Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: The JOB

Now that the semester is almost over, it’s time to start that summer job search! Or, even worse, you can be graduating and need to join the job market! The horror! Interviews, job searching, resumes, student loan repayments! Even if you're nervous about the job hunt, don’t worry. We have books to help you create a resume, use your various social networks to market yourself to future employers, and find the job that's perfect for you. I know the job market seems scary, but everyone needs to join it, and once you have, it’s not quite as bad as it sounds. Just do some research, be prepared, and you will be just wonderful! So prep that resume, dust off that fancy brief case, and get hunting!

How to Find a Job on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Other Social Networks   By Brad and Debra Schepp

Been told time and again that your social media use can hurt your future career prospects? Well, maybe those pictures of you doing jello shots off your neighbor’s stomach won’t do you many favors, but there is another way! This book shows how to use social media to find work, and make you look better. Every chapter focuses on utilizing a different aspect of social media, like using Facebook and Twitter to connect with future employers, and make yourself look more professional. You can create a good description of yourself and your abilities for employers to look at that will invite making connections. The book also talks a lot about LinkedIn, a site that connects the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful. When you join LinkedIn, you get access to people, jobs, news, updates, and insights that help you be great at what you do, so you can imagine how much that can be helpful. Don’t be afraid of social media, embrace it! You can even take a second to giggle about the inclusion of MySpace in all this. Oh MySpace, you are just so quaint.

            Resumes for the Rest of Us   By Arnold Boldt

Got your Facebook and Twitter cleaned up, your connections made, and your old MySpace page ignored? Time for that resume! Subtitled "Secrets from the Pros for Job Seekers with Unconventional Career Paths", this book specializes in people who face challenging job searches, like stay at home parents returning to work, people changing careers, and those with gaps in their work history. Each section deals with resume writing for specific groups of job-seekers. And I mean more than just making sure your grammar works out! It looks at the cover letter, the references, everything you need to make yourself sound good. It is also filled with general tips on how to make your resume sound better, no matter who you are or what you are exactly applying for. Resumes can be tricky, so give this a look, and see how much you can improve yours, and continue working to make yourself look good to employers! And don’t forget to double check that grammar.

                                 You Majored in What?   By Katharine Brooks

“So, what are you going to do with that major?”
A question that I, as an English major, have gotten plenty over the years. And I can imagine that I'm not the only one. Many a communication, art, and philosophy major has probably heard the same thing, and if you don’t have a plan right away to tell the questioner, then suddenly you’re wasting time on a “joke major” and should immediately run over towards the nearest business class. Heck, business majors hear it too! So does everyone really, under this idea that, when you pick a major, you have maybe three possible career paths, pre-ordained the second you sign your name on the sheet that  declared your major. But wait! This book takes a different attitude. It goes through a number of majors, and discusses the many ways you can use them to pursue a whole multitude of careers, and how to market yourself on those career paths. I like the style of this book, it's fun, likable, and easy to read. Plus, anyone willing to help a Liberal Arts major find a job outside of Barnes and Noble is OK by me!

Finding a job, especially in this economy, ain't exactly easy. When you’re in school, or have just graduated, you might feel rather overwhelmed. But you don’t need to panic. There are plenty of resources out there for you, including books like these. I've just talked about a few, but there are many more examples of books to help you use social media to market yourself to employers, write a great resume, and find a job that you love which will hopefully pay your Netflix bills. While it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of job hunting, whether it is for a part time position, or a stepping stone to your future career, just don’t panic. Everyone has been there. So sit back, edit your Facebook page, work on that resume, and get searching, as you fondly remember when you had a MySpace page.   
 

CP