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A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students School of Liberal Studies, PDPU || Published by: Career Cell ||
INTRODUCTION
As a liberal studies student, you will have some
unique requirements towards your job search.
While you have studied a wide range of subjects &
acquired skills that increases your scope; the
increased scope itself can make the task of a job
search seem challenging, posing as the proverbial
problem of choice from a variety of options.
Moreover, mapping your academic learnings and
skills with the actual requirements of a particular job
can be challenging as well.
SKILLS EMPLOYERS ARE LOOKING FOR
Of course, your Major is the primary academic skill
sets that your employer requires. If strategically
chosen, your Minor adds value to your Major and
provides an edge in the marketplace.
Apart from academic learning, research shows that
there are some specific common skill sets that
employers expect (and always complain that they
usually cant find them!) in their new recruits.
A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students School of Liberal Studies, PDPU || Published by: Career Cell ||
The 5Ws
SO
MANY
SKILLS
EMPLOYERS? YIKES!!
REQUIRED
BY
2. What?
What do you want do to there? What role /
profile / work / function do you want to
participate or perform in the organization?
Sales
Marketing, Advertising & PR
Finance & Accounting
Fundraising
Research & Analysis
Journalism
Operations / Logistics
Human Resources
And more!
3. Where?
Where can you refer to two things: (1)
Geographical Location, and (2) Type of Industry.
Geographical Location:
Where do you want to work? In your hometown,
out-of-town, metro city, foreign shores? Each
choice comes with its own pros and cons which
A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students School of Liberal Studies, PDPU || Published by: Career Cell ||
Type of Industry:
Where do you want to work? What industry /
sector / service? Some of the popular choices for
liberal studies students are:
4. When?
When will you become available for
employment? Check your academic calendar
and memorize the important dates, especially
when your semester ends and when the final
exams end.
Many times, students are not sure of the exact
date and this could lead to complications in cases
where the employment is time-sensitive.
Also, when do you need to apply?
Check the employers website, advertisements or
communication received from the Career Cell.
Ensure that you apply within time otherwise you
may miss out on the opportunity.
At the cost of repetition, remember that job
applications are time-sensitive and even a few
seconds of delay beyond the deadline may render
your ineligibility to apply.
Students are used to late project submissions in
college and believe that pleading with the faculty
or explaining genuine reasons for late
application / submission would be considered,
5. Why?
Often ignored, and yet the most important
question of all. Surely, Last but not the least!!
Why did you make the choices you made above?
Is it because you wanted to? Or is it because of
peer pressure, parents, or news reports?
What percentage of your decision is based on
assumptions, and what percentage of it is based
on facts?
Are your answers to the first 4 questions in
alignment with your short and long term goals?
And by the way, do you actually have goals, or
are you still in floating-around phase?
Are you guided by fear, money, comfort,
passion, or something else totally?
None is
better than the other, but are you aware of the
primary motivating factor that guides your
actions & decisions?
Have you weighed your options? Are you
making the decisions for the right reasons?
Is your expectation mapped to market conditions
and reality? Or are you flapping around in a
dreamland that doesnt really exist?
Do you know the effort required to succeed in
your selected industry and profile? How do you
A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students School of Liberal Studies, PDPU || Published by: Career Cell ||
A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students School of Liberal Studies, PDPU || Published by: Career Cell ||
Know Thyself!
A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students School of Liberal Studies, PDPU || Published by: Career Cell ||
professional knowhow.
Newspapers, magazines, trade journals, professional
journals, books and literature about skills and
knowledge should be read regularly. Have a hunger
for learning more about history, important people
and companies, current issues and future trends in
your desired field of work.
The internet contains a wealth of information.
Subscribe to blogs, Twitter feeds, LinkedIn Feeds,
message boards etc. of people or communities in
your desired field of work.
Also learn as much as possible about the company
you are going to interview at. Know their products,
services, competition, current news, names of
important people, the mission and vision, any awards
they have won, geographical markets etc. All this
information is relatively easy to obtain by referring
to the companys website or through online news
sources. Your university seniors who have already
graduated may also be a very good source of
gathering such information.
Equipped with all this information and knowledge,
you are better prepared to communicate to the
employer why you are interested in them and how
you can meet their needs. You also display an
interest in the job and the company as well as a
passion for the area of work that you are applying
for.
A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students School of Liberal Studies, PDPU || Published by: Career Cell ||
A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students School of Liberal Studies, PDPU || Published by: Career Cell ||
A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students School of Liberal Studies, PDPU || Published by: Career Cell ||
A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students School of Liberal Studies, PDPU || Published by: Career Cell ||
A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students School of Liberal Studies, PDPU || Published by: Career Cell ||
Sources of Reference:
Images Courtesy:
Useful-journals.blogspot.in
Realestateseo1.com
Businessofyourmindset.com
Fireflydigital.com
Rediff.com
MS-Office Clipart
This handbook is for internal circulation only and is free of cost for all liberal studies students. This information is
may be reused with my prior consent or giving credit. The purpose of this handbook is purely academic.
Due credit has been to all content and image sources. In case there is an error of omission in credits, please write to
me through my Twitter handle @phalgunkumar and Ill be glad to update / modify the same.
A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students School of Liberal Studies, PDPU || Published by: Career Cell ||