Guest Post: Syenny (Wen-Hsien) Lee

Syenny is one of Chris' Summer 2011 Professional Speaking students at Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Here she blogs about getting the job you want.

Have you found the company you want to work for? Congratulations if you have! If not, don’t be dismayed. Here are a few steps to find the kinds of companies you’d want to work for.

Step 1: Know who you are. Ask yourself these questions, “What are the things that I am passionate about?” “Do I like to work in an A/C office with a computer or do I like to be outdoors and meeting different people?” “Are there ways to turn those into business opportunities?” If you are not sure about what your passion is, start eliminating some jobs or industries by asking, “What are the things that I definitely won’t enjoy doing?” Make a list and see if there are any correlations to it.

Step 2: Make a list of companies. Once you have an idea of which industries you are interested in, you can research for the most well-known companies/organizations in those industries. Research thoroughly on the companies: Fact, culture, story. The goal is to find the best fit. According to the article “What Kind of Company Do You Want to Work For?” by Joyce Gioia, Herman Group, here is a list of questions to ask yourself to find out the makeup and styles of a specific company you want to work for:

• Do you want to work for a market leader or a start-up?
• Do you want to work for a company with solid name recognition?
• Do you want to work in a large organization or a small one?
• Do you want to know where the company has been, and where it is headed?
• Is the quality of a company’s goods and services a deciding factor?

Step 3: Find job openings through different media, channels and connections.
Here are some tools I use to obtain job opening information:

• Social media: LinkedIn. Join an alumni group of your school and you will receive job posting emails regularly.
• Personal relationships: Go to networking events; network through colleagues who know someone else who can connect you to a potential employer; talk to alumni who are working in your targeted industry; engage with guest speakers whom you identify with and are in your dream field.
• School resources: Career service provides counseling and email job openings updates very often; pay attention to those emails and follow with ones that interest you. Don’t delete the emails, keep an archive. You may find it useful one day.
• Conferences/Exhibitions: Attend big conferences in the industry you are interested in. Besides taking the lessons provided at the conference, also attend social events such as business luncheons and dinner events. You will meet people with similar backgrounds who are already in the industry. This is a chance to build a professional network. I have been to the American Association of Museums Annual Conference (AAM) and met so many museum professionals and exchanged thoughts and experiences with them. They are great resources for future references.

Step 4: A few reminders on interviewing

• Be early. I always arrive 30 minutes to 10 minutes early. Once I interviewed an applicant who was late, which immediately left me with a bad impression.
• Bring work samples and projects (or anything that can demonstrate your skills tangibly) to show and tell (especially if your job is related to marketing).
• Ask questions. I always ask questions, to gain information I don’t know and to show the interviewer that I am serious about this job.
• Smile, be confident. Have a positive attitude. People like to be with happy people.
  

Be honest to your heart. Be prepared, and relax!