Job Hunting for Specific Industries

For many of us, we get so wrapped up falling in love with our major that we forget to peek out beyond our senior year and think about what we're going to, you know, do with this amazing degree we chose.

One of the distinct privileges of being a business student is that the business school is extremely motivated to make sure you get a job from one of the many companies that sponsor the school with their donations.  For the business student, this forced-networking environment is a very real advantage for most post-college kids.

However, for many students, this is not the scenario in which they swim during their university life.  Consider the example of a recent acquaintance of mine who is finishing his master's degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

For those not in the know (that is, pretty much all of us), this is the psychological, more scientifically-rooted variation of an HR/management degree.  Where someone in HR is likely to get scooped up by a staffing firm or be recruited into a human resources department at a large company, the I&O Psych major might be left scrambling.

This acquaintance asked a prof where they should go to find a job, and the professor had to candidly admit that she didn't know.  This prof turned right around after her own PhD and started teaching, and hasn't had to search in the job market for 20 years, let alone hunt for a job outside the hallowed halls of her university.  Other than scouring the pages of I&O Psych periodicals for non-tenure track teaching positions, this student is nearing the end of his Master's with a less than clear picture of what he will do when he graduates.

What do you do when the majority of your professors and networked associates are academics, and your degree and passion are built for the private sector?

Here's the advice I gave my acquaintance, with examples that are specific to a psych degree but with principles which apply to all industries:

1. Work backward from what kind of job you ideally want.

So you got into Industrial and Organizational Psychology because you think you can help people run their businesses more efficiently by making employees happier.  Fantastic!  You've found a noble dream, good for you.

What jobs do you know of that help make employees happy?  (Hint: if you can't answer this question, we're gonna have a lot of work to do.  You might consider stopping at this point to take a management class.)

Human resource departments are going to be the first place to look for someone with an I&O Psych degree.

What's your major?  Think about the function you want to perform out in the world and make a list of jobs that typically perform that function.  Think of all the possible functions you could perform, and all the competencies you will have with your degree, and consider how any of them could be applied practically, and in more than one circumstance.  This will become the basis of your competencies list.

2. Figure out what degrees are similar to your degree.

We've established that you want to make employees happier, and that human resource departments usually have good opportunities in that field.  So an I&O Psych degree is not all that dissimilar from a corporate management degree.

Think of any and all degrees that even remotely overlap with your major.  In the Venn diagram of what your major covers and what other majors cover, be sure to include majors that only brush your field of expertise so you can cast a wide net.

3. Search for student organizations that connect local businesses or industries with students.

At most schools, if they offer I&O Psych, it is not for a large audience.  You might find that your Master's degree subject is so specific that there are no student organizations for it at all.

That's where your related degrees list comes in handy.  Start looking for student organizations that are in these related majors, and start attending meetings.  Almost all undergrad and graduate level student organizations have a website and a Facebook page, and ALL student organizations are registered with the university.  Most clubs and orgs will let newcomers visit once or twice before committing to joining the group.

Now that you've attended more meetings in a week than an open-concept-office-worker, pick at least one club and join it.  Don't be afraid, be a joiner!

Be sure to pick organizations that are industry-oriented and specifically talk about job opportunities and networking.  As much as we love supportive groups, collegiate social clubs are not what we need right now.

4. Don't be afraid to branch out to the very limit of your Venn diagram.

I feel this deserves its own line.

Remember: we are casting as wide of a net as possible.  We are willing to look in unlikely places for opportunities we would not have thought of in our normal line of work.  This is lateral thinking.

For our I&O Psych example, my intuition said "look for HR jobs."  But only looking in one direction for your post-college job is a recipe for disappointment (and, if nothing else, a few months of anxious panicking.).

I&O Psych also has a research and science background.  This is someone who could manage employee satisfaction questionnaires (pre- and post-incentive program), or use personality tests to identify employment candidates who are more ideal for a given position than others.  There are firms which consult with companies to create employee incentive programs and conduct research on performance to report to the company managers.

Consulting firms and research houses would be my next place to look for this acquaintance.

Don't get too fixed thinking in one direction.  Always go back to your list of competencies, and expand your list to include anything that might be able to use your skills, regardless of field.

5. Good God, get a LinkedIn page!

If you're honestly in the job market and you don't have a LinkedIn account, you will learn to regret it.  At the bare minimum, having your resume present on LinkedIn allows you to apply with one click for some jobs listed on services like ZipRecruiter.  Why wait until you're near a computer to send a PDF of your resume when you could apply, using your LinkedIn account, from your phone?

The next best reason to have a LinkedIn account is so that you can fill up a Google search of your name with actual professional information about yourself.

(This might be a good time for a social media status check, but we'll get to that in a later post.)

Last, it gives you a platform and a place to collect any of those great networking contacts you're making in one place, and periodically broadcast updates to that network.  I'll be sharing my tips for how to connect and engage your LinkedIn community in my next post.

"Get a LinkedIn page" also means finally sit down and compile your resume/vita.  LinkedIn provides lots of space for adding your classroom experience, your volunteer experience, upload papers and items from your experience portfolio, and to share a more personal side of yourself online.  As painstaking as it can be to write, once you have it down, a robust LinkedIn page can serve you well -- even when you have no professional experience yet.