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Module 26 - Researching Jobs
Module 26
Researching Jobs
LO 26-1 Know yourself for successful job hunts.
LO 26-2 Know companies for successful job hunts.
LO 26-3 Recognize signs for staying with or leaving a job.
LO 26-4 Apply strategies for information interviews.
LO 26-5 Apply strategies for tapping into the hidden job market.
LO 26-6 Assess weaknesses for stronger job application appeals.
Module Overview
Many students wait until the last minute to begin searching for a job. In fact, some students
graduate with no clue about finding the right job—one that allows them to best use their skills in
an organization they want to work for. The fact that the job market at the beginning of the 21st
was robust may also have given students the illusion that finding a job takes little or no effort or
skill.
In an ideal world, the job search process would begin before students ever set foot on a college
campus. Students would have a sense of their likes and dislikes, as well as their aptitudes and
abilities. They would combine this knowledge with what lifestyles they hope to live and then
take the appropriate coursework. Students would also intern or find jobs while in school to give
them practical knowledge in the field. Lastly, they would seek mentors and cultivate networks to
guide them in their studies and career moves.
Well, that’s the ideal world; reality is likely the opposite. For some students, the job application
process means creating a generic résumé and cover letter, making a hundred photocopies, and
sending them out to as many companies as they have stamps for. (Some career counselors even
teach this approach.) Instead of this “shotgun” methodology, students would likely fare better
treating the job search as an ongoing, proactive process, one that begins with research.
Teaching Tip: No jobs are recession proof, and regardless of a healthy economy, jobs
in some fields are always difficult to obtain. Chances are your students already
know this, but some still underestimate the time and effort required to find a good
job. Ask students to share information about challenges they’ve had finding a job or
those of people they know. The goal of this discussion is to help students
understand the realities of a competitive marketplace, not to discourage them. With
each account, ask the class if they can suggest constructive approaches to deal with
challenges. Where possible, have them describe solutions to find a job.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
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Module 26 - Researching Jobs
Research drives job hunting. Potential employees must understand what they have to offer and
compare that information to what is needed in the marketplace. They should also learn
everything they can about their fields and companies they hope to work for. Armed with this
knowledge, the applicant can often avoid many problems people with little knowledge encounter.
Teaching Tip: Sometimes employees indiscriminately choose which organizations to
apply to and later discover they don’t particularly care for the organization that hires
them. Ask students what they can do to better ensure finding the right organization
for them. In particular, ask students who are currently employed what pitfalls they
would suggest avoiding.
What’s in This Supplement
This supplement is organized around the major questions posed in Module 26. It covers
Part 1: Key Lecture Points, Teaching Tips, and In-Class Exercises Page 438
Part 2: Answers to Textbook Assignments Page 447
PowerPoint presentations can be found at our Web page at www.mhhe.com/bcs6e.
Questions (with answers) suitable for quizzes are in the Instructor’s Test Bank. For student
practice quizzes with answers, see our Web page.
Part 1: Key Lecture Points, Teaching Tips, and In-Class Exercises
What do I need to know about myself to job hunt? LO 26-1
Your knowledge, skills, abilities, interests, and values.
Use PP 26-4 and 26-5 to show students that knowing what they want
from a job and what they have to offer is critical to the job hunting
process. Doing so includes asking questions such as
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
26-2
Module 26 - Researching Jobs
What achievements have given you the most satisfaction? Why
did you enjoy them?
Would you rather have firm deadlines or a flexible schedule? Do
you prefer working alone or with other people? Do you prefer
specific instructions and standards for evaluation or freedom and
uncertainty? How comfortable are you with pressure? Are you
willing to “pay your dues” for several years before you are
promoted? How much challenge do you want?
Are you willing to take work home? To travel? How important is money to you?
Prestige? Time to spend with family and friends?
Where do you want to live? What features in terms of weather, geography, and cultural
and social life do you see as ideal?
Is it important to you that your work achieve certain purposes or values, or do you see
work as “just a way to make a living”? Are the organization's culture and ethical
standards important to you?
Simply understanding these issues is not enough. Students should also investigate the
marketplace—locally, nationally, and, increasingly, internationally—to understand trends, now
and in the future.
