Guest Post: Hemant Mohan

Hemant is one of Chris' Summer 2011 Professional Speaking students at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College. Here he writes about getting the job you want.

The job market is like a box full of chocolates. Jobs are available in all sorts of flavors and sizes. The trick is to pick the one job that best suits your palate. Finding the right company that fits your bill requires introspection. Know what it is you want to do. Recognizing your talents and skills is important, so that you can understand the way you can make a career out of them. Once you clear this stage, you start researching companies that do business, which require a workforce with your skills and talents. More often than not, your skills and talents are the areas of work that would interest you the most.

To find the kinds of companies you’d want to work for, it is important that you connect with present and ex-employees of such prospective companies. They are the best resources to give you an idea of the working environment of a company. Understand if the company’s culture fits your own personality. Ask such questions as, do I enjoy dressing up in formal business attire everyday or am I comfortable in going to work in casuals? Do I like to be bossed around or am I more of an independent worker? What are the employee benefits? What is the company’s vision and mission statement? It is very important that you fit with the prospective company’s culture else down the line you might be reading this article again!

Making the right connections with present or ex-employees within a company of your choice might land you a job interview through employee referrals. Posting your resume on the career services websites or on the prospective company’s website is also recommended. Make sure that your resume clearly draws a connection between your previous work experience or education and the job requirement that you want to interview for. The more focused you are in your job search, the more likely you are to find a job that matches your career and life goals.