By the beginning of your senior year, you should have decided on a career path and obtained the basic skills and knowledge necessary for an entry position in that field. Unfortunately, your future employers will not seek you out; you will have to aggressively seek out and convince them that you are the employee that they should hire. To accomplish this (1) identify position openings and make contacts, (2) develop an effective resume, and (3) learn to interview successfully. Some strategies for each of these are discussed below. However, your best resource for preparing to get your first job is the Career Services Office.

Identifying Potential Job Openings
    The Career Services Office is your primary resource in your search for potential jobs, but there are several other strategies for identifying potential job openings. First, ask people you know to identify individuals with whom you might talk to about your career interest. Friends, family, past or present employers, and people with whom you have done volunteer work are all excellent resources for contacts. Another strategy is to use the yellow pages of the phone book to identify companies, agencies or organizations that may employ people in your interest area. Call these companies or agencies and ask to speak to a person who holds the type of position that you are seeking.
    When you contact someone, explain that you are a student at Marian nearing graduation and that you are interested in obtaining a job in their profession. Ask if they would be available to meet with you for an "information interview" to discuss their profession. The worst that can happen is that they will say "no." Be prepared to offer them several potential meeting times. Do not attempt to conduct the interview on the phone at that moment. The person may be busy and only able to give you cursory information. Be sure you go to the interview with a list of well thought-out questions. Toward the end of the interview, ask if they can suggest other people to talk to about the profession. This helps expand your contacts.
    Finally, another source of job openings is the newspaper. Every day numerous jobs are listed under heading such as administrative assistant, customer service, sales, day care, and management—all of which are potential career options with your psychology degree. Read the job descriptions in advertisements very carefully, or you may miss a good potential opportunity. For example, there was a recent advertisement for a "resident manager" in the Sunday edition of the Indianapolis Star. Although you may have quickly skipped over this, the advertisement was seeking a resident manager for a girl's group home, a job relevant for career interest in social services.

Developing an Effective Resume
    Your resume is a critical element of an effective job search. It may be the only initial contact you have with a potential employer. In other situations, your resume is the only record the employer has after the interview. An effective resume is neat, easily read, and provides a concise summary of your professional goals, education, and experience. You may even want to develop more than one resume for different occupational goals. Begin working on your resume during the summer prior to graduation. This allows plenty of time to get feedback on your resume (from your advisor and the CSO) and to revise it as necessary. (See the section on Resumes for all psychology students)

The Job Interview
    Your interview with prospective employer is your opportunity to impress them with your potential as a future employee. Although few initial interviews result in an immediate job offer, the first interview plays a crucial role in identifying candidates that the company may look at more closely. Therefore, it is critical that you make a strong, favorable first impression. The most important personal qualities that employers look for are good communication skills, clearly defined professional goals, and an honest, outgoing personality.
    Take interviews very seriously and prepare for each one in advance. Make an appointment with one of the psychology faculty to do a video-taped practice interview. In addition, be knowledgeable about the employer with whom you are interviewing. This will enable you to ask specific questions about the company that will generate a favorable impression. Finally, follow up the interview with a thank-you note. This reinforces the favorable impression you made during the interview and keeps you fresh in the interviewer's mind. (See the section on Interviews and Recommendations for all psychology students)

Portions of this handout were adapted from Handbook of Kennesaw State College Psychology Department (Hill, 1992) and Career Development and Opportunities for Psychology Majors (Ware, 1993).