Young People For

Table of Contents
YP4 Little Black Book
Mastering the Search Process:
Knowing & Communicating Your Authentic Self
Content by Cathy Wasserman

Presented By:
Cathy Wasserman, MSW
For: Young People For Fellows, People for the American Way Foundation
April 2006

Chapter 1: Starting the Search Process ..........................01

Chapter 2: Your Ideal Job Description ................................12
Chapter 3: Potential Future Careers ....................................22

Edited & Compiled by the YP4 Little Black Book Editorial Board:
TJ Helmstetter
Alex Flores
Liz Fossett
Elizabeth Camuti
Paul Kendrick
Reed Schuler

01

Starting the Search Process:

Getting to Know Your Authentic Self

Steps to Build Your Self-knowledge

It takes a lifetime to fully know yourself and that is if you are moving quickly! So how do you take the express bus to self-knowledge? Well, there are a
lot of things that you can do to jump-start or intensify this journey.

02

Self-Knowledge:
Your North Star
My experience
has shown th
at

your knowled
and personal
ly is the most
ge about who
cr
you are profe
itical elemen
It is not the ab
ssionally
t in creating
ility to sell yo
a
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urself. Indee
because it co
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ch
process.
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mes across as
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vey a straigh
backfires
out self-servin
tforward style
g, whereas yo
and interest in
energy into cl
u
w
ant to cona
position and
arifying what
organization.
you really lov
lie, and poten
Invest your
e to do, wher
tial careers th
e your strengt
at most excite
communicate
h
s
and skills
yo
u! Once you
to the world
have this clar
with precisio
may send mix
it
y, you can
n and enthusi
ed and ultim
asm. Withou
ately confusi
ees and other
t
th
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n
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g
si
gnals that do
s to recognize
not allow futu
all that you h
re employave to offer.

2 Be Open
When you are just starting out as a professional, it is particularly important
to consciously make the effort to keep your mind, and thus, your future
wide open. Try out new experiences; a new hobby or volunteer opportunities are great ways to get your wheels greased.

2 Assess Your Past Experiences

Take every volunteer and professional experience you have had and formally assess what you learned and what you would do differently next time for

03

a better experience. This can help you to quickly build a personal database
about your strengths, skills, knowledge, and weaker points.

It is important to bear in mind that, especially when you are starting out,
very few experiences or decisions you make are critical mistakes. Instead,
they allow you to refine and clarify where you want to head and how you
will get there.

2 Ask for On-going Feedback

You almost always gain valuable information when you ask for feedback
from colleagues, supervisors, professors, mentors, and friends. Asking people to think about your strengths and those areas that they think you can
benefit from working on can help you to further assess how you want to
build your skills and experience.

04

2 Create a Professional Profile

A key part of this process is creating a perThis should not be with relasonal professional profile; a document where
tion to a particular job you
you take full account of your expertise. This
want to apply for, but on the
should not be with relation to a particular job
you want to apply for, but on the whole, so
whole, so that you can get a
that you can get a real sense of your best
real sense of your best assets
assets and which areas you would like to
and which areas you would like
improve for the future. A professional profile
to improve for the future.
is different from a resume (although it provides a great foundation for writing a
resume) in that it is an assessment, not just a
description of your passions, skills, knowledge, and experience. It should also act as a projection of your ideal job,
working environment, and possible future careers.
Work on a professional profile before you create or edit your
resume or send out your next cover letter. The appendices may
take you several hours to do, but they are a great investment
because they will undoubtedly help you write standout resumes
and cover letters that paint a succinct yet vivid picture of how
you can benefit a potential employer. It should also help you to
come across strongly in both job and informational interviews.
Dont forget to update your professional profile at least once a year so that
you have a continual read on your professional temperature. Keep yourself
on track for a satisfying and exciting future.

05

2 Strategically Build Your Skills, Experience, & Knowledge

It is crucial to put all of the assessments that you do in your professional
profile to work for yourself! Pay particularly close attention to recommendations described below within the Skills, Experience, & Knowledge to
Build section for how to build into your life the on-going learning that will
help you to continually secure great work.

The Nuts & Bolts of the Professional Profile

2 Biggest Personal & Professional Passions

Doing things we love to do satisfies our personal and professional aspirations. Thus, it is crucial to know what activities or work responsibilities
you enjoy. This category may include activities that you may not practice
professionally. These activities are important for several reasons; first, you
may be able to incorporate aspects of these passions into your next job.
Second, continuing to develop your passions, even if you do not utilize
them in your professional work, will increase your energy and enthusiasm.
Energy and enthusiasm, in turn, will help you to be more successful
professionally.

2 Skills, Experience, & Knowledge Assessment

Undoubtedly, you have substantial skill, experience, and knowledge
already. You may not yet be clear on the many facets of your expertise and
the added value that they can bring to organizations. Clarity about your
skills will allow you to clearly communicate how you can best serve and
benefit potential employers. It can be particularly helpful to poll colleagues, mentors, friends, and supervisors for their perspective on your
strengths to complete this exercise.

06

2 Professional Accomplishments

Knowing what you feel most proud of having done professionally can give
you a lot of good clues about where you have had the most impact. It can
also give you clues about which areas you devote your time and energy to
in the future.

2 Your Ideal Job Description

People have the tendency to try to fit themselves into jobs rather than first
fully assessing whether they are the right fit. Knowing what specific tasks
you are energized by doing on the job as well as the kind of environment in
which you thrive will help you to understand the kinds of positions and
organizations in which you are likely to be a great fit. Your thoughts here
might vary from organizational culture to the kind of supervision that best
nurtures your professional growth. See Appendix 1 for worksheet.

2 Potential Future Careers

At the beginning of your career it can be tough to know exactly where you
are headed. Staying open to different possibilities will help you find the
most fulfilling professional path. At the same time, it is important to assess

Additionally,
if your GPA is over
3.5, you may want
to include it.

07

what you know and what skills you lack. Project possible professional
paths to give yourself an advantage when exploring new professional opportunities and directions. See Appendix 2 for worksheet.

2 Skills, Experience, & Knowledge to Build

After you have completed all of the other parts of the profile, it is crucial to
spend some time thinking about which areas you would like to or need to
build over your career given your longer-term goals. Then, you need to
build a realistic and energizing plan outlining the specific steps you are
going to take to build your skill set.

Establish a Good Search Support System

It is important to establish a core group of people
whether friends, mentors, professors, career coaches, or
family who you can call upon for advice or when you
just need some encouragement. Know ahead of time the
list of people you will contact to lighten your load from
the outset.

Pace Your Search

Managing the Logistics of the Search

2 Keep a Search Notebook

Before we dive into the mechanics of the search, purchase a notebook. Use
it to take note of every action or step you take, no matter how small and
inconsequential. There is no need to get fancy, just date each entry and
summarize what you did that day in bullet points, whether you completed
the Ideal Job Description or sent an email to set up an informational interview. In addition to being a great way to keep track of everything you are
doing and helping you to stay on top of deadlines, the search notebook can
also be called upon as a source of support.
Search processes can be demanding and there are bound to be times when
you feel frustrated. In those times, it can be really helpful to review everything youve done and to remind yourself that you are making steady
progress. