Looking for the ONE !

The beginning of the second semester and the individual career coaching sessions has obviously created the buzz around all of us looking for “The One” job or internship. We not only keep thinking this ourselves but also discuss with our peers. If you have noticed, this has become a morning before class ritual amongst us or a break time discussion.

Should I stick to the same industry? Should I try and get into another industry? Is this what I want to do? Do I want to live in Paris or somewhere else? What would be the salary for a job or for an internship? Should I look for a job or an internship? When should I start applying? How many openings should I apply
to? What is the success ratio in the past? When did the others start applying? Have others in my class started applying? Are they getting interview calls? ……. What if I don’t get what I want? Do I have to settle with what I get?

Phew, so many questions!!! And this is not even exhaustive!

Well, this article is not going to provide the answers. But these are some tricks or tactics I would like to share with you all. Not that I have figured this out, but I did get a chance to speak to some executives and managers to understand what they expect and get some insights from talk shows and journals.

By now, all of us have a CV, cover letter, elevator speech (at least 1 of them). And we have career coaching sessions that will help us refine those (in time). We also have a recruitment book that we must work on and some of these tricks might help you or at least put things in perspective.

• Show you are interested: When speaking to a potential connection or even in the cover letter, make sure you mention why you would like to connect or why you would like to apply for the position. In networking or job fairs or cover letter, start by commenting on the other person’s job or company.
• Sell yourself, be smart and not just academic: You need a balance between sounding just academic and sounding professional. This is mainly for your elevator speeches and networking. If you happen to meet a C-Level executive or someone who can offer you a job, it is important for you to create an impression that he/she will remember. Remember, you have a short window
and it’s not natural for everyone. For example, instead of saying you have a certificate in marketing, you could say you have an idea on marketing for the product or suggest a strategy to promote or create awareness. You could also speak about challenges in the industry and convert your elevator speech to a conversation by asking how the company deals with the challenge. This will
also give you some time to assess the other person and continue the conversation.
• Leverage your knowledge from the courses: Some of us are looking to change industries or sectors. In such cases, instead of saying you have little or no experience in the new industry, try using the knowledge and expertise we learnt during the courses to show your interest. Explain what you can contribute to the job/company with the knowledge you gained during your course.
• Test Test Test: Try your CV, cover letter and elevator speech with people who can be a potential connection or someone who can offer you a job or internship. Do your groundwork before you meet, if possible. Learn about the company or the person you are going to meet. Keep your speech natural – not too casual and not too rehearsed. It might work and sometimes it might not.
Nevertheless, you must try in order to find out.
• Keep Calm & Positive – Job hunting is exhausting and stressful with repetitive alterations, personalization of Cvs, rejections, no replies and whatnot. One way is to keep your expectations low until you get an interview call. Remember, all’s well that ends well.

Good Luck with Job/Internship hunting!!

DISCLAIMER: I am not a writer nor an expert in career coaching.

Take what you want you want to, ignore what you want to. If you want to add something, please add it to the comments section.