Netting a job

Dear gentle readers,

In my last one, I talked about the immediate aftermath of graduation and my decision to look for work. Before I go further in this column piece, I’ll say that such a decision, though quite reasonable and most people might say inevitable, made the most sense to me but may not be the best one for you. You may want to travel, take a designated amount of time to work on a novel, or volunteer.

However, no matter what you wish to do with your time, it needs to be something that motivates you and pays you back in some way. Money, gratitude, passion, awe — it doesn’t matter, it just has to be something that you get something out of. Because we’re graduates. We spent a painful amount of time and money achieving that goal.

So we need to do something with it because you might as well have a forsaken secondary school and worked at a fast-food restaurant for four years politely asking customers “please say what you want again,” while they hover over their mumbling children, politely asking them, “please say what you want again” when the only thing the kids really want is a specific toy from China. And your restaurant doesn’t have that toy. You’d be a hell of a lot richer — financially.

But if you do choose to go job hunting, the next thing to do is figure out what job to look for and how to get it. If you haven’t burned the bridge to every part-time job that you’ve ever had, you could go back to your old boss and ask for your job back. Most of them will be more than happy to slap you back on the payroll.

But if you don’t want to do that, there are several other avenues available to you. You could go the tried and true way: perusing job sites for openings. Sites like Kijiji and Indeed are excellent places to start, not only to see what’s out there in your field of interest, but also to find what specific skills employers are looking for so you can emphasize them in your resumes.

You have more resources available to you though. The Tatham Centre is also very useful in helping you find employment, especially as an alumnus. If you did a co-op placement, you’re already familiar with what they can offer you. They can help you spruce up your cover letter and resume, for example, which are two of the most important things you will need to get a job.

The most helpful places that I found to help me get a job though are the public employment resource centres. They usually can be found in any town or city. These centres offer pretty much the same services that Tatham does. The one I went to allowed me access to a computer to look for jobs and work on my resume. I could come in at any time during their hours of operation, so it was really convenient.

Also, I got to speak one-on-one with an employment consultant who helped me look for work. I didn’t even think about how sellable my skills were until she talked them over with me. Luckily for me, I did find a full-time job, though it took some work to push myself to achieve it.

But after I succeeded in getting a job, I saw another obstacle in my way: the realization that I wouldn’t be going back to school in September. I was on a new journey, and there was stormy weather ahead. Until next time, gentle readers.