Feeding Your Job Search

Thirty-plus years ago, I was finishing off the last exams and papers to earn my college degree while my mind wandered ahead to the retail management training job I had secured. I accepted an offer to start my post college professional life beginning one week after graduation. While friends and family members questioned why I was not taking off the summer to relax and enjoy life, I was content to start working, learning, and earning as soon as possible.

We did not have internet, smartphones, Google, Twitter, etc. back then. Each Sunday, I visited my college's library and tore apart the classified sections of the Lancaster (PA) Intelligencer Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer, and New York Times. My parents mailed me classifieds from local newspapers in NJ. I mailed out countless resumes each week with customized cover letters typed on my portable (non-electric) typewriter.

To supplement this, I stopped by the college's career center at least once daily to check for any new postings they received. They also scheduled days where several employers would set up shop and grant 20 minute interviews. We were required to register for interview slots in advance. To make sure we really wanted the interviews, the signup sessions were scheduled for 7:00 AM on a first come, first served basis. Not terribly fondly, I remember waiting outside the building one January morning as a coating of snow fell upon us! My reward was landing 5 or 6 interviews on campus, much easier than the interview I walked 3 miles to in suit and tie! By late April, I had 3 job offers!

The key to this story is that I did the leg work; identifying jobs, mailing out resumes, making phone calls, walking long distances due to lack of transportation, following up regularly with the career center, etc. Nobody found me a job. Nobody gave me a job. The staff and faculty wrote reference letters when requested, tipped me off if they heard of interesting opportunities, provided interview coaching, etc. and reminded all students that we owned our future.

For several years, I worked in career services for a proprietary trade school. My very wise mentor greeted incoming students with the following statement, "I could prepare a delicious fish dinner for you to feed you for one day or I could teach you how to fish so you can feed yourself forever." I am so glad I learned the second method all those years ago and hope you do as well!