Relaunch Your Stalled Out Career Aspirations!

New grads are setting out on launching their careers, but they’ll soon find themselves coming across another group of people – grads who left school in December or the year before who are themselves in the process of relaunching their stalled out careers. Due to an economy that suddenly and forcefully collapsed last fall, many grads who found work prior to the slump have lost their jobs while those who finished school after the fall semester were put up against rapidly rising unemployment coupled with diminishing job opportunities.

The Class of 2009 will have its own challenges finding work, but it is the Class of 2008 that has already had several months to a year or more to look for work. As days give way to weeks and then to months, it isn’t too difficult to grasp how discouraging it can be to find few job openings with even fewer job offers. For these former students relaunching their career aspirations is a must so let’s see how they accomplish this goal, tough economy or not.

Update Your Resume – Your resume is a powerful marketing tool even in this day of online contacts and job sites such as Monster, Career Builder and Hot Jobs. Both hard and soft copies of your resume should be current, updated to include any new skills acquired since graduating college. If you’ve done volunteer work, then that information needs to be shown on your resume. Even if you’ve held a job totally unrelated to your field, list that work emphasizing those points which people in your targeted field want to know about. Example – You worked for Target stocking shelves. A modest job, but you can demonstrate how your organizational skills brought order and efficiency to the department.

Revisit Social Media – Today’s grads are savvy with social media, using Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and other sites to connect with people. But, might there be something in your profile which could be damaging to your job prospects? Certainly, you have a right to express yourself but employers also have a right not to hire you even if you don’t know the reasons why you were rejected. Clean up your online profile, making sure that the information you list about yourself is accurate, interesting and a good reflection on who you are. Dump the unrelated avatar; upload a fresh new photograph of yourself in its place.

Scour The Internet – Google your name to see what sort of information is returned with your search. The search engine results pages (SERPs) can reveal a lot about a person and should be searched regularly and deeply to see what shows up. Damaging information about yourself should be removed if possible, but if it can’t then you must be prepared to offer an explanation if asked to do so in an interview. Always work toward making sure that the best information about you finishes on the first few pages of your SERPs.

Get A Makeover – Men and women need to consider how their appearance reflects on who they are. Tongue studs, pierced noses, exposed tattoos, odd colored or wild hair, poor clothing styles and colors are just a few of the things which could make it difficult for you to be taken seriously. Inasmuch as you may want to prove your independence and show your freedom, companies can be selective on who interacts with their customers or who manages their IT department. Conformity is the name of the game in business!

Explore New Options – To date, have you overturned every stone to see what lies underneath? Perhaps you have considered but haven’t gone with the idea of looking for work the next county or state over, a place that could lead to a longer commute or relocation, but one that might yield to you your next job. Or, have you been hesitant about taking a lower level position with a company that interests you? The expression “getting your foot in the door” still remains important – that unrelated position gets you inside of a company you like, allowing you to demonstrate to people who you are and apply for a new position when it becomes available.

Finally, if you’re still stuck and getting no where, consider career counseling through your county’s career counseling center, your church or house of worship, through your college or by other organizations, such as SCORE, who offer assistance to people who are looking for work. Remember, each person you meet is a contact, someone who may know about a job or may know a person whom they can connect you with.

Adv. – All hope isn’t lost even in a tough economy. SayMyCareer.com offers timely advice on how you can succeed, offering job search links, career information, even advanced education tips and ideas at no charge to you.

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