Kicking off the 2007 campaign

The more I think about it, the more I think looking for a job is like campaigning for public office. You begin way ahead of time by forming a network of supporters who will help get your name out into the field. You need a trusted group of advisors whom you can talk to when the going gets tough. You then plan out your strategy as to how to position yourself in the arena. You also have to assess whether you have done anything in the past that may require additional explaining, especially anything that hints at an inconsistency. After you everything in place, you figure out what additional accomplishments you can rack up between now and the campaign to further highlight your qualifications.

 

In the two weeks since I have started the internship, I have been thinking more and more about the above topics and how they relate to the eleven months ahead. How the projects at my internship can position me for the types of job and employers I would like to have when I graduate. How I can better explain why I majored in economics but went into the technical field only to leave to go back to business school to train myself for a non technical job.

 

I have also been coming up with a strategy for building my network of potential job contacts. In April, I received an interesting bit of advice about networking; that the best way to network is not to contact someone when you feel he can hook you up with a job but to steadily build up a relationship with him through regularly correspondence. It’s great advice, except that most people I know have no time to do this during the school year. I am going to try to get better at this. Beginning this week, I am going to discipline myself to regularly set aside time to email folks that I have met in the past two years. This includes students at other schools, alums I have met at receptions, and others I have reached out to this past year in search for a job - even those who interviewed me for jobs I didn’t get. For most of them, I will simply send out a short email updating them on the completion of my first year and what I am doing this summer. Networking is an important part of business schooland it’s something that’s done better late than never.

 

Speaking of late, it’s certainly getting late, and I am losing altitude.