Vocation and Location: Learn about your career and your possibilities in 4 lessons.

1. Industry and Career Databases

The interviewer is interested in discovering if you took time to research the firm and why you think you might be a capable employee.  A good place to find company background information is in Hoovers. You will need your D# enter the site. A tutorial on how to use the databases may be found here. Another site used for job searches is Reference USA.  You can find companies in your career area as well as limit your search to zip codes or within a certain chosen radius.  These options make it easier for you to plan your job search and interview strategies without having to zigzag across town in one day and fight Houston traffic.  A tutorial on how to use the databases may be found here. Reference USA is a local database and can only be found on the Houston page.

Going the extra mile: As you will make decisions about how a company may impress you based on what you read about it, they will do the same about you. The University of Tennessee,Knoxville, put together a broad based guide on How to Write a Resume which fits the skill set of the writer. Michigan State University compiled a number of strategies and ideas on What to Expect During an Interview.

2. Comparing Salaries, Job Outlooks, and Cost of Living

Having a degree is a good place to start towards a professional career.  But sometimes the degree itself is not enough to raise you to the position you seek in your career track.  A robust field today may become sluggish in a few years. What other degrees, certifications, or experience are needed to assist you further along in your field? Which degrees are transferable to another vocation?  Answers to these and other questions may be found in the Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the US Department of Labor.  The site also lists a number of career associations suited for job hunting in your specific profession, a topic we will address later in this tutorial. A tutorial is available on its site.

Before you interview, there are certain important facets you must know in order to effectively negotiate, such as: "What is the average salary for someone in my field and with my experience?  By answering a few questions, Salary.com and Moving.com will give you the latest data on salaries based on a region or a US city; they also include the average benefit package and what your paycheck might look like after taxes.

Going to work in London, Madrid, Beijing, or other foreign locations?

We recommend finding the same information from SalaryExpert.com Do not forget to take along the foreign Currency Converter.

3. Assessment Tools for Interviews and Negotiation

It is time for an interview.  Do you know how to handle a hypothetical interview? A lunch interview? Can you turn a disappointing interview into a valuable learning experience? Ask the experts for tips on these and many other interviewing situations. We recommend Wet Feet and College Grad.com There, you will find other opportunities such as participating in a virtual job fair, requesting internships and a place to post your resume.

Congratulations, you are offered a salary of $50,000 a year, which is pretty good in Houston, but you are told the job is in Seattle. How far will $50,000 stretch in Seattle, San Francisco, New York or Chicago? Sperling's Best Places offers cost of living and other demographic comparisons between two cities. Comparison tools are on the side of the webpage.

For those who need more specific information on an area, especially when moving to an unfamiliar city, we suggest Moving.com which compares the same data by zip codes.

Going the extra mile: In any indivdual or larger group setting, it is best to follow certain Buisness and Dining Etiquette Styles. The University of Tennessee,Knoxville, has a page which covers both the sdubtle and more recognized forms of protocol.

4. Networking

Should you decide to move to a new area for other reasons and did not have time to fully do your job search groundwork, we recommend you seek out the local Chamber of Commerce. They normally list community companies and leading regional industries. It is also a good place to network.

One can find much useful data on a company by going to Hoovers or One Source, but not necessarily how well they treat customers or judged by their peers. Without this information, you may find it difficult to work in a place where you deal with angry customers. When you leave, your prospects for a new job may be hindered by guilt through association with the former company. An often overlooked place to find out whether a company is respected within its industry or by customers is the Better Business Bureau.

On the subject of networking, we can not end this tutorial without mentioning the importance of associations in your job search. Associations are made up of people who share your occupational interests and are seeking people like you with similar skills for job openings.  They also advertise conferences and publish white papers. We offer two such sites: Weddle's Association Directory and the Internet Public Library's Associations on the Net.   For those interested in areas such as Management and IT: Remember to go beyond the IT and Management Association sites. IT and Management jobs are normally transferable skills, found in most other Association job search pages.    

The online catalog is available to search for career and resume books owned by the Houston library as well as holdings of all the DeVry libraries.

Going the extra mile: It is prudent to seek advice from experts in person who can assist you to put together a strategy and find jobs along with these and their resources, Make an appointment with the Career Services staff on campus.

Contact the Library Director: Lloyd Wedes, MLS

713 973 3137

lwedes@devry.edu

Or, chat real time with a librarian: Ask An Online Librarian