A: Armed with that attitude, you're more than Almost! You're a maverick bucking the impulse to grab any job at any company at any time. While you may end up doing that, you'll know the competition. You'll build contacts whose pointers can help you settle into your new job or career without exposing your greenness on the job. Flourish!
So, let's roll! Write down the five key characteristics of the company that you'd like to hire you. What industry or industries? Not much point in signing on with aerospace if you bailed on trig and physics. Revenue of less than a million dollars? What about more than $50 million, with a chance at being the next millionaire? Fifty employees for cozy cubicles or 350 for promotion prospects? Local, regional, national or international customer base? Young, established, about to outsource?
Corral visible and invisible sources. Get pre-packaged information in print and broadcast media, and online. Search directories by industry, size, location, revenue. Tap your college Web site. Jot down companies that sound interesting. Then, go for the gold. Find people with experience from companies that intrigue you. Ask questions. Decide! -- mlc
Q: I have a job, but it's not in my field and I'm living with my parents. It's time to leave home. I want a real job so I can get my own space. -- Upping Stakes
A: Ah, Stakes. No rent has its price, doesn't it?
Start with the classifieds, in print and online, for solid local data. If ads for entry-level jobs don't mention compensation, be wary. That may be about as much as you'll get!
Visit your state employment office. Scale information in the "Occupational Outlook Handbook" to your local area. Look at salary.com. Call a professional association you might eventually join. Don't know a good one? Check the "Encyclopedia of Associations."
Best of all, find someone long past entry-level in the same field to tell you what his company pays. Be inquisitive about the work. And appreciative. Let the chance for a full-fledged interview develop. Then grab it! -- mlc
**blogTip**
Ever wonder how to tell in the first week on a job whether you ought to quit? Josh Aiello tells you how to spot "60 People to Avoid at the Water Cooler" (Broadway, $9.95). He says that you may not be able to quit your job, but at least you'll see the red flags when they fly.
The micromanager is a hawk who strangles you. He won't let you "go down the hallway without even getting notes on how to walk down the hallway better," Aiello says. He criticizes your clothing, reads your e-mail, goes ballistic when you're out of sight for five minutes. You'll spend all of your time appeasing him -- or figuring out how to. Forget the work.
The day-jobber has another career in the wings. He plans to make it big in music or the media. He bores you all day long by obsessing about his future. His present is clearly second-fiddle.
The CEO or president makes you feel like a nobody. He can't even spare you a hello or goodbye, regardless of how long and hard you work.
The image-obsessed division head tells you to slow down in your work to appear busy in case a client should walk in. Short on brains, he never thinks of giving you more challenging work.
Reverse gears! Make these guys part of your past at your earliest convenience. Ditto if they're women. They may be out of it; get yourself outta there!
(E-mail your job-hunting questions to syndicated columnist Dr. Mildred Culp at culp@workwise.net. Copyright 2004 Passage Media.)
