“I Need a Job Fast!” – Time to Start Researching
August 13, 2009 
8 Comments
If you are unemployed, it’s natural to feel insecure. Before you let negative emotions control you, explore alternate possibilities. Now may be your chance to advance your career, relocate, change careers, go back to school, or find a better job.
Better your chances of becoming employed. Research and find out if there are jobs available in your field of interest.
Where to research:
On the job. To gain an insider’s view of the world of work, entry-level positions, internships, job shadowing, and volunteerism will provide you with invaluable experience. For example, if your career goal is to be a teacher, consider volunteering in a school. While you’re working, observe job characteristics, duties, responsibilities, and learn what it’s like on a day-to-day basis. Gain a mentor, ask questions, and seek advice.
Local library. Your local library is filled with valuable resources.
Career center. Career centers offer career-related literature and career counselors. If you plan to graduate soon or are a recent graduate, take advantage of your school’s career resources.
Online. Thousands of employment web sites seek to connect companies with job seekers, offering tools to make the job search process easier.
When researching your career goal, consider:
What is the nature of the work? Job duties vary by industry or employer. Workers may advance several levels of skills and take on more responsibility throughout their career. Beginners start as interns or trainees and are supervised. Experienced workers take on more difficult tasks and are expected to work with limited supervision.
What are typical working conditions? This includes hours worked per week, the workplace environment, amount of physical activity, safety issues, and the amount of travel.
What training or education is necessary? This includes the type of training, the length of the training required, and monetary costs. Examples of training are high school, on-the-job training, previous work experience, formal training beyond high school (two year, four year, and post-graduate college programs), Armed Forces training, and home study.
What existing qualifications are necessary? Solid reading, writing, computing and speaking skills are a must in many occupations. Also, many employers are looking for dependable employees who can problem-solve, work independently, and get along with others.
What is the job outlook? Be aware of the outside factors that may affect your career decision. For example, after researching, someone interested in pursuing a nursing career will learn that the demand for nurses is high due to baby boomers reaching retirement age.
What is the salary? This includes annual salary, hourly wages, commission, piece rate, tips, or bonuses.
For more information and resources on career development, please see our Work and Career section.
After learning of our facility closing, I have spent all of my time learning new skills such as Access, PowerPoint, Excel and even basic math. I have added these skills to my resume. All of the above points will come up during your job search. This is very informative information. Thanks
I recently was laid off from my job,and Im trying to improve my skills to return me to the workforce.
I have been out of work since August 2008. I just found this website and am eager to brush up and learn new things to return to the work force. I have been out of the legal field 15 years and want to get back to the fast paced action.
I was laid off my job late in November 2008 and have been updating my skills by taking classes in Excel 2007, Word 2007, PowerPoint 2007, basic math, Publisher and Access to exercise my brain and keep me from being bored. There are a few part-time jobs available in my area, but the full time jobs are difficult to find.
I have been laid off since July 2009 and have used GCF Learn Free to update my skills to become more able to understand and use computers. Currently I have a part-time job working at an Illinois State Unemployment office helping people do resumes, skills matches, online applications, etc. For people who are not very knowledgable how to use computers I recommend GCF to help them update their computer skills like I did!
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The best way to find a job is to use your social networks, freinds and family who can recommend you and introduce you to prospects.
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IVE USED GCF TO BRUSH UP THANKS FOR YOUR HELP. I HAVE BEEN OUT OF WORK FOR 8 MONTHS REALLY NEED TO FIND MYSELF.