Question of the Day: How do I get a job?

Despite my best efforts to focus this blog on changing industries or as I like to say "tacks," without changing your skill set, I find myself being asked by numerous individuals how to get jobs. (My husband finds this endlessly amusing considering the fact that he's witnessed all these transitions.)

It is because of my limited time working full time with 3 little ones that I decided to take a detour for this post and talk a bit about this question.

Before you ask yourself, "How can I get a job?," you should really ask yourself the following:

1. What am I qualified to do?
2. What am I willing to do as a job?
3. Who within my network is someone who might be knowledgeable about the job market and how I can plug in?
4. In what other industries might my skill set be applicable?
5. PRAY

#1 will help you manage your own expectations.  If you are realistic in this assessment, it will help you achieve success.

#2 dovetails with #1 in the fact that you may need to do an internship somewhere as a means to get access to the people that can help you find your next job.  I say next job because I believe we're shifting more and more to a model where experts will change jobs more frequently and employers will be looking more and more into hiring experts on a consultancy basis.  More on that in another post.

#3 will support your job search efforts as well as expand our thinking of what you might be qualified to do.  You never know who you know and what types of jobs they might hear about and know about that are a fit for you.  Don't discount the power of people as a mechanism for finding you jobs or maybe even giving you one themselves.  If you don't have a professional network to tap into because you're just starting out, look into your college advisor or department chair as they often know of internships to get your foot in the door.

#4 will allow you to expand your search parameters to include a wider range of organizations.  This really is the central piece of my philosophy of honing a skill set rather than doing a job.  The skill set can be applied to any "flavor" or industry (PR is very much like that whereas other jobs like electrical engineering is not, so take this with a grain of salt), which allows you more flexibility when considering the next career step.

#5...Prayer will get you further than anything else you can do.  Pray for discernment and for guidance on what God would like for you.  Seriously. Consider it.