Ok, so Britney doesn’t have a job for you. But, you should follow her advice. Why don’t you do somethin’? GottaMentor writes about how you can “up” your chances of being employed.
By GottaMentor
If you don’t have a job right now, you are not alone. Whether you are a graduating student or simply looking for a summer internship, the job prospects are slim. However, don’t despair. More than likely you can defer payments on your school loans for a while. You may have to shack up with your parent or girlfriend / boyfriend for a few months. You might be eating a lot of cereal instead of restaurant quality food; but there is hope.
Don’t think about your job search as an “all or nothing” proposition. Think of it as a process. You eventually want to get to a place where you are doing something you enjoy; that challenges you; where you work with people you like; where you make the income you want. That is a not a simple task. For everyone you know, that was a process. So this is what you need to do to get there.
Don’t sit around moping. Do something!
My motto regarding working out is “Whether you go for 1 hour or 15 minutes, some exercise is better than no exercise”. The same is true with work experiences. Some work experience is better than no work experience. Why? First, by working you develop a story. You give yourself something to talk about in future interviews. Second, I firmly believe you cannot figure out what you want to do until you do something. You will better understand what you like and what you don’t like. Third, working enables you to meet people that might be helpful to you in the future.
Concentrate on getting experience in areas that will make you a better candidate in the future
Don’t focus too much on the particular job title, company or industry. You may be able to develop the future skills you need through an internship, part-time job or even a standalone project. The skills you should look to develop include:
Analytical problem solving: these include assignments where you demonstrate that you know how to define a problem; research the issues; do the quantitative or qualitative analysis; and draw conclusions.
Business communication: these include assignments where you deliver your findings in a compelling way through presentations and other written format. In addition, activities where you influence people through both your written and oral communication (e.g. sales calls) are important.
Project management: at a more junior level you simply want to have a specific project for which you have ownership and accountability. You want to be able to communicate what impact you had on the outcome of the project.
International exposure: exposure to other cultures is a big plus and will position you well for future opportunities. You don’t need to live abroad to get this exposure. You may simply work on a project with a global focus or on a client that has global operations. You may want to focus on large developing countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China (“BRIC” countries) or regions (Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa).