Step One: Career Exploration
To begin your steps to career success it is important to explore your opportunities and options. This process involves three parts: (1) self assessment to look at your career options in a holistic (whole-being) way; (2) major-decision-making to determine the good, bad and ugly involved with your career decision-making; and (3) the surveying of salaries and cost of living to determine your worth (value) for your future career.
Step Two: Employer Research
To be successful in your job/career search, it is important to do your “employer homework.” You must determine “who the employer is?,” “what the employer does?” and “how good the employer is at doing….?” This step will allow you, the job seeker to know what to tell the employer in a focused cover letter and during the interview what you can for them today.
Step Three: Job Search
The internet offers a massive amount of resources for finding jobs, so much that job seekers can end up “drowning” in the internet instead of “surfing” it. This step is to assist job seekers to search in “address specific” websites, rather than mega and meta lists that provide only a limited number of job listings in a particular field.
Step Four: Higher Education
This step is for students and alumni to find financial aid, scholarships, grants and fellowships to fund undergraduate, graduate and professional school education. This area also provides resources for finding graduate and professional school programs related to your future career interest.
Other Career Search Resources
This area is to provide job seekers with additional career search resources including career exploration, major and career decision-making, salary surveys, employer research, and job listings. Career search sections include the best of the career search websites and government and international employment. Although these are valuable employment resources, job seekers should utilize these websites only after focusing on the “address specific” websites provided in the Four Steps of the Career Guide.
If you find any problems, outdated links, or know of additional resources not included, please send email to: cgd@htu.edu. Comments and suggestions to improve this guide are always welcome.
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