Ryan's blog
Class of 2008, Business Administration Major, from Ashwaubenon, WI

Alright,
In my last entry I talked about the importance of jobs in building a resume and hopefully many of you found that beneficial. This week I'm turning to the search for post college jobs. The reason for the search is that I'd possibly like to move from Green Bay to either a major U.S. city or even abroad. Therefore my top choices at the moment are San Diego, Dallas, London, and Dublin. I don't have much practice with searching for professional type jobs so I'll tell you what's actually been most helpful for me.

Prior to this point all the jobs I've worked have been established by word of mouth, the newspaper, or simply calling the employer and asking if they're hiring... (Although this can seem like it's going nowhere it's worth the dozens of phone calls if you actually get something). However, searching for a career is different than a job, or is it? To me I've noticed the principles have stayed the same, basically you just have to find what industry you want to work in, then which geographic area you'd like to live, and finally begin to research! I've probably spent a good 10-20 hours simply surfing the web and investigating commercial real estate brokerage firms in these locations and in doing so I've learned quite a bit about each market. From analyzing each business that I'd like to work for it allows me to tailor my resume to fit their company mission and values. Therefore, I still have yet to submit a resume because I'd like to be more than ready to speak in an educated fashion to them if they respond to my resume submission. Likewise I'm making sure I'm submitting my resumes during a time in which I can follow up with a call in the next week or so, which I notify them of in my cover letter. A follow up call shows the employer that you truly are interested in the position so they'll take you more seriously... this works with any job really... simply call and ask to hear the status of your application / resume.

But where do you find all the good jobs? A lot of people stop when they can't find something on careerbuilder or monster.com, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. I mentioned previously word of mouth was a way I got some of my jobs. My current position as a Realtor, you guessed it; word of mouth. Although it's harder to find people who know people further away, it's still possible. For example last week I was at a Real Estate convention in Wisconsin Dells for four days in which we had two national speakers come talk to us about things like investments, negotiations, working with buyers, etc... These people work all around the country so during the class breaks I asked them if they had any contacts in the locations I mentioned above; guess what, they did! I realize that you may not have the same opportunity, but think of local organizations in the community that you can network with (I'll write an article in the future about networking in Green Bay), or ask professionals in the same industry, but different locations, if they have any contacts and if you can get a letter stating your situation with their signature.

If word of mouth isn't your thing you may have to do some more digging. For example I don't have a clue about which brokerage firms exist in San Diego, so I started with Google. I typed in... "commercial real estate brokerage" and got a few firms. After doing some more digging I actually found one of the companies had a graph of them versus their top competition in regards to Apartment complex sales, and Voila! I got my list of potential employers, it took a few hours, but now I know where everyone is in relation to their competition with Apartment sales... Useful information when it comes time to an interview.

Like a lot of things in life, your job search and ambition is limited by how much you want to put into it. Don't simply create a generic resume to be tossed by potential employers, but take the process seriously and make sure you really want the position you're applying for. If you truly care about the position it will show in your dedication to get it. Although it's a lot of work up front the payment will be well worth finding that perfect job.

So to recap the most important points:
- Do research beforehand on any employer you're applying with, be able to talk with them intelligently about their line of work, competitors, and recent events.
- Use the resources of other professionals. Likewise, use the college and the alumni network to contact those who are already in the field.
- When possible get a contact name and number at the company to utilize when you do a follow up call in a time stated in your cover letter.
- Take your search seriously and realize the importance of your first major job as a building block to your future.
- Start with a top down approach searching only for jobs in areas that you've already established you're okay living in. If you find that perfect job in Siberia, are you really going to take it? It'll only get you more frustrated...
- Finally, have fun with it, if you truly enjoy this line of work, learning about employers in the field should actually be quite interesting and rewarding.

Hey everyone,
I've been asked by Career Services to share my experiences and insights with you from the perspective of a St. Norbert College student who's about to enter the working world full time. I hope you find this blog useful when searching for jobs, networking, or learning the importance of internships. My experiences relate directly to the field of business so I'll probably be most valuable to those who are entering into the business world after college. However, I believe the best way to learn through a blog is to post questions so I suggest you do so as I would be more than happy to answer them for you.

A little bit about my background... I'm from Green Bay, went to Ashwaubenon High School and have always known the direction my life would take me, which apparently is not that common for college students. I've always wanted to work in the field of real estate so that's why I currently work as a Realtor. Even though I've always wanted to enter this profession it's taken me a long time to finally break into the industry. I started working at age 14 any have worked at about 8-10 places since then doing things such as: interior car washing, bagging groceries, lawn care, village parks crew, bartending, dietary aide at an elderly retirement home, roof truss assembler (worst job ever), intern in the customer service department at a major manufacturing corporation, and finally Realtor. So I guess that's nine, unless I'm forgetting a job in there. Anyways, the point of me telling you this is that the value of work is often overlooked by college students. Employers often want students who have the skills necessary to work efficiently with others, communicate well, and who have proven themselves.

Each of my working experiences have given me different life experiences and lessons, and through these lessons I have reaffirmed what I want to do with my life. Although my goals at the time were to be able to pay off school as fast as possible, looking back I have great memories and more of a drive to succeed because of these jobs. For example, working 4:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday - Saturday at a manufacturing plant, then going to my other job from 4-6:30 during summers was brutal, but every time I feel lazy, I think about that experience and it motivates me to work harder in my studies so I'll never have to put myself in that position again. Likewise it gave me a perspective from a manufacturing workers point of view, how the business is run, and how one organizes the employee structure in this field. Along the way I also learned how roof trusses are assembled, became pretty handy with a hammer, and made some friends along the way. Even though I didn't enjoy the job, it taught me a lot.

A more upbeat example would be bartending. Before bartending I was considered shy and wasn't the greatest at starting conversations or reaching out to people. This position, however, made me get out of my bubble and increased my confidence. Thus, when I'm sitting in an interview, I'm more sure of communicating because of that experience. Related to that would be my current job, which forces me to build relationships with clients, call people I don't know who have a lot more money than me, and try to convince them to work with me, talk about intimidating! Even so, like anything it becomes easier with experience.

My last example would be working at an elderly care facility. I worked at Woodside Manor for five years and became pretty much a veteran there. I actually still kinda miss the place. This job taught me a very important lesson, one that plays a huge role in how I perceive things today. Although most of the elderly residents were great and half of them had grandsons that, according to them, looked just like me, there were some that were never happy. I'd bring them what they asked for, but they'd reject it, some would yell and others would act stuck up, but after a year or so of it and getting upset every time I couldn't make everyone happy I realized that it just wasn't worth it. From this experience I gained the ability to not let others bring me down and also patience, both great skills that would have been weaker without this experience.

So in conclusion, get a job, maybe even two, or if you're really ambitious, three. You'll be able to pay off your college faster, but more importantly you'll become a lot more employable and become a more well-rounded person. I recommend trying jobs in many fields while you still have the chance to explore without major commitments. You'll probably learn a lot more than you expected.