This document provides guidance on laying a solid foundation for one's job search before graduating. It recommends that students begin this process during their junior year or one year before graduating. The key elements are to 1) determine what type of job is wanted through self and career assessments, 2) build a strong professional network using tools like LinkedIn, and 3) create a specific action plan that leverages different job search approaches and technology. Specific action items include completing skills and career assessments, setting up and optimizing a LinkedIn profile, reading books on job searching, conducting informational interviews, and using job search management platforms.

1. How to Lay a Solid Job Search
Foundation Before You Graduate
Presented by
Lee Gamelin
Job Search Training and Development Specialist
Licensed Facilitator, Get Hired NOW!™
Sponsored by
Gamelin Associates, Lancaster PA U.S.A.

2. A Little About Lee Gamelin
• Business owner, career school owner,
Campus Director, Admissions Director,
Career Services Director, Compliance
Director, Career Services Consultant
• Created and facilitated over 700
programs, workshops, seminars and
webinars on job search effectiveness for
various schools, colleges and agencies
• One major program validated for CEUs
by a national institutional accrediting
agency for outstanding results.
• Licensed Facilitator, Get Hired NOW!™

3. Introduction
• What exactly does it take to find the right job?
• How long will it take?
• How can you make it happen faster?

4. Why some graduates suffer extended
unemployment
• They don’t know where to start.
• There are too many things to do.
• It’s difficult to stay motivated.

5. Job seekers rarely fail because there
are no job opportunities. More often,
they fail because of 3 fatal mistakes.
• They don’t have a clear picture of
what they want.
• They don’t have a strong network.
• They don’t have a plan.

6. 1. Know What You Want
To determine exactly what job you want, you’ll
need to use a combination of three different
methods:
1. Getting to know yourself better
2. Gathering more information about industries
and jobs
3. Finding out what others think about where
you fit

7. Getting to know yourself better
• Start by creating a skills
inventory.
• Another tool for getting to know
yourself is a career assessment.
• Johnson O’Connor Research
Foundation,
http://www.jocrf.org/

8. Gathering more information about
industries and jobs
• You may need to conduct
industry research. Begin at
Industries At A Glance
• http://www.bls.gov/iag/

9. Finding out what others think about
where you fit
A highly effective method of
learning what job might be right
for you is through conducting
informational interviews.

10. 2. Build A Powerful Network
Finding a job is all about people.
It’s the people you know, people
you meet, and people you locate
who have information who will
inevitably help you get a job.

11. Social Media
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Twitter
Three good how-to resources for using LinkedIn as a powerful
job search tool.
1. Jason Alba’s eBook, I’m on LinkedIn, Now What???
2. Louise Fletcher’s eBook, The Blue Sky Guide to LinkedIn
3. Steve Dalton’s book, The 2-Hour Job Search, Using
Technology to Get the Right Job FASTER

12. 3. Your Action Plan
The third and most important
element in cutting your job
search time in half is to design
and implement a specific,
organized action plan.

13. Job Search Approaches
Six different job search approaches in order of
effectiveness:
1. Networking and referral-building
2. Contacting potential employers directly
3. Informational interviewing
4. Employing recruiters and agencies
5. Searching specialized job listings
6. Using Internet job boards and help-wanted ads

14. When Do I Start Using These
Approaches?
The answer is when you know what you want!
Assuming you’re going to school to learn the skills
needed to carry out a defined job or career begin
building your job search foundation
• at the beginning of your studies at a career school,
community college or junior college,
• at the beginning of your junior year at a senior
college, or
• no later than one year before graduation.

15. Choosing Where to Focus
Each job search journey is made up of 5
separate stages:
1.Knowing what you want
2.Finding opportunities and contacts
3.Applying to employers
4.Getting Interviews
5.Landing the job

16. Take Advantage of Technology
If you're looking for a comprehensive
approach to managing your contacts, and
automating some of your letter writing and
email messages, we suggest you explore
some of the career management and
talent transition platforms such as
JibberJobber.

17. Putting It All Together
In order to cut your job search time in half after
graduation, you need to pull three elements together
now.
• Determine exactly what you want
• Concentrate on building a strong network
• Make a plan that includes your job search
approaches, and taking advantage of technology and
social media.
Put your plan in writing and post it where you can see it
often.

18. Your Action Plan
1. Complete a skills inventory
2. Arrange to take a career assessment with
your career center or private agency
3. Sign up for a free LinkedIn account
4. Read Jason Alba’s and Steve Dalton’s books
5. Complete your LinkedIn profile
6. Start building your connections
7. Subscribe to JibberJobber (It’s free!)
8. Arrange Informational Interviews.

19. What To Do Next
I hope you have found the ideas in this introductory webinar helpful! If you
wish to receive a full transcript of “How to Lay a Solid Job Search Foundation
Before You Graduate,” go to http://findjobsquickly.typepad.com/my-
blog/webinars.html
To download the Skills Inventory, go to
http://findjobsquickly.typepad.com/my-blog/helpful-downloads.html
And I invite you to subscribe to our blog to discover little-known and really
uncommon material that will enable you to make quantum leaps in your job
search success.
Best wishes for a very successful job search, and have a great day!
Lee Gamelin, FindJobsQuickly
FindJobsQuickly is a service mark of Gamelin Associates, Lancaster PA