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Modern Yuppie: Focus your job search

Amber Yake - News Editor

The writer and editor of Ms. Career Girl (www.mscareergirl.com), Nicole Crimaldi, uses her popular website to address the needs of ambitious young professionals and mentor college seniors through the job-search process.

Recently, Crimaldi said that “lack of focus in applications is (in my opinion) the number one problem with recent grads.”

So, I emailed her to get some more information on how students could focus their job searches and land the job of their dreams.

1. What do you mean when you say that students should "focus" their job search?

First, let me say that Mrs. Career Girl is hosting a "senior series" during spring semester of senior year. I am mentoring five rock star college seniors who are looking to land their first job. I also have a sister who is a senior in college, and get tons of emails each week from college seniors all asking the same types of questions.

When I re-do resumes I always notice one thing: the students don't know what they want to do after graduation and it's so obvious. If I were a recruiter and saw this type of resume, I'd probably throw it away.

2. Why do you say that? In this economy shouldn't they try to get any job they can?

If you've ever been a part of sorority recruitment, or any other extracurricular activity, you know that half of why someone is picked is because they WANT to be there so badly. If someone is optimistic, excited, and putting their effort into that activity you'd rather pick them than someone who was openly trying out for soccer, cheerleading AND chess time at the same time.

The same applies to job searches. Even if you've had a variety of internship experiences you need to find one common thread that shows how that experience applies to that particular job.

3. How should they go about focusing their search?

Your job search is more like a sales campaign. You are selling yourself. A good sales person knows their target market and crafts their sales campaign around it. You must find out what your prospect (in this case, the company you are applying to) values and needs, and design your resume and cover letter around it.

Note: I'm not saying you should embellish anything on your resume! Rather, reposition.

For example, if you are applying for a position as a marketing coordinator and you've had an internship in newspaper journalism, sports marketing, and a job as a sales associate at a retail store you need to dig a layer deeper and figure out why what you did there helps your prospect. Upon a first glance those 3 internships are completely different and unrelated. This is fine, as long as the experience you gained there matches what they are looking for.

Believe me; employers don't want to waste a ton of time sifting through resumes. When they find someone who is genuinely interested AND a great fit- they will want to interview you.

This process can be exhausting if you are applying to 5 different types of roles. My recommendation is picking two types of positions (for example, PR and sales) and building your sales materials (resume/cv) around those roles. In this case you'd have two different resume and cv's. And beyond that, each cv should be crafted for the specific position and company you are applying to.

4. What if they have no idea what they want to do?

Well, understandably, this is the common problem! That is fine, but the potential employers don't need to know that. Whatever you are applying for, do so with passion and intention. The truth is, no first job is perfect. Most people in our generation don't stay at their first job for long. This is all part of the process. Pick a few things that seem interesting and realistic and go from there.

If you need additional help in narrowing your focus, get in touch with me. I'm currently putting together material to help break through this very common problem.

5. If they focus their job search and have no luck after a few months then should they widen their search again?

Sure, it's no problem to add a 3rd or 4th type of role to your campaign. Again, just make sure you spend the time crafting your materials around that industry, company and role.

My guess is that if you aren't having any luck getting interviews, you are depending on huge job boards rather than warm leads from networking, or you are applying for positions that are totally unrealistic with your experience level. Or you need to get in touch with a job staging coach like me who can give you the facelift you need to get interviews.

6. What is your #1 tip for a new college graduate searching for a job?

Start early, but don't apply early. In other words, network with real people way before you start applying to jobs.