Job Search Strategies

Career Development Center

A good job seeker will use a variety of strategies when looking for employment.
Relying on one strategy will often lead to frustration!
Choose a variety of strategies from the list below.
Your individual circumstances and job goals will determine, in part, what techniques will work best for you.

Career Development Center – Of course, we have to plug ourselves first!

Job search advisement and assistance – individual and group sessions educating you in various techniques from networking to resume and letter writing to interview skill critique.
Employer contact and referral – through on-campus recruiting; job listings on the Experience Network, the Engineering Consortium that will soon be underway; resume referrals; multiple directories and the Career Search computer software to develop company contacts.

Networking – Bucknell Alumni & Parents (make sure you check out CDC's CareerNet!), Relatives, Friends, former Employers – It makes no difference whether they are presidents or secretaries or working in your career interest or not. What is important is the fact that they are on the inside (employed), a place that you want to be. Don’t be reluctant to tap this valuable resource. You don’t have to ask anyone to get a job for you, but just make a contact. Personal contacts are one of the most effective methods for obtaining job interviews.

Informational Interview – This strategy is unconventional and requires careful timing and planning. Utilized effectively informational interviewing can produce very positive results.Here’s how it works:

You must know what you’re looking for (type and level of job), why you are qualified, and where you would like to work.
Target the specific organization and find a high level professional (preferably someone who makes decisions about your anticipated career/job area).
Call or write specifically to that person, and ask for an informational interview.
There interview you are initiating is not for employment, but will allow you to find out about that person’s career, the company, pointers for your own job search; in short, information!
A phone call should get you an interview, mainly because executives like to feel like they are helping people. You are asking for advice and help.
During the course of the interview, you are asking the questions. You are primarily in control Hopefully you can make further contacts within the company by a direct referral from your interviewee.

Walk-In Interview – Although this method requires physical energies, it is one of the most productive, but rarely used methods to obtain an interview. A student visits the company employment office for the purpose of obtaining an interview. Organizations with a large personnel staff usually interview candidates on the spot. Smaller organizations will frequently schedule an interview time.

This strategy is a must for a person planning a long distance job search. If you are seeking employment out of your present geographic location, plan a trip to your anticipated region. Most employers are reluctant to hire you by your resume and correspondence alone. On the same hand they may be unwilling to finance your trip when equally qualified applicants are at their doorstep. Job seekers must usually prove their interest in a new city by investing in a job search trip at their own expense.

Mail Campaign – Since it is physically impossible to personally contact as many employers as you wish, the mail campaign is a simple effective method. Basically, the mail campaign consists of a cover letter indicating your candidacy, and a resume presenting your qualifications. This way you can send out numerous "employment feelers" at little expense or effort to yourself. The disadvantage to the method is its impersonalization, since the employer has only the opportunity of reviewing a letter and resume.

Web & Classified Ads – Not only can the classifieds produce good leads, but over a period of time they can give you some idea of what the job market looks like, what type of jobs are likely to be available, and when to look. Get your parents to send you the Sunday edition of the Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, or other large metropolitan paper.

Employment Agencies – The reputable ones are used by large as well as small firms. Many small companies whose size does not warrant and industrial relations department use them for practically all hiring. From time to time such companies have vacancies which pay well and carry as good possibilities of promotion as the large companies.

A word of warning - you must be careful when dealing with such agencies that they do not mislead or deceive you. Usually , you are required to sign a contract with which you must comply. Employment Agencies will generally (almost 100%) take you to court for breach of contract. You should also remember that they charge a fee for their services (generally around 10% of your starting annual salary). Before they set up an interview for you, make sure you know who is responsible for paying the fee, you or the firm.