Job Search 101 – That First “Real” Job

Job Search. . . something everyone needs to do eventually (unless you are fabulously wealthy and don’t ever need to work) and something people either dread or view with excitement.

So you mutter to yourself, “What’s the big deal? Why learn anything about how to find a job? I’ve always known that all I have to do is put together a resume and voila! I’m hired.” Well, it’s just not quite that simple. . .

Let’s start at the very beginning. If you are just graduating from college, or even a bit older, try to remember back when you had to or wanted to get your first job. It was pretty simple. You were most likely 16 at the time and had no cares in the world other than going to school. You had your friends and some were older and already had jobs. You looked up to the kids who could buy their own clothes, buy fast food dinners, take their dates out to eat and who had their own cars, even if they were jalopies, but you knew that they had earned the money to buy what they wanted themselves. That made everything so much more special. So you needed to get a job because in most families, mom and dad told you that you had to earn your own way and besides, it was the “cool” thing to do.

That may or may not be the case, but even if not, you probably couldn’t wait to get that first job. You wanted to get out of the house and earn a few extra dollars to do fun things with your friends, buy that car, or on a more serious note, perhaps help the family pay a few household expenses.

For your first job, you went to the local family-owned grocery store or gas station, the local swimming pool or movie theatre, the car wash, the fast food restaurant, a fancier restaurant, or even a retail clothing store where you were most likely wearing jeans or were dressed very casually. You were asked to fill out a fairly simple job application. No one asked you for a resume because you wouldn’t have one anyway since you had never held another job. You met with the hiring manager or supervisor for a few minutes who briefly went over your application and you were hired on the spot or told that someone would get back to you soon. Some of you got call backs and some didn’t. Those of you who didn’t just went somewhere else to look and started the process all over again.

Once you did get hired, you hopefully worked at your new job for at least a year part-time, flexible hours while going to school during the day. If you were one of those lucky homeschoolers or distance learning students, you were most likely finished with school early and were able to start work even sooner.

Another year went by and you were now 17 years old with some experience under your belt. Some of you didn’t really like your jobs but they were familiar to you so you stuck it out. Others may have changed to another job for more money or more hours. Maybe you didn’t find your job to be challenging enough. Whatever the reason, you still didn’t need to do much of anything except fill out an application again and list your last job, plus take a few minutes to sit down with someone who would discuss the job with you. The process was the same. You were either hired on the spot or someone called you later or didn’t call you at all.

High school graduation came all too fast. You were either on your way to a two year or four year college or technical school or you were ready to commit to that first “real” job. So let’s address the high school student who has to look for that first “real” job that may or may not lead to a permanent career.

Think really hard now. If you weren’t planning on going to post-secondary school, do you remember thinking about what it is that you thought you wanted to do when you graduated from high school? Do you remember family, friends, teachers pointing out your gifts, your strong points, your talents? Do you remember anyone around you who had some type of positive impact or influence on your life that made you think that you wanted to be just like them? Did you hang out with the loser kids who had no career goals or ambition or did you surround yourself with kids who worked hard in school, who studied and who thought about their future?

The first key to success in any job search starts all the way back in your high school years. Want to know what it is? Come back soon and watch for my blog and I will tell you what it is.

Quote for today: “Knowledge is Power” by Francis Bacon