In-Class Exercise: Have students take 10-15 minutes to answer these questions for
themselves. Then put them in groups of 3-5 to share their answers. Where do
answers overlap? Where are they different? Ask students if it’s OK for them to have
different goals and aspirations. Afterward, have students write a 1- to 2-page memo
to you describing first their answers to the questions, and second, the outcome of
their group discussion.
What do I need to know about companies that might hire me? LO 26-2
As much as you can!
Sometimes job applicants arbitrarily choose which organization to apply to. Many students
gravitate to organizations simply because they are large, well known, or convenient to where
they want to live.
Students would likely fair better, though, in the job search if they examined organizations more
closely, especially information about working at the company. As PP 26-6 suggests, applicants
should know
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
26-3
Module 26 - Researching Jobs
What the job itself involves.
The name and address of the person who should receive an
application letter.
What the organization does and at least four or five facts about it.
Market share.
Competitive position.
New products, services, or promotions.
The kind of computer or manufacturing equipment the company uses.
Plans for growth or downsizing.
Challenges the organization faces.
The corporate culture.
Teaching Tip: Ask students what resources they’ve used to learn about jobs and
companies—from friends, family members, newspapers and magazines, guidance
counselors, and so forth. Spend 10 minutes creating a master list of sources that can
be used. Then ask students to rank the items on the list from most to least likely to
yield good tips.
Figures 26.1 through 26.3 (pp. 441-442) show formal resources
students can use to get information about companies. Some of these are
also shown on PP 26-7, PP 26-8, and PP 26-9.
In-Class Exercise: If you are in a computer-equipped
classroom, have students visit the sites listed in Figure 26.3
and report to the class how useful these sites are. If you are
in a conventional classroom, have students visit your
school’s library or career services office outside of class and
locate available information sources, such as those listed in
Figures 26.1 through 26.3. Let them report their findings
to you in a 1- to 2-page memo.
Teaching Tip: Have students who are working bring
examples of their organization’s recruiting materials or
annual report. Ask them to share these materials with the
rest of the class. What information in these materials is
useful to job seekers? Tell students to look beyond the
obvious or direct information—what can they learn from
photographs? Vital statistics about revenue or growth? The
company’s stance on education, promotion from within, or
diversity?
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
26-4
Module 26 - Researching Jobs
Choosing whether to stay or go LO 26-3
Employees can sometimes get in a rut, believing that because there is nothing wrong at their
jobs, there is no reason to leave. Others may find themselves desperate to find another job or
step forward in their careers.
When your job is OK, it’s often hard to know whether to stay or move. After all, you know all
the flaws of your current situation. Any new job will have its own flaws, but you probably don’t
know them and certainly don’t know all of them. To decide on the basis of the pluses and
minuses you know, therefore, is illogical. You need a better way to compare the job you know to
the one that is only a possibility. As discussed in the Building a Critical Skill Box on page 440,
several experts have their own advice about how to decide whether to stay or go. Key questions
students should ask themselves about staying or going are also itemized in PP 26-10 through PP
26-12.
According to William Morin:
Ask such true questions as
Does your boss advocate for you?
Is he or she doing well? The company?
Is your benefits plan vested?
According to John Sullivan:
Ask such questions as
Do you love your work?
Do you have a great mentor?
Do you have opportunities to learn a lot fast?
According to Dory Hollander:
Among the signs to leave:
You have a lot on your mind.
Things change, not to your advantage.
Your boss takes you for granted.
Your mood changes from angry to angrier.
Teaching Tip: Consider bringing in a veteran business
professional to discuss how he or she made choices in his or
her career about whether to remain with the same job or organization or to go. (The
Better Business Bureau in your area may be able to put you in touch with retired
executives willing to speak.) What advice might he or she offer entry-level
employees? Experienced ones? To prepare for the discussion, have students prepare
a list of 2-3 questions they would like to have answered.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
26-5
Module 26 - Researching Jobs
Should I do information interviews? LO 26-4
They’ll help any job hunter. They’re crucial if you’re not sure what you want to do.
As highlighted in PP 26-13, information interviews are great ways to
learn about jobs and organizations—and for a student to get his or her
“foot in the door.” Students can especially benefit from information
interviews because many organizations and potential employers are
sympathetic to helping students in their education. Therefore, the
same organization that might avoid such interviews after the student
graduates may be more than willing to see the student while he or she
is in school.
