Page 50 - gt1505

GeoCareers Corner

Top Tips for Graduating (and Current) Students

Did your graduation date sneak up on you? Have you been too Professionalize Your Online Presence
busy with the end of your semester to begin your job search? Here
are some tips for recent graduates or current students to help you Your online image is important and may be the first place a
get your job search started. potential employer goes before scheduling an interview.
According to a recent (2014) CareerBuilder survey, 43% of
Get Your Résumé in Order employers researched potential candidates through social media
sites, and 45% used a search engine like Google. Take proactive
There are many online resources for crafting a good résumé, measures to clean up your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.,
but it is important to hone in on (1) the organization and look of profiles. Consider changing your personal settings to hide
your résumé (on average, an employer spends less than 10 seconds images and posts. You can also filter through comments,
looking at a single résumé, so you want impeccable organization photos, or information that may be unprofessional and delete
with clear headings and precise language); (2) the statement of them. Remember that posting content in the spirit of good
work experience (be sure to include quantifiable accomplishments humor may mean something else to a potential employer who
that highlight your skills, not a drab description of your job does not know you.
responsibilities); and (3) getting an external review of your
résumé. Misspelled words, grammatical errors, or inconsistent While starting your job search can be daunting, it is inevitably a
tone are likely to ruin your chances for an interview. A good rule learning process. With each new step along the way, there are
of thumb is to have your university career services center review many lessons to be learned and applied. Don’t be afraid to reflect
your résumé. on each step and make improvements and to reach out to your
mentor(s), contacts, university career services departments,
Conducting a Job Inventory and Informational Interviewing friends, and family to support you along the way.

Where should you begin looking for a job? Yes there are plenty To learn more, visit the new GSA Careers webpage
of websites out there that you will inevitably search at some point, www.geosociety.org/careers
but another idea is to take an inventory of the research facilities,
companies, institutions, organizations, and government agencies
(city, county, and federal) in your area to see which ones match
your interests and needs. You can also check out GSA’s Geoscience
Job Board for current employment opportunities: www.geosociety
.org/classiads/.

From there you can go through your personal contacts to see if
there is anyone who might know someone who works at those
institutions. If yes, then ask for an e-mail introduction. If you
don’t have a contact, you can identify someone online and set up
an informational interview. This would just be a short meeting
(30 min.) with someone who works at the place you are interested
in just to make an initial connection. It is not an interview per se;
you’re just making a new contact, finding out about what it’s like
to work in that industry, and hopefully building a relationship
that may point you in the direction you want to go. GSA Annual
Meetings also offer plenty of opportunities to network with
potential employers or learn more about a particular field.

GSA TODAY | MAY 2015 GSA is open to your ideas and questions
regarding what career-related information
you’d like to read more about. E-mail Tahlia Bear at
tbear@geosociety.org to share your ideas.

50