Monday, January 26, 2009

Getting Face-to-Face Help When You Have a College Degree and No Job

For some people this information may be obvious, but I'm always surprised by the number of college grads who don't know about the following resources.


 

Try the Career Center of your alma mater, or the Career Services office or whatever they call it there. Sometimes larger schools have career offices just for alumni.

What if I no longer live in that town? Is there a regional campus you can go to that's closer? Just because you didn't graduate from that campus, doesn't mean they won't help you.

What if it's impossible for me to get back to my college? Is there another school nearby? Career Services' offices will often be willing to offer what is called reciprocation, meaning that by helping you, they are guaranteeing that an alum from their college will be helped at your old school. Some schools will also just counsel community members as part of their services. It doesn't hurt to call and ask

Will they charge me anything? Possibly. It really depends on the individual college's policies. If you compare what your school charges alumni to what the hourly cost of a counselor from the private sector, it's likely to be much more reasonable.


 

You can also check Career OneStop for state agencies to go to for help.


 

There are also people that offer distance and face-to-face private career counseling or coaching. Richard N. Bolles, What Color is Your Parachute? Author, devotes a section of the back of his book to how to pick a good career counselor or career coach. The NCDA (National Career Development Association) website also has FAQ's and a search section on choosing a counselor.


 

BTW, What Color is Your Parachute? is a good sort of classic career development book even you feel like there's no point in figuring out the color of your parachute because you can't afford one. Bolles puts together a new version yearly, but you can always check out older versions of it from your local library.

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