Tool used with the "Senior Career Dinners" program Spring 2009, allowing Career Researchers to investigate individualized job leads.

1. Name______________________ Date_______________________
Job Search Target Exercise – Summary
Senior Career Dinners
Whenever we are faced with an important decision, it is often helpful to write out what we know, as
well as identify what we don’t know, that will help us to get started. There are a number of variables
that will impact a person’s job search criteria.
Here is a list of the most common variable based There are also the practical targets, which can
on an individual’s personal preferences: serve to greatly focus a job search:
VALUES TYPE OF POSITION
(FULL-TIME, PART-TIME, TEMPORARY, ETC)
INTERESTS
INDUSTRY/FIELD/ORGANIZATION
SKILLS
JOB FUNCTION/JOB TITLE
ATTITUDES/OUTLOOK
GEOGRAPHIC TARGET
EXERCISE: Complete the job search target exercise on the next page. After you finish answering the
questions, prioritize your preferences and targets. You will then record below the primary targets your
career researcher will use to locate three (3) job opportunities for you. An example job search target is
on the back of this page.
Personal Preference ___________________ Practical Target ________________________
Personal Preference ___________________ Practical Target ________________________
LORI SMOKER YOUNG Phone: 269.806.1573 Email: lori.smoker.young@gmail.com

2. Job Search Target Example
Personal Preference Skills: Working with Practical Target Industry .
People/Students .
Education. I would love to be working with
I love working with others, especially middle school students, especially if it is
students. I really enjoy opportunities that math-related. But if not, an opportunity in
allow me to collaborate with others, but also education that gives me a chance to interact
work individually. with middle school students would be great!
And if it’s an all-girl’s school/program, even
better.
Personal Preference Value: Educating students Practical Target Geographic Target .
Any opportunity that I could have working to I would love to be in the Midwest, preferably
educate students would be wonderful. I somewhere in Ohio (outside the Cleveland
believe that every student should have access area would be ideal!). If not Ohio, my second
to a quality education choice would be Philadelphia.
LORI SMOKER YOUNG Phone: 269.806.1573 Email: lori.smoker.young@gmail.com

3. Name______________________ Date_______________________
Job Search Target Exercise - Details
Provide as much information as you can at this time; although we do not expect you will have well-
thought out answers for all of the following potential job search targets, any information you can
provide will be helpful to your career researcher.
Personal Preferences
____VALUES
How do you describe what is important to you in life? What key issues, ideals, or causes continue
to engage you? Many who place a high importance on values in the workplace view their ‚work‛
as demonstrative of how they see their ‚purpose‛ in life. What can you tell us about your values
and how you see these relating to the work you would like to pursue after graduation?
____INTERESTS
Rank the following groupings of interest from the box that describes your interests the most (1)
through the one that describes your interests the least (6). Circle words that are most important to
you and cross off words that do not fit your interests at all.
____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
____SKILLS
Summarize what you would present to an employer as being the highlight of your skillsets. How
would you distinquish yourself from your peers? Are you comfortable with public speaking? Are
you a persuavive writer? Can you mediate in times of conflict? Do you have impeccable attention
to details?
____ATTITUDE/OUTLOOK
How would someone describe your ‘character’? Do you have personal traits that often receive
compliments? Do you have a disposition that would be very well suited for a particular type of
work?
LORI SMOKER YOUNG Phone: 269.806.1573 Email: lori.smoker.young@gmail.com

4. Practical Targets
____TYPE OF POSITION
Are you looking for full-time, part-time, temporary, or interim/transition (i.e. TFA & Peace Corps)
position? If you are open to more than one of these, which is your top preference?
Would you consider a short-term unpaid position?
____INDUSTRY/FIELD/ORGANIZATION
What industry, field, or type of organization would you consider?
Do you think you would prefer to work for a large vs. small organization, for-profit vs. non-
profit, public vs. private, government, etc.?
When you picture yourself at a workplace, describe your dream environment?
____JOB FUNCTION/JOB TITLE
When you think of the job you would be doing, what are the primary responsibilities you would
be doing?
Are there particular positions or job titles that you are considering?
____GEOGRAPHIC TARGET
Geographically, where do you want/need to be?
Do you need to be somewhere with access to public transportation?
Next Step
Underline key words in your answers. Rank your personal preferences and your practical targets.
Write your top two personal preferences and top two practical targets in the table on the first page. In
the table, write your key words and add any additional information that the Senior Career Researcher
would find helpful to identifying jobs for you.
LORI SMOKER YOUNG Phone: 269.806.1573 Email: lori.smoker.young@gmail.com