Step #9: Develop new skills while searching for a job

I know, if you just completed graduate school and you are looking for your first job, the thought of more schooling seems counter-intuitive. You’re thinking “I’m in debt $$$, I’ve spent the last 20 years of my life in school, I have a 4.0 GPA, I have tons of internships, I speak 5 languages and I still can’t find a job? I give up.”

Don’t! Keep looking forward!

What continues to amaze me (and I am only 30) is that students are still completing expensive undergraduate and graduate degrees in the humanities without have any substantial quantitative or computer skills. I speak from experience- I was one of you too! When looking for a new associate or intern, however, I ALWAYS look for “value add” skills. I mean, I know you are smart, but I have 5 people working for me that are smart, but only one of them can actually make update a website in HTML or design brochures using cutting edge graphic software. So if you happen to know HTML or have strong graphic design skills, I’m going to probably choose you! I know, it’s unfair, but it is the way it is. I also always look for strong quantitative skills, even for qualitative positions. Why? Because quantitative skills show the ability to work well with numbers, to be rational, to be able to sort through information and likely come up with a solution that is effective. They are simply a plus to have IN ADDITION to all the qualitative skills.

So what to do?

Yes, you could enroll on an online course in Statistics, or identify a weakness in your skill set and take a professional course 1 night a week at a community college. These are good ideas, will get you out of the house, meeting people and adding to your skill set.

Another suggestion though is if you hate numbers and don’t want to learn HTML (I don’t blame you), beef up on some other VERY VALUABLE skills right now: social media and Web 2.0. Learn a bit about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) (how to bring people to a company or organization’s website or blog). Be able to ask your employer about “their Google ad-word accounts” and “Have you considered using some open source solutions to cut back on administrative costs for time management solutions?” These are new areas that are growing because ALL companies and organizations want to spend less and produce more and are looking for methods. Most large organizations are run by people over 50 (I assume) who might not really understand the power of Linked-In.com for identifying partners or new employees, or the value of having a blog and having interns spend time developing “back-links” to beef up traffic. Find a way to DIFFERENTIATE yourself. Call out these skills in a “Skills Section” of your resume and in your cover letter. Let your future employer know you are thinking of the bottom line and how to expand business/exposure and have the ability to add additional value, beyond the job description. These skills are relatively easy to develop, and you might even have them, just don’t “word them correctly” to see how they can add value.

Moral of the Story: Use downtime to increase your technical skill set. Take an evening class at a community college or online. Research or “teach yourself” new computer and IT skills. Design a basic website so you can list this on your skills list.

Step #10: Use your University Alumni Organization for all that it is worth!

Hiring employees is not objective, it is subjective. Fact. I’ve gone to interviews where no one asked me about my technical skills, they simply wanted to see if I “fit in” and if “they liked me.” Today people spend more time working than they do at home, so finding a “good fit” is definitely important.

People also like people with similar backgrounds. “oh look- he is from Bethesda MD and went to my High School!” and so they happen to read his resume a bit more closely and decide to call him in for an interview. Or “He attended the same school as my graduate school roommate” (true story) and after hearing about the school for 12 months, I knew it produced smart kids. So I brought him in for an interview and ended up hiring him. These things count.

Most universities have strong alumni programs and often they have a database of alum that have “volunteered” to give career advice. Years ago, when I was looking for a job in Russia, I used the Georgetown Alumni database to find alum in Russia or working with Russia who had offered to lend advice. A few years later, I found alum who working in management consulting in London. I used the same tactic as Step # 3 and send a quick email, saying I had found their name in the alumni contact list and was hoping they could talk to me for 15 min about suggestions for finding a job in Russia/Management consulting, etc. The conversations I had were really interesting, and one even led to an interview, so it is worth it!

Moral of the Story: Use your university’s resources. People often hire alums first and alums like to help other alums. It doesn’t matter where you went to school, someone in a good position with good contacts also attended and likely would love to provide you with some advice, and hopefully leads.