Page 6 Portland Observer, June 3, 1987
Finding the right job for you: a step by step
• Handle responsibility
• Demonstrate your interests in
living color
• Gain new interests
• Learn how organizations operate;
• Meet new people and contacts
• Expose yo urself to new role
models.
Good grades can be im p o rta nt.
But when you enter the employment
market, the second question an em
ployer asks you (after your name) is,
"W hat have you done?”
The Bureau o f L ao o r Statistics
warns that one out o f fo u r college
graduates w ill not be able to find a
jo b that fits a b ilitie s or expec
tations. I f you’ re Black, figure it
w ill be worse. Graduates w ill have
to work harder at career planning
and job hunting.
So where do you start? Instead of
beginning with what’ s “ out there,’ ’
begin with who you are. Begin with
an analysis o f your interests, trans
ferable skills, values, psychological
needs and so on.
I f who you are is in harmony with
what you do, fu lfillm e n t is most
likely.
T w o -th ird s o f the w orking
pop u la tion are not happy w ith
“ what they d o .” So, begin by
focusing on who you are. One o f the
best places to get help w ith this is
your career planning and placement
office.
Meet w ith career counselors at
your college or university. Take ad
vantage o f in d iv id u a l and group
career counseling. Ask fo r recom
mended
readings.
A ttend
workshops, seminars and courses.
Let them help de-mythologize some
of this career planning business with
you.
Here are some tips to help
energize your career planning and
job hunting:
Market
yourself
2 .T ake som e courses th a t
enhance your m a rk e ta b ility .
Especially if you are studying liberal
arts, take a few electives to
heighten your chances with a wider
range o f employers. Recruiters have
recommended courses in accoun
tin g, computer science, statistics,
management, technical writing, and
so on. Even if you are aiming at the
non-profit sector, you w ill quickly
fin d that these organizations also
use such business tools to get the job
done.
Learn to
communicate
Develop
your skills
3. Search out and conquer
high levels of transferable skills.
There are tw o specific areas that
employers fin d most lacking in
prospective jo b hunters: Human
relations skills and communication
skills.
Regardless o f the field you enter,
you w ill need to relate well to
colleagues, the public and various
constituencies, and your supervisor .
A nd you w ill also be expected to
speak articulately and write clearly
and concisely. There is hardly a
judgem ent jo b anywhere that
doesn’ t revolve around these two
areas. So, id e n tify courses, ac
tiv itie s , and experiences that w ill
enhance your human relations and
communication skills Don’ t assume
tha' :hey come only from courses.
1. G et Experience. When em
ployers were surveyed about advice
to college students on how to in
crease their employability, they said
emphatically: Get experience. Paid
or volunteer. Part-time or full-time.
W o rk or internships or ex
tra c u rric u la r a ctivitie s. The suc
cessful always seem to have some
experiences which serve as fo u n
dation building-blocks to bigger op
portunities.
Actively seek our experiences that
w ill enabltfyou to:
• Develop responsible w ork a t
titudes and habits;
» Develop leadership skills;
although that’ s a start. Leadership
roles, fo r example, o fte n require
you to learn how to interrelate with
others, to make presentations, to
complete proposals and reports,
supervise others.
Career planners make a bad
mistake to assume that they need
only master some content (lik e
m arketing,
Shakespeare,
or
engineering) to get a good jo b . In
many cases, the content o f a job can
be learned on the job. It is the trans
ferable j k j l l s — applicable in any
number o f occupations— that w ill
contribute to success or failure.
Invest in
your career
4 .D e te rm in e to apend m oney
and tim e on y o u r c a re e r p la n
ning. The class o f 1984 w ill retire in
the year 2032 A .D . I f you are twen
ty-tw o at gra du a tion , tha t leaves
approxim ately 48 years you w ill
spend in the workforce, u n til man
datory retirement at age 70! We are
talking about a sizable investment
o f your life and the fu lfillin g use o f
your talents, so don’ t assume it is
going to be either easy or free.
A good rule o f thumb: Figure on
spending about the same amount of
time and money on your career as
you would fo r one college course
(out o f 36 to 40 courses). A t a
private institution, you would spend
about $500 fo r a course. A n d , if
you’ re a sharp student, you would
probably spend about 15 hours per
week on a course, co unting class
time. Isn’ t your own career worth at
least that much attention?
Don’ t be afraid to invest in career
planning materials, non-paying in
ternships, anr’ —especially— travel
to research your chosen career field.
You are worth it!
Research
opportunities
5 . P u s s u e
In fo r m a tio n
a g g re s s iv e ly . You can’ t choose
something you d on ’ t know exists!
Most students who are planning a
career are overwhelmingly ignorant
about what possibilities are
available. Please—d o n ’ t take this
personally. I t ’ s not your fa u lt. A
good 80fo o f the jobs are not listed
anywhere: T h e y’ re not in the
newspapers (did you ever look to see
what you could do), they’ re not in
the employment agencies, and most
are not in the placement offices. Yet
these tend to be the more
fascinating, the more meaningful,
and the more lu cra tive jobs o f
society. W hy aren’ t they listed?
Because they tend to work through
an o l’ boy network—contacts. More
on that later.
“ Knowledge is p o w e r,” said
Francis Bacon. Empower yourself
and your career planning by
becoming knowledgeable about
career possibilities. Research careers
harder than you’ve ever tackled any
term paper— the p a y -o ff is much
greater. Study the trends, the career
information, the files in your career
planning office.
The only other way you w ill ever
find that “ perfect niche” for your
self is luck. But why take the chance?
