Job Search Basics

The basic elements of your job search are the following: cover letter and resume, references, and the interview. There are a lot of books and websites that give guidelines on writing the perfect cover letter and resume. The important thing is to show yourself as a professional. Even in a casual workplace, it’s always a good idea to follow formal business practices.

Ideally, your resume should fit in one page. If you have more qualifications (and this does not include being class president in high school, your favorite hobbies, etc.), you can extend the length of your resume. For a professional looking resume:

1. Include a career objective or summary in the beginning. Target the objective to your prospective employer. It ties up all your experience and provides the proper tone for the rest of the resume.
2. Stick to one type of font in standard size. It might be fun to experiment with all the different fonts in your computer but it will only look confusing to the person reading your resume.
3. Use a laser printer. Print them in school as a cost cutting measure. If you photocopy your resume, make sure they are clean copies.
4. Review spelling and grammar. Believe it or not, that will be the one thing that will stand out.
5. Tell the truth. Do not make up information. The truth will come out sooner or later.

Tip: If you’re sending out a resume for a job, DON’T put your picture on it as is the practice of most Filipinos fresh from college. Even if you look incredibly cute, potential employers will see you as a legal threat. It’s like you saying, “Hey, I’m Filipino! If you don’t hire me, I’ll sue you with racial discrimination.” So your resume goes into the trash.—Arvin Concepcion, New York

You should also start asking the people whom you want to use as references. Some possibilities are professors (choose the ones where you did well in class), your supervisor at work if you work/ed part-time, or your boss at your internship. You can always refer to your professors and previous employers in the Philippines but sometimes it’s not worth it for them to make a long-distance call.

At your interview, do your best to look professional. This doesn’t necessarily mean wearing a designer suit but you should be clean and neat. Even if the person interviewing you is in casual attire, you should still wear a business suit. Bring two extra copies of your resume and another sheet with the contact information of your references. Do some research about the company or even the person beforehand. You can link your experience with the goals of the company. And don’t forget to send a thank you note.

Job Search Sites
The easiest way to look for openings is online. However, jobs posted online also mean a lot of other people saw the opening too. If you know somebody who works in the company, ask them to find out if the position is still open or if they are just going through the motions. Some companies advertise positions where there are strong internal candidates and advertising is a mere formality.

Before you can use most of the site’s special services, you’ll be asked to register and fill up a questionnaire. Aside from job search tools, the sites will offer tips in making a resume, relocation, comparing salaries and career advice.

Wise Words: In any society, I guess if you are a Kennedy, you can get to where you want to go but in general, you can use your school or even the career center. Contacting people who were alumni of the school is the best way because they are willing to help you. It’s to their best interest to help you. —Ana Ascalon, University of California Los Angeles, California.

Tricia: It’s important to keep in touch with past and present employers for references. You might also want to keep in touch with friends in Manila and in school even if it seems user-friendly. Most of my employment was through a friend’s referral. In the US, and I think the rest of the world, it’s not really what you know but who you know and studying abroad helps you “know” more people.

Other Options
There are three other options to staying on—pursue another degree, get married to a citizen, or go illegal. In the US, if you plan to pursue another degree, this means you have to ask your new school for another I-20. You don’t need a new visa since the stamp usually says D/S (duration of status) and transferring to another school for another degree means you are maintaining your status as a student.

Getting married to a citizen might seem like a rare occurrence but Tricia and a few common friends of hours have done so and it allowed them the opportunity to work in their spouses’ country of origin. There is still a lot of paperwork that needs to be done, however, so if you end up marrying a local don’t think that all of your problems are solved. We recommend getting a lawyer to give you advice on all the paperwork that needs done as well as keep you posted on the latest immigration rules.

And let’s just say, we don’t recommend going illegal.