Thomas is a staff auditor for the Oregon Secretary of State. His job entails auditing agencies to evaluate how well they are doing at the functions their agency has been assigned. After a recent UO Economics Career Panel in which Thomas participated, I emailed Thomas for more information on his job search and he generously wrote the following about his initial employment search and the tools he used to secure his position. Thomas writes:
"I wanted to have a
job-situation lined up by the end of Winter Term of my senior year and started
sending out application materials to different companies and attending career
expositions during the preceding Fall Term. It took me roughly 2.5 months from
when I started aggressively job-hunting to receive an offer. Since all the
undergraduates have different strengths and weaknesses, however, I would not use
that amount of time as a benchmark to estimate how long one can expect to look
for jobs. I cannot put an exact figure on how many resumes and cover letters I
sent out, but I would guess it was around 30-40. I interviewed with firms in
different fields (energy, investment banking, pension planning, and of course,
state auditing). 1) Include a writing
sample with your application. It gives the company more information about the
applicant and I think it demonstrates more preparedness of the applicant's part.
Some techniques that helped me in the application process include the following;
2) Personalize your
letter of recommendation in order to demonstrate that your skill-set matches
their needs. This may require spending some time reviewing the company's
website.
3) Call the company
once you submit your application to inquire about the position. Do not
continuously call however, if you do not get encouraging feedback from the
company then move on.
For the interview process, you should ...
1) Learn as much about
the company as you can. Review their website, try to understand what kinds of
services they provide, review their biographies page if they have one,etc.
2) Learn about the general industry they work in (wetfeet.com is one good
resource for that).
3) Dress well for the interview, be alert and energetic. Also try to
relax during the interview. Besides being competent in all the necessary
fields, companies will want someone who they can enjoy being around on a daily
basis.
As for state testing, state jobs applications often have a few written questions
asking the applicant to demonstrate that they are proficient in whatever fields
the position requires. I also had to write an essay during my second and last
interview for the Audits Division. The purpose of the essay was to have the
applicant demonstrate their ability to think analytically and methodically, as
well as to write clearly. I did not prepare for the essay question though there
are some governmental organizations that have difficult examinations for
applicants. One last thing, being able to write well is very important
considering how much office communication is written.”
Profile by Anna Strong (2005)