Instead, pursue career in fo r
mation with “ intentionality” —take
charge o f your life or happenstance
w ill take charge o f it for you.
ideas, researching in fo rm a tio n ,
I calculating risks, weighing options
and alternatives, p rio ritiz in g ,
making the choice and living with it,
and co ntin u in g to m o d ify . The
alternative: impulse. Simply “ grab
bing onto som ething” because at
the moment, you feel like it, is not
good planning. F a ilin g to plan is
planning to fail.
• W hat are some o f the problems
you encounter?
• What dreams do you have for this
function or department? j
• W hat advice w ould you give
someone like me who wants to en
ter this field?
• Can you give me the names ol
three other people who share our
mutual interests?
Seek out
advice
Once you have started, one inter
view leads to three more. Three lead
to nine, nine to tw enty seven
...more than enough.
A lo ng the way, you w ill make
contacts. In fa c t, w ith o u t even
knowing it, you w ill plug into that
network o f contacts, the “ o l’ boy’
system, and uncover some o f those
“ hidden opportunities.” That’s not
your purpose, o f course. Not now
You are simply seeking advice and
in form a tion . But as a by-product,
you w ill make contacts that can be
7. Interview people for infor
m a tio n . Go out and interview
people fo r in fo rm a tio n and ad
vice— people who are doing what
you would like to do someday. I t ’ s
downright irresponsible to plan on
becoming a biomedical engineer if
you haven’ t ever talked to or seen a
biomedical engineer.
In the job market of the 80 s falling
to plan is planning to fail.
Make wise
decisions
6 .Learn
how
to
m ake
decisions fro n tw a rd s . T h a t’ s
right, many people make decisions
backwards. L ik e when they let
someone else hand them a
decision— a parent, a teacher, a
counselor, a book, a frie n d . But
learn how to make decisions and
make your own decision— y o u ’ re
the one who has to live wpth the con
sequences.
Study the decision m aking
process. Again, your career coun
selor can help with this. Realize that
there are some clearly defined steps
to m aking good choices: G etting
D o n ’ t talk to the personnel
people. Interview the fu n c tio n a l
specialists who are doing what you
are preparing to do. Pick their
brains. W hat courses to they
recommend?
How can you ever really know
what a fie ld is like i f you haven’ t
researched it personally? Personal
inform ation is so much better than
printed in fo rm a tio n . Never settle
for one or two opinions—get at least
a dozen or so. The real inside story.
Why would they bother talking to
you? Human nature. People love to
be interviewed about what they are
doing. They enjoy giving advice,
especially about what is most
meaningful to them. Some typical
questions you might ask are:
• How did you get into this?
• W hat do you lik e about? Hate
about it?
• W hat is the mission o f your
organization? Goals and purposes?
helpful later.
To start, get some ideas, contacts,
and names from your career plan
ning and placement o ffice , alumni
office, parents, parents o f friends
and so on. Seek out people you ad
mire and fin d out how the em
ployment market really works. The
information you receive w ill be well
worth the investment.
In c id e n tly , a good book to ex
plain this approach in greater detail
is Go Hire Yourself an Employer by
Richard Irish (N .Y .: Anchor Books,
1978).
Congratulations
Class of '87
* 1
-i
♦ f .■
Careers in Gerontology
fellowships.
G erontologists are w orking fo r
government and non-profit agencies
and in s titu t ms, businesses, in
dustries, heal.h and human services.
The role o f the gerontologist is to
address issues related to program
planning, development, evaluation,
policy development, administration,
training and delivery o f direct ser
vices. Society is ju st beginning to
recognize the need fo r specialists
who can identify issues and recom
mend policies fo r the elderly.
G erontologists, therefore, are
assuming roles as counselors, con
sultants, career planning specialists,
G erontology, or the study o f
aging is a re la tively new fie ld , a
gerontologist is a professional in the
area o f human development and
A ging. G erontologists have the
knowledge and understanding about
the physiological, psychological,
econom ical and social aspects o f
aging, and their interactive and ad
ditive effects. An increasing number
o f in d iv id u a ls are being fo rm a lly
educated at the bachelor’s, master’s
and doctoral levels. The N ational
Institute o f Mental Health (N IM H )
o ffe rs a very lim ite d number o f
geriatric post-doctoral (after com
p le tion o f the P h.D . or M .D .)
policy analysts, long-term care and
health a dm inistrato rs, planners,
educators, program developers,
managers and researchers.
Gerontology helps professionals
understand aging individuals and
aging pop u la tion s. G eriatricians
or aging p ra ctitio n e rs, such as
g eriatric nurses, social workers,
psychologists, dentists and phy
sicians apply th e ir g erontolo
gical knowledge in treating older
people or groups. G eriatrics is
the a pp lica tio n o f gerontological
knowledge to the diagnosis and
treatment of the elderly.
PSU started them on their way -
it can work for you, too!
Degrees presented at ceremonies
Approxim ately 950 degrees* have
been awarded in commencement
ceremonies at the University o f the
Pacific campus in Stockton.
There were a to ta l o f 800 un
dergraduate degrees and 150
graduate degrees presented at in
dividual commencement ceremonies
fo r each o f the seven schools and
colleges.
UOP was founded in 1851 as the
first chartered institution o f higher
education in C a lifo rn ia . It is com
prised o f a liberal arts college and
professional schools in music,
pharmacy, education, engineering,
business and public administration,
and a graduate school, all located in
S tockton.
The
u n iv e rs ity ’ s
McGeorge School o f Law is in
Sacramento and the School o f Den
tistry is in San Francisco.
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Both civic leaders received their bachelor’s degrees from Portland State
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counselor and teacher, and Mr. Richardson is a member o f the Oregon State
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They a ll agree - Portland State University started them on their way, and it can
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