Authored by Major Hayden

Step 1: Determine what your must-haves are – Everyone is different. Take some time and determine what your “must haves” are in a job or an internship. Examples of must haves may be location, key responsibilities, organizational structure, or advancement structure. Use these parameters to limit your search.

Step 2: Set a realistic timeline – A 2014 NACE study revealed that the average number of days between application and interview was 38 days. If this average holds true, it means that if you were apply for a position today, it would take until February 23, 2017 until you were offered an interview. Certainly, the application process or hiring cycle can go much faster. For this reason, it’s important to know how hiring in your industry works. The pace may also be impacted by employment screenings or security clearance investigations.  Once you know how long it may take to get a job or internship, take time to build a realistic timeline.

Step 3: Track Your Progress – Once you have a timeline setup, determine check in points where you can look back at the progress you’ve made by looking at the amount of applications you’ve submitted versus the number of interviews that you’ve received.

Step 4: Consult with advisors – Consider the group of people who are your greatest advocates and those who are likely to provide you with good advice – these people are your advisors. In Career Services, we hope to be on that list, but we also know that your list of advisors may include: Faculty, your academic advisor, coaches, members of the Commandant’s staff, alumni, staff, family, and friends. My list isn’t exhaustive, but it should help you think about who you may want to include as advisors in your search process.

Step 5: Interview and Evaluate Offers – When a candidate is offered an interview, it means that you’ve made it through the first step in the selection process. Application pools can be anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand applicants. If you are offered an interview, your chances of getting an offer have increased significantly. The best space you can be in as an applicant is to have multiple offers. If you find yourself in the predicament of having multiple job offers you should consider each offer carefully. A few things that you may want to consider: Organization, benefits, potential growth within the company (in the case of an internship, the likelihood of being offered a full-time position post-graduation), pay or type of compensation, location, and non-paid benefits.  What should you do when you first receive an offer? Thank the person extending the offer and find out the length of time that you have to respond. From this point, go back to your advisors and talk through the offer. Take time consider the pros and cons of the offer or offers. If you accept an offer, your next step should be to remove yourself from other application processes. If you do not accept an offer, then you can continue in other application processes. It’s important that you choose carefully which offers to accept or reject.