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This document is the second part of a two-part series on job seeking. The previous document covered necessary planning before you begin the job hunting effort. The current document covers discussion of:

Taking Action
Marketing Yourself
A Final Thought
Additional Help Through University Placement

Act. Take time to talk with your Junior/Senior adviser about your interest in job seeking. Your adviser can help you, but only if you keep her/him fully informed, so let your adviser know about any leads, contacts, interviews, or other job-related activities. In return, your adviser can help you make contacts and can keep you better informed about job openings as employers contact the HA Program.

Act. Join the HA Alumni Organization. Among its major purposes is the maintenance of a job contact network among its members. It can put you in touch with other HA graduates who may be hiring, know about hiring, or can share their own tips on job seeking.

Act. Usually, jobs will not seek you. You must seek them. Contact health services organizations in the specific geographical areas in which you want employment; sending "shotgun" letters all over the state or region is apt to be a waste of time and postage. (If every HA graduate did this, health services administrators would soon cease to take such inquiries seriously.) Consult the want ads of relevant professional publications and newspapers for the geographical areas of interest to you and write, e-mail or phone promptly concerning any openings for which you honestly think you're qualified. You may want to investigate the Web itself for possible leads on job hunting, such as those provided by MedSearch America.

In your letters of inquiry, you may wish to enclose a resume'. Sample resume's are available from books on job seeking in the RDB library. You also might want to consider the fact that an increasing number of job seekers are putting their resume' on their own World Wide Web page, such as our basic sample. You can find other examples of such Web resume's, many of them much more elaborate, by using one of the standard Web search services, such as Alta Vista and searching under "resume". Whether you choose a conventional resume' or a Web version, be sure to give your HA faculty adviser a copy of your resume when it is complete.

Make certain you ask permission from any persons you wish to use as references before listing them on your resume. Also, be sure to include one or two references from supervisors at any health services organizations at which you have been employed. In general, references should be from persons in high positions who know your work well; don't seek a recommendation from a senior professor or a hospital CEO if the person has only passing familiarity with your work. "Character" references from ministers or others evaluating your moral standards are rarely used; if an organization requires such, this will be specified.

Sell Yourself. If you attend professional meetings seeking jobs, or if you interview for a job, dress well. Despite the wishes of many Americans to be accepted for themselves rather than for their clothes, most employers don't think that way. In fact, surveys report a high percentage of employers form their initial impression of potential employees on dress. This fact may disturb you, but it is nonetheless a fact. When in doubt about how to dress, it generally pays to be too formal rather than too casual.

Selling yourself also means maintaining a positive self-image. Once you've analyzed your strong points and faults, convince yourself that your strong points will win out in the end, that your faults exist but are minor, correctable in time, or both. Employers tend to be more skeptical of applicants who seem uncertain of their own capabilities. Admit any problems honestly when asked, but accentuate your positive qualities.

Be interested. Before a job interview, find out everything you possibly can about the health services organization, its town or city, key members of the organization, and the duties it performs. When a potential employer gives you a chance to ask questions, do so; this provides you an opportunity to show your interest in the organization and the work it does.

Don't be afraid to ask about salary or fringe benefits (for example, assistance to attend professional meetings, health insurance, leave policies, retirement programs) if your interviewer hasn't already discussed these matters, but don't make them the first matters thing you ask about. Employers tend to prefer employeees who put the job first, salary and "fringes" second. It is also legitimate to inquire about future possibilities for advancement in salary, rank, or responsibilities.

Don't give up. It is almost certain that you will receive one or more rejections for jobs before acquiring one. Accept this fact and don't let it discourage you. Review carefully why you did not get the job and use anything you can learn for your next effort. (In some cases, you may have done nothing wrong, but another, more qualified, person was available.)

If rejections seem to be piling up on your dresser,you may want to ask if you are seeking too limited a class of jobs in terms of duties, rank, or geographical area. Your first job need not occupy you for the rest of your life, so don't be afraid to take one slightly different from what you had in mind with a view toward obtaining a position more to your liking later. You'll find a reasonably flexible outlook about such matters will not only help you in seeking your first job with a health services orqanization but also will help you advance as your career progresses.

For seniors, copies of the College Placement Annual, listing numerous job opportunities throughout the U.S.
Help in resume preparation.
A resume distribution service.
Interviews with employers on campus (See the HA Bulletin Board, near 7094 Haley Center, for current employers on campus).
A current listing of employers seeking to fill job vacancies.