How to take control of the process and have fun doing it!

Tom Broussard, Ph.D.

Career Prospects, Inc.

Successful Job or Internship Search

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Introduction• Know Yourself—what are your strengths,

abilities, values and interests.

• Know the Industry/Field of Interest—conduct the necessary and appropriate research.

• Develop Your Campaign Plan—create a plan—start with the end in mind. Where do you need to be & when? Time is your most valuable resource.

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Job versus InternshipTechniques for job searches versus internship searches have many similarities but may differ in dramatic ways as well—such as “How much time do you have?”

They say that the best dissertation is a “done” dissertation. If an internship project needs to “get done” then it may require less “soul searching” than an attempt to select the “ideal” career path.

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Focus on Jobs•The HR Department Dance

•Getting past the gatekeeper

•Contacting leadership

•Bringing down the “shields”

•Functional versus chronological resume

•Networking works for job & internships

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Focus on Jobs•Potentially longer view than internships

•Let’s talk about the “ideal” job

•Every job is an internship

•Every internship is a job

•Almost everything about jobs and internships can be approached in much the same way

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Focus on Internship•Type of site to select & location (US, overseas)

•Educational/what are your interests

•Do-able (Paid versus unpaid)—Budget

•Be imaginative, creative, “blue sky”

•Potential for long & short term benefits

•Enjoyable

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Internship—site selection•For-profit•Non-profit•Your previous employer or friend’s•Foundation (mission driven, geographic, etc.)•Community Development Corporation •Education (research, academia, etc.)•Non Governmental Organization (NGO)•Government (local, national, international)

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Internship—site selectionDetermine limited & finite list of potential initial targets (recommend 3 to 5)—start here though list may grow through networking

•Have they had internships previously?

•If not, do they display the potential?

•What connections to the target can you find? Board members, school connections, industry connections, family, friends, heritage, etc.

•Internships have different (and differing) levels of trigger mechanisms than job search.

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• Mission and goals of organization• What do they do, what do they make, what are

their needs?• Who are their competitors? Or collaborators?• Research their business and sector prospects• Learn organization structure, pay ranges, benefits• Study organization current events—recent press• Identify organization leadership and background• Read Annual report (on website) or Form 990 (for

non-profit) on www.guidestar.org

Do your homework!

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Advertised Opportunities • Job Boards-Monster• Other Internet sites• Classifieds—

newspapers & online• College and

organization job boards• Other job boards—

associations, etc.• Industry magazines,

conferences

~20%• Organization websites • College & university

career services web sites

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• Organization & Association websites

• Google—articles, etc.• Annual reports• Business magazines• News articles • Trade magazines• Books—authors• Industry magazines,

conferences

~80%• Business Chamber• Networking—alumni,

friends, family, faculty, other referrals

• Email/Letters

Unadvertised Opportunities

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Why Internship? Why me?•Why should the target agree to an Internship? •What is in it for them? What are your mutual interests?•Understand their motivations, goals and needs. Interns can be valuable.•Demonstrate what you can do to advance their goals while advancing yours•Contact—Initial contact is very important

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First ContactThought and strategy of first contact & desired first impression

•Decision maker contact—bypass HR•Who works there?•Who is on their board?•What are their connections? Why are they on the board?•Who do you know? Who do their connections know?

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Follow up Contact•Cover letters, letters, resume, bio•Email, Phone •Articles, papers, references•Websites•Visits (face to face, virtual)•Digital camera•Other Accessories (ZAZZLE, stamps, post cards, bumper stickers, stationery, business cards, email “signature”, etc.)

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Use of Time & Multi-tasking•Multi-tasking is a 21st century skill•Parable of the Three Rocks•Assign yourself tasks based on

“task size--time slot” matching•Know your internal “clock” & use it•Bullet time—seeing things in slow motion•Flip Books—connecting actions over time•Consciously develop multiple applications

for your work and time invested•Time, trust and credibility in the virtual world

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•People you know--alumni, family, faculty, etc.

•People you do not know—largest potential source of useful leads

•Web research—snowball research

•“Top Ten” lists—Safest, Best Trainers, Family Friendly, Women Employers, etc.

•“On the Move” reports—letters of congratulations, inquiry, assistance, etc.

Networking—getting started

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•Building community—this is really about building a (small) society of mutual aid, mutual interests and trust over time

•Organized—as the hub in the relationship you must be extremely well organized

•Small world—Six Degrees phenomenon

•Relationships matter—the contact must be more than a means to an end. It can be a small “r” but it must be an “r”.

Networking

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•Mutual responsibility—mutual interests means mutual responsibility

•Technology rules—email etiquette (“netiquette”) builds trust and credibility

•Perpetual curiosity—this is the fuel that makes networking work—ask questions

•Be interested, generous, share, volunteer,

actively listen, be genuine, be specific

Networking

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•Strength of weak ties—this phenomenon helps to understand why networking works

•Asking for help/connecting—help comes to those who can use it as opposed to those who simply need it. People want to help—you have to make it easy for them to act on that desire or impulse

•Pursue obscure/tangential references—in a “small world” of networks one never knows where the connections may lead

Networking

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•Possibility thinking—“Fortune favors the prepared mind” Assume things will work out while taking nothing for granted. Look for patterns of possibilities. Take risks.

•Informational interviewing—in essence, this is what all your communications are

•Gimmick free—ironically there is no quid pro quo in effective networking

•Thank you—the secret to it all

Networking

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SummaryYou are in control! Never relinquish responsibility for action

Focus on hosts’ & contacts’ needs first

Maintain genuine & sincere communications

Do not expect things of others—make it easy for them to provide whatever they can and be grateful for whatever they do

Consider the future—you are building important bridges into both yours and theirs

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ReferencesDjeddah, E. (1971). Moving Up: How to Get High-Salaried Jobs. Berkley, Ten Speed Press.

Friedman, T. (2005). The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Gladwell, M. (2000). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Boston, Little, Brown and Company.

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ReferencesGladwell, M. (2005). Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York, Little, Brown and Company.

Gleick, J. (1999). Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything. New York, Vintage Books.

Goleman, D. (2006). Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships. New York, Bantam Books.

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ReferencesGranovetter, M. (1974). Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.

Lipnack, J. & Stamps, J. (1994). The Age of the Network: Organizing Principles for the 21st Century. Essex Junction, VT. OMNEO.

Watts, D. (2003). Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age. New York, W.W. Norton & Company.