It is important to have a plan if you want to land that dream job. Think of it as taking a journey, with important stops along the way. We have created this step-by-step process to make your journey easier. With the right preparation, ambition and attitude, you might find yourself in a better job than you had before.
While we have tried to make this process as self-explanatory as possible, if you ever need to talk with a live person, contact a Kentucky Career Center professional. Click our office locator to find the office nearest you.
Assess your financial well-being
This is a good time to take a close look at your financial status. How much money do you have in your bank accounts, investments and other assets? How much are you paying out in bills each month? How much of a salary will you need to earn in order to live comfortably – and to put a little aside in savings as well? Set a budget and stick to it.
Online budgeting tools can help you determine where you are with your personal finances – and where you want to end up. These tools can help you see how much you’re spending, how much you’re saving, how much debt you have, how to be more thrifty, and so on. A site such as
www.mint.com is a good place to start – it's free and easy to use. Buxfer.com, Wesabe.com and MySpendingPlan.com are among the many other options for online money management.
Assess your skills
Make a list of your skill sets and see where you stand in relation to the current labor market. Which jobs are hot and which ones are not? In other words, is there a future in your chosen career field? Or is it time to go in a new direction? Do you have what it takes to move yourself to the next point on the ladder to success?
For in-depth labor market information, around Kentucky or specific to your county, visit
www.kylmi.ky.gov.
WorkKeys/National Career Readiness Certificate
NCRC.ky.gov provides employers, job seekers and workforce professionals with information about ACT's WorkKeys
assessments and the Kentucky National Career Readiness Certificate (KY NCRC); a nationally recognized accreditation of demonstrated workplace skills based on the ACT WorkKeys assessments
in three foundational areas - applied math, locating information and reading for information. Many employers use the NCRC and other WorkKeys assessments for hiring and promotion.
Review education and training opportunities
Times change, and your needs do too. If you’re out of work, or simply looking to make a career move, you might be wondering if you have all the education necessary.
Compare the education you have now against the requirements of a given career. You can find out how long it might take to attain your educational goals, and even which classes you should take. See
http://www.kylmi.ky.gov.
Create your resume and cover letter
It’s important to have a good resume to detail your employment and educational history. You can build the perfect resume and cover letter through a variety of online wizards that do all the formatting for you. Just enter your information and the wizards do the rest. Visit
Focus|Career site for assistance.
Apply for Jobs
There are innumerable ways to land a job. You can attend job fairs. You can search through online job sites or newspaper help-wanted sections. You can engage in good, old-fashioned networking with business contacts, former classmates, friends, relatives, neighbors, members of your church and so on. Talk to everyone you know about your availability – you never know who might have a good job lead.
But the truth is, there’s no better place to search for jobs than right here. Our search engine offers one of the most comprehensive databases of available jobs anywhere in the state. We can even help you find a job outside Kentucky if that fits into your plans. Not only can you search for jobs through our
Focus|Career site, you can actually apply for them here as well.
The interview
First, the bad news: You should not expect to get the first job you apply for. You might have to send out 10, 20, even 50 resumes before you get your first interview. One school of thought says that for every $10,000 in income you’ve been earning in your last job, you can anticipate being out of work one month.
But don’t get discouraged. Even the most brilliant and accomplished business people have had to overcome setbacks from time to time. The important thing is to be ready when that call does come.
How you dress, how you present yourself, and what you say during the job interview is critical to securing that job offer.