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The UPEI SUN, February 18, 1982, page 6

The following article is an excerpt from Sell Yourself! The Career—'— Handbook for Canadian University Students and Prospective Students (1981-82 Edition). Written by Theresa Goulet, a 1981 graduate of the University of Calgary, Sell Yourself! offers jW advice based on a nation wide survey of employers of Canadian university graduates conducted ,in the fall of 1981. Sell Youself! will be am available in university bookstores in February.

If your graduating this year you may already have hear the "horror stories" about how tight the job market is, how a university degree isn't as marketable as it once was, and how it can take graduates of non—professional disciplines as long as a year to find a permanent full~time job. Ignore the stories. They're not untrue — but they don't have to apply to you. Regardless of how bad (or good) the general job situatoin is for most graduates of your discipline, no "horror story" or Stats Canada unemployment figure can tell you the one thing 'that should concern you — your personal job situation.

And, as long as you take your job hunt seriously and treat it as almost a full—time job in itself, you can succeed on the jab market. Following are some suggestions on how you can find out about job openings.

Read Newspaper Ads

Job openings are usually advertised in the Business section of daily papers and may be listed under such headings as "Careers", "Errployment Cpportunities", or "Help Wanted". Since some companies will only advertise in one issue it's wise'to check the newspaper every day.‘

As soon as you find an ad that interests you, prepare a resume that shows your qualifications for the job. (Most ads have .V ’

be responsible for. . . ", "Should have experience at--~"' _ and you should tailor your resume to the job description.) Try

to get your resume in

within three days after

the ad- appears ( and make sure it arrives -’ drop it off if the company's in town). You should also .clip the ad to your

" resume and specify which position you're applying

for since companies sometimes advertise several positions at the same time. "

Use, Your Campis Placement "

Office

' Your campus placement office can provide you with listings of job Vanancies. These "alone can be Valuable but yOu

should also, take advantage 1 ~ of the other services

offered. The placement staff can provide you with information on when recruiters are coming, . show you how to Sign up, for interviews, give you an application form to fill in (which they then copy and pass on to recruiters), and provide you with information about the Companies youwill ~

be interviewed by.

These services are particularly valuable if you're graduating ffom a professional discipline such as engineering, computer science, or accounting, but yOu should visit the plaCement office even if you're graduating with a general arts or science degrees to make sure you don't miss any opportunities.

While. you're there you can

pick up free copies cf publications that will , help you in your job hunt: "Career Planning Annual", "The. Financial Post's Career's and the Job , Market", and "Canadian Campus Magazine".

Read Professional Journals ‘ Many professional

‘ organizations produce '

journals (or magazines) for their members and some of these journals" list job openings. Most campus libraries carry professional journals among their periodicals collections and you can find out about them by asking the reference librarian.

//

Use the Grapevine

Tell all your friends and relatives that you're looking for a job and ' explain what you're. looking for. You might not get any results from the grapevine but (who

i . hows?) you could get a

call from someone who has read an ad you missed or has heard about an \' V . . opening that hasn't yet' been advertised. Visit a Personnel Agency. Private personnel agencies (they're listed in the yellow pages) are ’ responsible for finding suitable candidates to fill positions and if you want to explore all job hunting options you might consider using the services of one: You should realize, however, that their goal is not to help you; the agencies work f6? the employers. (The employers pay the agencies for their

services.) So don't expect much personal attention. '

Talk to Employers I

' The best way to find out what kind of positions are available in 'a- particular company is to ask a perSonnel officer in that company. AJmSt without exception v . employers are happy to ' provide you with 7 » ' information if you approach them in a business like manner. ‘ When seeking information from companies you have ' two options: 1') you'can write to the head office for a copy of their recruitment literature and annual report (See "Conduct a Direct Mail Campaign" for details on

how to find company

3 addressee) or 2) you can

‘ A . b > ' ’ .‘ r ' ~‘ 3 ~ ' ’ ¢ V» w- " ' ‘ . i t , Key—Wu} .u‘ x c I nay-n kmwwo‘wu‘m‘x pp y,a,o,vp;w,vl.y.4

.

'call the local office for

an information inter- view. ‘

about using the ‘ information interview approach? Don't be: 94% of the Canadian employers I surveyed will "some— times" or "often" to job hunters who phone them even when there are

,no positions available

and 73% will i'scmetimes" or "often" speak with

job hunters who drop in without an appointment. It's good public relations for then.

And. eventifnopositiqus

J3}:

Aire you skeptical T ,

H m . ‘

You andYourJobHunt :

you apply, .you might

be the answer to their

prayers in a year, or so.

However, even though employers are (usually) tolerant of such activities you certainly won't ‘ leave a favourable ' ‘ impression if you don't exhibit some common ' courtsey. Since employers and personnel , officers are busy people you shold first call to set up a formal appoint- ment. The vastrm‘ajosrity

'Willbehappytometwith

you and provide you with information about careers -

I in their ccmpany.

Try the Trans-Canada Job Exchange - . The Trans-Canada

1 Job Exchange is a 7

pleasant variation on the personnel agency. They too match job-hunters with employers but it's done on a. confidential basis by‘a computer. You ~ will be matched with employers from acrOss Canada or from one ‘ region of Canada (there are also antreal, Toronto, Vanc0uVer, and _ Alberta Job Exchanges). > For 'an information 1 package and a registration form write to : Trans-Canada Job, Exchange, 1110? Sherbrooke Street West, Room 2206,

—. Montreal, Quebec, H3A

1G8. Buy a Copy of the"Globe and. Mail's Career Opportunities"

Each week all the career ads that- have \ been, run in the previous

week's isSues of the.

"Globe and Mail" are published in a separate issue ("Career Opportunit— ies"). and distributed to newsstands across YOu can invest in a. single issuenor take out a lengthy subscription. (I adviseyou the ~ ' former; approach . student association to do the latter.) _ ' Conduct a Direct mil ~ 3

' Don't justfmiIait‘for

advertised, 6_ applyffor it before me needs

to advertise!

. mailo‘ut to employers

be one .of ' the most: effective ways to acquire job offers (employers would much \ rather find through an unsolicited resume than go through.

. H4. .