It's much easier to write an effective resume if you know beforehand the kinds of jobs you're looking for.
As you begin to consider job possibilities, be sure you're aware of the large variety of opportunities open to you. The world of work is an immense one, and it's changing all the time. New industries spring up, and old ones slow down. As the economy, technology, and social objectives expand, specific job opportunities grow and change as well. Even in a poor job market, during periods of high unemployment, thousands of new jobs are filled each day.
The big problem with most job seekers is that they look at their job prospects much too narrowly. Often, people look for jobs only in areas in which they are already working, without even considering what else they could or would like to do. This is particularly true with women who have felt locked into positions stereotyped as "feminine" or "women's work." They may be afraid that it isn't right for them to consider some of the more "masculine" job areas such as manufacturers' sales, banking, or industrial management.
As you read this article, you should consider and write down every single job possibility that might interest you. Open your mind to areas you haven't considered before. If there is something you'd like to do but haven't tried, don't automatically discard the idea. You're capable of doing a lot more than you think. Be inventive, expand your perspective, and see if you can come up with a dozen or so job situations that normally you might not have considered. Don't worry too much at this point about whether or not you realistically qualify for these positions. You will narrow down your list later. For this moment the idea is to expand your thinking.
Even if you already have a good idea of what your job targets are, this article can help you reinforce your decision. Or it can point you to another area that you might find even more rewarding. The main thing for now is to keep an open mind.
List Your Job Possibilities
Begin by making a list of your job possibilities. Use a special notebook and start out on a page that will be the beginning of your Job Possibilities File. Write down every job title, position or opportunity you can think of that could possibly be of interest to you. Don't be afraid to put things down that might not directly relate to your own image of yourself. Let your imagination run free. Pretend you're a kid again: What do you want to be where you grow up?
Give yourself a few days to complete this exercise: See if you can come up with twenty-five or thirty different job possibilities in any fields or areas that appeal you. Include the titles of previous jobs only if you want to continue working in those jobs. Fantasize a bit; free associate. You'll find that one idea leads to another. To add to the titles that immediately come to mind, here are some ways that you can come up with even more:
o Carry a notebook around with you and write down every area of work, position, or opportunity that occurs to you or that seems of possible interest.
Make a point of scanning trade journals or textbooks in any general field that appeals to you. List all work areas that interest you and try to pinpoint some specific job titles. Find out any trade or professional associations in fields that interest you. (You can ask people you know or check the directories in the reference room of your local library.) Contact these associations and see what leads they can supply that are related to occupations in the field. Telephone or meet with people working in your areas of interest. Even if you don't know these people very well, you'll probably find that they will enjoy helping you. Ask them for information about the positions in their industries or organizations and add their suggestions to your list. Check the Help Wanted sections of newspapers and trade journals, and clip any ads that interest you.
Focusing on Your Job Targets
After you've collected as many possibilities as you can, go back over your list and circle the five jobs that seem to be of most interest to you. Make your choices based on the best combination of interest and practicality. You may change your mind as you develop more ideas later, but don't worry about that now.
From these five jobs select the two that are most relevant to your current campaign, the two for which you would like to prepare a resume. These jobs are now your job targets. Using a separate sheet of paper for each one, list the skills and qualifications that you think an employer would look for in hiring someone to fill the job. Don't concern yourself yet with whether or not you have all these qualifications. The idea is to focus on the employer's needs. For example:
Keep a folder called Job Possibilities. Include all clippings, news articles, brochures, advertisements, and other information that relate to your job possibilities. It's important to keep expanding this file, adding to your range of job alternatives. Later you'll want to refer back to it when you are ready to narrow down your job targets.
Writing a Help Wanted Advertisement
It's a good idea to put yourself in the role of the employer from time to time because it'll often give you unexpected but important insights about how you can present yourself as a valuable job candidate and how you can better prepare yourself for the job you're seeking.
The next exercise is designed to take you one step further.
Put yourself in the shoes of a potential employer and write a Help Wanted advertisement for one of the two job targets you've chosen. Write the ad as if you were trying to recruit a qualified employee. Remember that ads cost money, so use as few words as possible to describe accurately what you, as employer, are seeking. Here's an example:
You've had the chance to explore a variety of possibilities and to focus on the type of job you're looking for so that your resume writing will be more specifically directed toward your job targets.
As you proceed with your job campaign, you may find you want to change your job targets. And that's fine. Your goal is to find the work that suits you; so shift gears as often as you need to. Continue to put new information into your Job Possibilities File in the notebook you've started. Add your own notes, classified advertisements, job leads, and any other information related to your job targets. And remember, keep an open mind about all the kinds of jobs that could interest you.
