“What’s Your Major?”

It’s a perennial question for college students to ask each other, and a frequent question asked of students by family, friends and prospective employers.  At college career fairs, I use the question as an ice breaker to encourage the often nervous student to talk about him/herself.  Unfortunately, but realistically, the question also serves as a screening device to identify people whose major would not appeal to the clients whom I serve.

In today’s world, with new graduates taking many months to find their first “real” job, and with over 40% of recent college graduates working in jobs that don’t require degrees, the question “What’s your major?” has taken on increased importance.  Some students will go to college knowing exactly what they want to do – but most don’t.  Most have to make that decision while in college, often having to choose from a list of 250 or more majors. 

As you go through this daunting task, I can only give you some old advice and maybe some that you haven’t heard.  The old stuff involves math, science, and technology – if there is any way that you can be passionate about any of these three subjects, you will absolutely maximize your future employability.  Looking at the top 10 most needed jobs for many years, the healthcare and technology industries dominate the list, and of course, these industries rely heavily on the three subjects cited.

But looking back on my own six years in college, where I dropped out of pre-med and never liked math much, there were some electives I took that have furthered my business career.  I took two Logic courses, where I learned how to think logically and reach sound decisions based on evidence, rather than on emotion.  And I took Writing courses to enable me to set my logical thinking down on paper and convince others of my positions and decisions.  The hardest elective I ever took was Library Science, but it taught me how to do credible research and find reliable information.   

Later, I formed the belief that the two most valuable skills that I learned in college were writing and logical thinking, and I haven’t changed my mind.  If you learn to think and write logically, you will also be able to speak in the same manner, giving you convincing verbal skills. 

One last suggestion: I continue to thank my Mother for forcing me to take Typing in high school- keyboards are best handled with ten digits, not two! 

Good luck to you in your own careers. 

Doug Hart, Incepture, Tampa

Hi! My name is Jeremy and I have been an IT recruiter for 7 years and have worked for 3 different companies including Incepture. I have now been with Incepture for 5 years.

Both my personal and professional experiences have taught me that finding a job is a full-time job in itself. Whether you are graduating from college, making a career change, or simply between positions, job hunting can be extremely stressful. Give yourself the best chance of getting hired quickly by spending at least 40 hours a week actively looking for your next opportunity.

Personally, I have had three occasions where I found myself looking for a job. The first time was as a recent graduate.

1^st Instance – Coming Out of College.

I graduated from college with a degree in Marketing and had no idea what kind of job to look for. I made the mistake of just putting my resume on Monster and waiting for calls. To my surprise my dream job did not come a calling. I quickly learned that no one was going to knock down on my door, desperate to hire me. 

It was time to change up my search techniques. My suggestion to all job seekers out there is to spend 8 hours a day doing the following until you land your first job.

1)      Locate companies that interest you and apply directly to their site

2)      Ask your friends and family about good places to work and if they have any connections

3)      Make sure you have your resume on all Job Boards (you don’t want to miss out on an opportunity)

4)      Search the popular Job Boards daily or set up job alerts so you get jobs sent directly to your email account

5)      If you are in close proximity to your college campus, take advantage of the mock interviews, internships, and job placement programs available through the Career Center

6)      Attend job fairs

7)      During the day, make sure you have you phone accessible and return calls promptly

8)      Keep your schedule completely open for interviews

9)      Purchase a suit for interviews and always have it dry cleaned and ready to go

10)   Be flexible on your pay. Once you get your foot in the door, you can show them what you are worth

The other two instances where found myself job hunting was when I was laid off as part of downsizing. This economy has caused challenges for many well-qualified and hard-working people and it is very challenging to look for a job when it has been years since you have found yourself unemployed. Instead of getting down and defeated by the process, take advantage of the fact that you are already used to working full-time and just switch your focus to finding a job. In my case, I found these job-seeking opportunities to be very different than my first experience.

The major difference in my job searches the next 2 times was that I had work experience and a network. I landed my second job through a connection I had made with a coworker at my first job. She had a friend that worked at another local staffing company who reached out to me within days of being let go and offered me a new opportunity.

The next time I was unemployed I hit the job boards and I found a job with a company named Incepture. I applied online and got a call from a woman that happened to work at my first company before I did. She knew my previous manager personally and she was able to get a great referral. I was brought in for an interview and hired on the same day. The major additional steps, on top of the College tips, to finding a job once you have started your career are to:

1) Use your network. Let everybody in your network know you are looking

2) Make sure you are nice to everybody you run into both personally and professionally. You never know who might have influence on a great job in the future

I see so many people spend so little time on their job search and wonder why they are not finding their next position. If you are serious about finding that next job, you need to commit yourself to a full workweek until you land that next spot.

Jeremy

Follow me on Twitter @jeremydreynolds