From Desperation to Direction: Reframing the First Job Search

The end of the fall semester means the beginning of the job search for college seniors. While the first-time job search may appear straightforward, moving from internship to full-time employment is not as straightforward as completing your assignments on time. Going through the motions just doesn’t cut it in today’s job market, and there aren’t given “motions” anyway. Feelings of desperation and inadequacy can emerge, which can make our job search erratic, undirected, and futile. But taking time to consider factors such as your preferred work context and your natural talents can restore your agency and confidence, putting you in the driver’s seat of your job journey, ensuring you’re moving into the right fit.

Aptitudes are a handy compass to help direct your next steps when in a transitional space- whether looking for a new job, an entire career pivot, or to help inform changes that could be made in your current work or personal environment. Becoming fluent in you - the way you work best, your innate abilities and strengths, are significant components to highlight in an interview, as well as to help find what roles naturally have those components.

Read about Aptitudes and "Adulting"

Additionally, there are a handful of tools and resources that can also be helpful to determine roles in which you’d flourish. One aspect to consider is “work context, which is the physical and social factors that influence the nature of work. ONET Online is an incredible resource to help you explore the different work contexts to consider, and prioritize when looking for a job. While you might not always be able to get all of your preferences when looking for a job, you can at least determine what your highest priorities are, differentiating between your “must-haves” and “nice to haves.” (It should be noted that this is separate from disability-related workplace accommodations, which we’ll also address next week!)

Using ONET Online

To start, you can use the ‘Browse Occupations’ header to explore the different industries to get an idea of roles within industries you know of or of sectors that are new to you. As seen below, once you select an industry, you’ll see a list of occupations within the industry, along with a percentage of those employed by this industry in that role, the projected growth for the role over the next ten years, and the projected job openings within that role. There is also an indicator that shows whether there’s a bright outlook (it’s looking bright for the Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation industry). This shows where there’s a gap, a need, or an oversaturation.

When you click into a role, you’re taken to a thorough report broken down into occupation-specific information (the tasks one would likely be responsible for, as well as the technology skills likely needed), occupational requirements- work activities, detailed work activities, work context-experience requirements, training & credentials, as well as apprenticeship opportunities if applicable. Information on required education, relevant interests, and work styles is also provided to help viewers gain a clear understanding of what this job entails in both the short and long term.

There are many micro-moments in a day that shape the actual work context

Work Context

When searching for a job, many of us consider where we want to be located geographically, whether we wish to travel for work, and remote, hybrid, or in-person settings. While all of this is important to consider, there are many micro-moments in a day that shape the actual work context. Reviewing the “Work Context” section on ONet is extremely valuable, as it can give you an inside look into what the day-to-day actually looks like, how you might thrive or prepare for parts that you’re either less familiar with or have had difficulty with in the past.

The perfect job doesn’t necessarily exist, but being aware of your aptitudes, interests, and work context enables you to make a more informed decision about which roles and industries to pursue and what to make space for outside of work, if it’s not something that inherently fits in with your daily tasks.