Entry Level Work

Quite often, a graduate of a local college or trade school will call me looking for their first job. Typically, I explain that most employers come to fee paid recruiters looking for people with some level of work history in their desired field of work. As a former Director of Career Services, I know that most institutions maintain records of employers who have hired their graduates in the past, usually for about five years or so. There is no reason why a past graduate should not approach the proper person at the school they graduate from and ask to see a copy of that list. Naturally, they can not guarantee that everyone on that list will be interested in hiring but they are places who are familiar with the background of typical graduates of that particular school. To me, that is eliminating the first part of the cold call because the candidate will likely not need to go into great detail talking about the program they were part of as the employer should have a general idea. From personal experience, only a small percentage of graduates actually take advantage of the resources their Career Services office has available to them!

I Am Not Your Buddy!

Never call a recruiter or hiring manager and start the conversation with, "hey Buddy, I saw your ad online for a Database Analyst (insert whatever job title actually fits) and wanted to find out how to apply for it Dude!" I guarantee that you will never get a chance at any job I might be recruiting for if that is your standard method of operation. The line I quoted above is not a dramatization, it is an actual call I received this past Thursday!

While not entirely fair, I may have been a bit more lenient if the caller was fresh out of trade school looking for their first job. Most likely, I would have taken a few moments to explain why this behavior was not a good choice. Unfortunately, this candidate apparently had about 15 years of I.T. experience and had to know better. To think this is the norm would be absurd but I must share that the quality of phone calls I receive are nowhere near what they were even two years ago.

Please think before you talk and definitely plan out your call in advance. Professionalism is not dead and is essential to a great job search!.