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Career
planning and searching for a new job is never easy. Whether you're undertaking
this task on your own schedule or an imposed one, you need to get
all the information you can, start networking, and carefully make a
plan. On this site we point to a number of reference materials that
help you get a new job, develop a plan, and give you guidance on
employment and career planning.
The first step
is to recognize that you're not the only person looking for a
change. Even in Orange County there are many seeking employment. We
have developed an email list to distribute information and job
leads. The link is
Orange
County IEEE - Jobs Email List.
Be sure to
Subscribe!!
to this list so we will know about you and you can get first notice
on jobs. The next thing to do is to network with your fellow IEEE
members. Come to the Section and Chapter meetings. Make use of this network to talk about your situation and
get honest feedback about your experience, skills and the opportunities
that may be just down the road from your old company. Beyond the
Section and Chapter networks, IEEE-USA has created the Employment
& Career Strategies Forum. This is an online service that
supports the posting of timely reference material and discussion
areas where your questions can get answers.
It is good to
write a plan that will guide your career to its next phase.
To assist you in building the plan, IEEE-USA has created the Engineer's
Guide to Lifelong Employability. This guide can be ordered from
IEEE-USA can be checked out from the
Section
Library.
You must
identify targets for your job search. This site has many information
sources that are organized by national, regional, and local sources.
Take the time to check out a number of these sites until you find
the ones that interest you. Not every available job is listed on a
job bank or newspaper. Many are never listed external to a company.
To find these jobs use your local IEEE network and find someone that
works at a particular company. Ask your contact to review the
internal listings and let you know if something is available. If you
can't find a company contact or need to develop a list of companies
in a particular area, the
Section can provide you a report based on a number of query
criteria. This report is in Excel format and can be sorted to help
you organize a targeted job search.
The final step
is to establish contact with potential employers and make that important first impression.
The information sources on this site can help you make the contact
but from there it's up to you. Remember to research
the target companies thoroughly and know what they do and how they
do it. It's also a good idea to practice with a friend before an
interview.
Good luck with
your efforts and let us know how the Orange County Section or
Chapters can help. Remember, in
the IEEE Network, the person you help this year can help you in
years to come.
-John
Gibson, Section Chair
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