and apply for jobs. Remember that face-to-face networking is an important component to any job search. Here is a look at other “off-line” resources and events to include in your search.

Job Fairs

Job fairs are hosted by colleges and universities, communities and profession-specific groups, or consortiums. Many job fairs are extremely general, with a wide range of employers and positions. Others are targeted to specific industries or professions, such as a Technology Job Fair.

Finding a Fair

If you’re plugged into the job-seekers’ network, you’ll automatically learn about upcoming job fairs through online forums and groups; they’ll be advertised on career sites, and fellow members of your job support group or networking circle will tell you. You may also find out through local newspapers, bulletin boards, and your local unemployment office.

Preparing for a Fair

It’s important to do your legwork in advance of showing up at a job fair. This includes more than just pre-registering and ironing your best shirt:

1. Find out which prospective employers will be participating, and select which you want to be sure to meet. Take time to do some online research to check out each one before the fair.
2. If a map of the fair is available, literally plan your route.
3. Know what you want from this particular fair, and have an appropriate elevator speech prepared.
4. Have plenty of copies of appropriate resumes and business cards ready.
5. If you have a portfolio, prepare that as well.
6. Rehearse your elevator speech and practice answering interview questions.
7. Select the business attire you plan to wear, clean and prepare it, and try it on to make sure everything is ready.
8. Have a professional-looking briefcase ready to hold resumes and portfolio, and use it to carry the materials you gather at the fair.

Working the Fair

If possible, get to the job fair early, get through registration and start working your map route by visiting your list of “top picks” first. (Don’t forget to check at registration to see if there are any last-minute additions of hiring companies.) At each table or booth you visit, try these strategies:

• Pick up the take-away handouts they provide, and review if possible before engaging in conversation.
• When you’re ready to talk—or when the recruiter makes eye contact—greet them, give a firm handshake along with your elevator speech. (For an explanation of elevator speeches, see chapter 6.) Keep in mind that the employees working the job fair are probably not the hiring managers; they are HR professionals who are screeners for the company.
• Take notes during each conversation or interview so you’ll be able to keep them straight when you get home.
• Make sure you get a business card or contact information for everyone you might want to follow up with—and give them yours.
• Take advantage of the pool of job-seekers, and network with them as well. Find out what’s working best for them.

After the Fair

When you get home from the job fair, organize the business cards and information you collected. Input all relevant details into your job search organization system. And be sure to write thank-you e-mails or notes to each recruiter you talked to—and send those thank-yous within a day or two.

Best in Show — Job Fairs

CollegeGrad.com, “Job Fair Success,” www.collegegrad.com/jobsearch/Job-Fair-Success.
Quintessential Careers, “Career Fair Tutorial,” www.quintcareers.com/career_fair_tutorial.

Publications

The printed page still plays a role in your job search. Browse these sources—at least some of which may be found for free at your local library—to look for job openings, keep up with industry and business news, and find key players you might contact for an information interview or even a job interview:

• Your local newspapers
• Industry trade journals (Midwest Engineer, Journal of Hospitality Financial Management)
• Association newsletters and magazines (Professional Photographer magazine, Interior Design in Practice)
• Your college’s alumni newsletter or magazine

Government and Nonprofit Agencies

Every community has public and private agencies that serve job seekers. Ask the reference librarian at your public library about resources (and job listings) offered by your local unemployment office, state and local government agencies, and nonprofit offices. You might get advice from these groups on interviewing, resumes, and much more. And each will have compiled sources of job listings that may be new to you. Look for agencies such as Maryland’s Office of Workforce Development, Cincinnati’s SuperJobs, a nonprofit center for job seekers, Nashville Career Advancement Center and
Michigan Works.

