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Job Searching for a Non-Academic Job

A Take Charge Approach

As a graduate student you have developed and demonstrated entrepreneurial skills: taking the initiative to research resources, pursuing a particular topic, and making a commitment of time and energy to a project. Utilize these skills to take charge of your career exploration and job search.

Job exploration and searching involves four stages:

1. Identifying trends in the market place.
2. Knowing your product -YOU.
3. Identifying Market Niches for your product.
4. Target Market Strategies.

Identify Trends in the Market Place

1. What are the current trends of the market place?
2. What are the "hot careers".
3. What skills are employers are looking for?

Read articles involving job trends and the future of the job market. The Career Services Library has books on job trends as well as up-to-date magazine articles.

Know and Develop your product

Taking time to look at who you are is an important step in the job search process. It is necessary to understand who you are so that you can make appropriate decisions in finding a career that is a good "fit" for you. In addition, knowing yourself helps you better sell yourself to employers.

1. What are your values, priorities, and goals?
2. What are your interests?
3. What are your skills?
4. Which skills are transferable?

There are several good books in the Career Services Library to guide you through self-assessment exercises.

• What Color is Your Parachute? Richard Bolles
• In Transition: Harvard Business School Career Management Seminar- Mary Burton and Richard Wedemeyer
• Outside the Ivory Tower: Guide for Academics Considering Alternative Careers- Margaret Newhouse

Skills of a graduate student

1. Ability to implement, manage, and complete complex research projects
2. Ability to frame the problem and thus problem solve
3. Analytical and Research Skills
4. Take initiative
5. Team work
6. Ability to motivate and counsel
7. Deal with complex material and make it understandable
8. Resourceful, determined, and persistent
9. Teaching/presenting
10. Hard working..

Identify Market Niches for Your Product

Once you have identified the product "you", the next step is to identify markets for the product. What career fields would value what your product has to offer? Where is there a good fit for you? This takes time to research several different career fields. How do you go about finding about career fields? Talk to as many people as possible, read books on the professions, if possible get some experience through an internship. Here are several resources in Career Services

1. Alumni Career Advisors-A listing of graduate and undergraduate alum's in various career fields who are willing to talk to students about their profession
2. Books- Read about different fields i.e. What is Consulting, Health Care ...
3. Internships- Get some practical experience in a field to know if it is a good fit. This also makes you a stronger candidate with employers who see you have some relevant work experience.

Target Market Design: Job Search Strategies

The actual job search requires you to rely on your entrepreneurial skills. Be resourceful, scan for opportunities, and make an investment with your time and energy. You are in charge of creating your own self marketing campaign.

Where to Start

1. Networking-talk with family, friends, faculty, staff, and alumni. Let everyone know you are job searching and always have a current resume available. The Department of labor reports 48% of jobs are found through networking.
2. JobTrak- job listings for Dartmouth students advertised on Dartmouth Career Services' web page.
3. Internet- many jobs are posted on the internet -start with the Graduate Students'Career Office's web site: www.dartmouth.edu/artsci/gradstdy/career
4. Professional Organizations- most professional journals and organizations announce position openings

In order to present yourself effectively through a resume, cover letter, and interview it is necessary to acknowledge the stereotypes that exist between academic and business people (outside world). If you are aware of the stereotypes, it will better prepare you to prove you have the skills to make the transition to the outside the academic world.

According to business people, academics are:

1. simple minded about money
2. impractical about time/don't understand deadlines
3. thought for thoughts' sake
4. socially passive
5. intellectually liberal
6. values as absolutes
7. Process important

According to academics, business people are:

1. mercenary/greedy
2. driven by time
3. non-reflective
4. non-creative
5. slick and superficial
6. socially aggressive
7. intellectually passive
8. product end /result important

Know the difference between cultures

Academic culture from business standpoint

1. artificial, stable, shielded from competition
2. knowledge pursued for the its own sake
3. flexible deadlines
4. primary interaction with data and people
5. autonomy within organization
6. shared background/values

Business from academic standpoint (Adapted from Outside the Ivory Tower: a Guide for Considering Alternative Careers, Margaret Newhouse)

1. real world, risky, subject to commercial forces
2. knowledge for practical organizational goals
3. inflexible deadlines
4. deal with people, importance of collaboration and team work
5. diversity, less emphasis on academic credentials

Product Presentation

Resume-Your resume should make it obvious that you have the skills or transferable skills for the job you are applying for and you can adapt to the business world.

Cover letter- find a name to write to, show that you have researched the organization and what you can do for them. Describe how your skills can "add value" to the organization.

Interviewing

Interviewers want to know three things:

1. Can you do the job?
2. Will you do the job
3. Fit (Could I last 3hrs on a plane with this person?
4. The fourth question for academics would be can you make the transition?

Before your interview research the organization, read the company literature, look up their web page, read related industry articles, and talk with Dartmouth Alumni who work at the organization.

Thank You's- always follow-up with a computer/typewritten thank you. It gives you one last chance to market yourself and shows you have social skills.

Reference

Newhouse, Margaret. 1993. Outside the Ivory Tower: A Guide for Academics Considering Alternative Careers. Harvard University.