Richard Blazevich - Start-to-Finish Job Search Guide: College Student Edition

START-TO-FINISH

JOB SEARCH

GUIDE

COLLEGE STUDENT EDITION

by

Richard Blazevich

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproductions or other unauthorized use of the material herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.

Copyright 2018 by Richard Blazevich

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9781951678050

Amazing Job Skills Publishing Company

Dallas, Texas

www.amazingjobskills.com

If youre like most college students, youll get very little help finding your first big job. This book is designed to change that.

Keep reading and youll learn how to successfully build your job hunting strategy, polish your resume, and prepare for interviews. Plus, youll find secrets about what recruiters want to hear during interviews and what will turn them away.

The advice youre about to read is based on my experience recruiting hundreds of college students for summer internships and entry-level jobs. In this book, Ill give you everything you'll need to know to differentiate yourself from other candidates and get offers for competitive, often high-paying jobs.

Over the past twenty years, Ive interviewed hundreds of college students. Most of them were bright and highly motivated. Very few of them had the interview skills needed to get the jobs they wanted.

In rare instances, Ive interviewed students who were amazing. They gave compelling answers to all the questions they were asked, and they received offers from nearly every recruiter who interviewed them.

If you want to become one of those superstar job candidates, this book is for you. Youll find a game plan for dazzling recruiters with incredible answers to the toughest interview questions. Youll find tips for researching companies and figuring out exactly what their recruiters are looking for. And youll find advice for refining your skills and using tools that are available to you on your college campus.

I used many of the techniques in this book when I was a student. When I first entered business school, my fellow students might have elected me Least Likely to Succeed if my school had such an award. I was awkward, and I had no experience in my chosen career field. By the time I finished my two-year program, I had gotten an internship at one of the best marketing companies in the world, and I received job offers from powerhouse companies, including Frito-Lay, General Mills, Kraft, SC Johnson, and Quaker.

Those impressive results didnt happen because I was talented. My natural ability paled in comparison to that of my fellow classmates. Those results happened because I learned the secrets to interviewing. This book will reveal those secrets to you.

As a college student, youll spend years getting educated in your chosen subject matter. However, if youre like most students, youll receive very little help to get the jobs you want.

When I was in college, I was lucky enough to get life-changing advice from my schools career counselors. Their coaching set me up for years of success in my career. Most students aren't so fortunate. They wont receive the guidance they need to get the jobs they want.

After graduation, I started recruiting students for my companys marketing department. I noticed that many of the most accomplished students didnt know how to answer interview questions. Their responses were often vague and didnt communicate their true potential. I knew that without strong interview skills, they would never make it through our rigorous selection process.

When I found particularly talented students who performed poorly during interviews, I offered them suggestions to improve their skills. That led to me organizing interview workshops for student organizations and career development offices at colleges where my company recruited.

In this book, I'll share the playbook I developed for those workshops. Ill also give you tips based on my years of experience recruiting students from some of the top universities in the world. My hope is that youll learn from this advice so youll get the interviews you want. Then, youll nail those interviews using the skills youll develop from the process described in this book.

To illustrate some of the concepts, Ive included a story about four fictional college students who became successful at interviewing. While these specific students dont exist in the real world, they represent the combined experiences of many students whove gone through the job hunting process.

In each chapter, Ill summarize the key lessons from the story. Ill also provide tools and templates you can use to dramatically improve the skills you need to get job offers.

One more thing ... if youve read my other book, Amazing Interview Answers , youll notice that some of the content in this book is repeated from that one. Please forgive the duplication. Youll find that most of the content in this book will be new. The information that came from my other book helps me explain the game plan I recommend for interview preparation. I suggest you read this book first to build your strategy. Then, as you practice your answers to interview questions, use the Amazing Interview Answers book to help you refine your own amazing answers for the most commonly asked interview questions.

Now, let's get started.

. Your Interview Group

W hen I was in school , I received the best career advice of my life. It happened when I asked a career counselor to tell me the most important thing I could do to get job offers. Without hesitation, she said four words that changed my life. I guarantee that if you follow those four words of advice, it will significantly increase your odds of getting job offers.

In the story youre about to read, Ill reveal the advice that became instrumental in my success.

As you read the story, keep in mind that your peers will be your best resource throughout your career. Theyre highly motivated to help you because youre going to help them. Youll find other resources, including career counselors, professors, and mentors, but your peers will have the most to offer you.

Lets see how the characters in our story approach their job hunting journey.

***

A fter his summer break , Jim Harrison arrived at Southern State University and started to panic. He seemed behind all of his classmates. They were coming back from impressive summer jobs that gave them valuable experiences in their desired career fields. He was coming back from a summer job as a camp counselor, which paled in comparison to the summer jobs that his fellow students had.

Jim wanted to be a high-powered marketer someday. Since his first business class in high school, he knew marketing was the path for him. It just seemed impossible to get a good summer job at a reputable company.

The previous year, Jim always felt like he was behind. He didn't hear about most jobs until after the companies had finished their interviews. For the jobs he did hear about, he interviewed, but he wasn't given any offers.

As he walked into the student lounge, Jim saw Don from his track team. He went up to Don and shook his hand. "Hey, Don. How was your summer?"