Job Search & Salary Tools

Getting “the” Job, Not “a” job

Anyone can get a job, well almost anyone—we won’t mention that one roommate – but if someone ever paid for couch-warming and channel-surfing—they’d have a job, too.

The Good News! There are lots of jobs out there. The Bad News is that all jobs are not right for you. Sometimes we say, “The hardest job you will ever have is finding the right job.” The job search will test your self-knowledge, research skills, organization, persistence, and persuasion. Finding the job you want has to be a planned, systematic effort. Your career depends not just on knowing your qualifications, but how well you market them.

Let say that again—it’s essential, and we promised you the essential. Your career depends not only on your qualifications, but also on how well you market them.

What do you want? Or what is a good job?

Thankfully we are all different and good at different things. It makes our society work. So one person’s bad job is another person’s dream job. If you think driving a garbage truck is a bad job you have never used a 20-ton compactor on an ugly couch and three Christmas trees. Kaboom!

So what do you want to do? If you can't answer this question, you may want to stop by during Drop-In Hours and talk to a career counselor. He or she may recommend a longer appointment to discuss a plan of action or they may suggest that you follow the steps below to help organize your job search.

The more you know about your ideal job and the more sharply focused you are, the more likely you are to find such a position. Take aim, bring your target into focus. The following factors help you better define your job search:

What career and occupational fields are open to me?
Is there a specific industry that already interests me?
What size company or employer is right for me?
Do I have any geographic limitations?
What skills, knowledge and abilities do I currently have?

Who's in Control of Your Job Search?

It's easy to give control of your job search to others. Remember that they will only be able to point you to jobs that they know about and often those will be positions that have been difficult to fill… the jobs no one else wants. If you're willing to work at it, though, you can control your job search. You can decide what you want to do, find the hidden jobs, and actively search for your ideal job.