Harry Potter's Wand and Your Job Search

http://www.careerealism.com/create-job-search-magic/

I love the title of this post: 5 secrets to create job search magic!

Wouldn't it be lovely to have a magic wand you could wave at graduation, and ¡Poof! You wake up the next day with a job? Sounds delightfully conspiratorial: secrets! Maybe you could even say you have a bit of the phoenix feather in your wand...

But seriously. The take-away from this solid article is that you can't always make happen exactly what you want, exactly when you want it. But you can take steps to be prepared for a job to fall in your lap--or at least in arm's reach.

Actually, "job search" is a misnomer, suggesting that it's something you start doing when you want or need to find a job. But the magic happens when you set up conditions that will bring information your way, so that you can act on it as needed. 

That may include networking, keeping in touch with your alumni association, being visible through intelligent participation (taking part in ongoing discussions, initiating new topics) on social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and the rest). 

It may also include researching and keeping tabs on companies you may want to work for--setting up a routine to check their Human Resources bulletin boards online for job postings (which may or may not be advertised elsewhere--after all, ads cost money, but internal company website information is free). Maybe doing an informational interview with someone who has a job you'd want to end up in after a few years.

And it means starting today getting your house in order: spiffing up your LinkedIn profile, developing a strategy to connect with people and information. One step you can take immediately: visit Niagara University's Career Services Center (http://www.niagara.edu/career). After all, you have paid for that resource through your tuition dollars. (Heck, you didn't think the only thing you were paying for were classes, did you?)