Teaching Tip: Tell students they should not overlook their professors as potential
resources for information interviews. Many professors—particularly adjuncts who
work full-time in the business world—are excellent sources of information about
jobs and the job market. For those students who might feel shy about approaching
someone in the business world, holding an information interview with a professor
they know can also give them a good “practice run.”
Teaching Tip: Have students review the principles of asking specific and polite
questions in the Building a Critical Skill Box in Module 23 (p. 386).
The length of the information interview depends on how much time the interviewee is willing to
give, though many information interviews are no more than 15-30 minutes. Where possible,
students should meet the interviewee at the actual worksite, though some may combine the
interview with lunch. Many interviewees also give students a quick tour of the worksite.
As PP 26-14 shows, information interviews can
Let you know whether or not you’d like the job.
Give you specific information that you can use to present
yourself effectively in your résumé and application letter.
Create a good image of you in the mind of the interviewer, so
that he or she thinks well of you when openings arise.
During the interview, students should introduce themselves to the interviewee and learn as much
as possible about the job and the company. Students must also remember that the purpose of the
interview is to get information, not to ask for a job. Students should make sure they don’t
mislead the person granting the interview by showing up expecting a job interview.
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manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
26-6
Module 26 - Researching Jobs
As PP 26-15 also suggests, effective questions during the interview
could include
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manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
26-7
Module 26 - Researching Jobs
What are you working on right now?
How do you spend your typical day?
Have your duties changed a lot since you first started working here?
What do you like best about your job? What do you like least?
What do you think the future holds for this kind of work?
How did you get this job?
What courses, activities, or jobs would you recommend to someone who wanted to do
this kind of work?
What is the “hidden job market”? How do I tap into it? LO 26-5
The “hidden market” is composed of jobs that are never advertised.
Referral interviews and prospecting letters can help you find it.
Many of the best jobs in the marketplace are never advertised. In fact, students with special
skills—such as those in high-tech fields—may even find organizations willing to create new jobs
that use the special skills they have to offer. Jobs such as these are part of the “hidden job
market.”
Teaching Tip: Ask students who got their jobs through the hidden job market to share
their experiences with the rest of the class. How did they learn about the job? Was
the job unique for the organization or field? How? What advice might they give to
others hoping to benefit from the hidden job market?
Students can tap the hidden job market in several ways, as shown on PP
26-16 and PP 26-17. Holding information interviews is a start. A
second kind of interview—the referral interview—is another. As PP
26-16 shows, in referral interviews, job seekers meet with people they
know or who are in their field to find out what jobs are available. The
goal is to create a network of contacts who can tell the job seeker about
opportunities.
Referral interviews can start as information interviews. However, as
with information interviews, job seekers must make it clear that they are
not asking for a job—just for information about what jobs might be
available.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
26-8
Module 26 - Researching Jobs
In-Class Exercise: Have students spend 10 minutes brainstorming all of the people
they know that might be able to grant referral interviews. Tell them to include in that
list friends, family members, neighbors, clergy, professors, or anyone else that might
possibly be able to help. Afterward, have them rank order the top five people on the
list, starting with the best source. Consider having them interview these people and
report the results of the interviews to you in a 1- to 2-page memo.
What do I do if I’ve got a major weakness? LO 26-6
Address the employer’s fears, calmly and positively.
For some students, entering the job market requires special consideration because of life events
or situations. As PP 26-18 through PP 26-21 show, these can include:
“All my experience is in my family’s business.”
“I've been out of the job market for a while.”
“I want to change fields.”
“I was fired.”
“I don't have any experience.”
“I'm a lot older than they want.”
Teaching Tip: For many students, the idea of trying to get a
job after a significant life event or situation can be
uncomfortable. Share with students that they should stay
focused on the positive. Though it may sound trite, they
can’t begin the process until they believe they can succeed.
Teaching Tip: Have students get into six groups and assign
one of the special considerations to each. Give them 10
minutes to confer, then have them give a “mini-lesson” on
the group’s consideration. Where possible, have them use
examples from the textbook. Have students brainstorm
additional tips.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
26-9
Module 26 - Researching Jobs
Last Word: Help students understand that searching for a job is a proactive process,
one that typically requires time and patience—sometimes more than students think
they can afford. The work they do early on, though, often pays great dividends later.
Instead of spending all of their time at the last minute producing and sending dozens
of generic job application packages to find a job, taking time and being more
selective through research can help them find the right job.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
26-10