Recruitment and Temp Agencies

Signing up for temporary work is a great way to look for a job. Many companies will hire a temporary worker who has proven herself on the job, despite an often-hefty fee they must pay to the temp agency. Even if a temp assignment doesn’t lead to a permanent job, you’ll find it has other benefits:

1. Working at a company for a day, week, or many months will help you clarify your employment goals. What type of corporate culture do you prefer? What type of boss do you work well with?
2. You’ll pick up new skills with every assignment, whether it’s mastering a telephone system or getting training in specialty software.
3. You can broaden your network with every assignment. Connect with your coworkers and let them know you’d like to find work in their industry.
4. Temp agencies often do general recruiting as well. You can prove yourself with an agency—especially if you didn’t sign on with a strong background—and increase your chances of landing an interview for a permanent job.
5. At the end of a long-term temp assignment, ask your direct manager for a letter of recommendation. This can help fill a large unemployment gap if you’ve been job seeking for many months.

Stay Organized from the Start

As you begin your job search, keep track of everything. You’ll be glad you did—especially when you get a call from a company you don’t remember applying to, or meet someone for the second time at a networking event.

You’ll need to devise a system that keeps track of details on all jobs you apply for—at every stage, your networking contacts, and your prospects for hiring companies. You’ll want to note at least the following information:

Jobs applied for
• where you found the job posting – list the specific job board or publication
• the job title and any identifier code
• the company name and address if available
• contact names and titles, with phone number or e-mails
• the date and time you applied or responded
• which version of your resume and cover letter were sent or used to complete the application

and if you interviewed, add
• the names and titles of everyone you spoke with
• the date and time of your interview
• notes you might need to refer to for a follow-up interview
• what follow-up you took and when – thank you notes sent, phone calls, etc.

In a different area, record your networking contacts. For these, include

• which event—or where or when you met the person
• the name, business title and company of each individual, along with contact information
• notes to help you remember them
• what follow-up you took and when e-mail sent, information interview requested, etc.

If a networking contact becomes a “job applied for,” simply copy the information to your other tracking sheet.

You can record your entries on paper if you prefer—dedicate a notebook or file to your job hunt—but using computer software like Microsoft Excel will be better. That’s because you will be able to search on a company name, sort your search chronologically or alphabetically by any field, and easily add or revise information.

Why Stay Organized?

Primarily, your tracking system will help you remember when and where you applied for jobs, and possibly connect some very important dots: When you realize that the person you met at a fundraiser last week works at a company that just posted a promising job, for example. But it can also help you in other ways:

• Use your tracking system(s) to set and check your job-hunting goals. For example, you may decide that you must attend at least one networking event every week, and collect at least five relevant business cards at each. Your tracking sheet will hold you accountable!

• By logging where you’re finding job openings, and which ones have netted you results (a phone interview, for example), you can see at a glance which resources are the best. When you take a little time to look at all the data you’ve collected over a month, you may see that while the majority of jobs you applied to all came from one major online job board, the two interviews you had were for openings you found through a professional networking group.

• Your list of networking contacts may come in handy throughout your career. Save it, update it and keep adding to it even after you land your perfect job. These people may be resources for future projects, or future employers—or future employees, when you’re ready to hire someone in your own department!

Free Online Resource

Before you set up your perfect tracking system, check out JibberJobber. This is a free online service that provides all sorts of tracking functions, including tracking expenses for your job hunt, interview prep, a calendar and contact management function. Basic membership is free, but the premium package will cost you. It’s definitely worth a look: http://jobhunt.jibberjobber.com/index.php.

The Last Word

Be prepared to remain ignorant. That’s because many hiring companies simply don’t contact job applications who don’t make the cut. Some don’t even contact those who make it to the interview stage to let them know “thanks but no thanks.” You’ll send out many resumes, fill out many applications, and shake many hands with absolutely no idea what happened… the only thing you can do is follow up if possible, and bide your time. And keep your records of jobs applied for, in case the Silent Company does indeed contact you down the road.

This article is adapted from the book How to Get a Great Job: A Library How-To Handbook by Editors of the American Library Association published by ALA Editions.

Photo credit: Job fair (University of London) by thecareersgroup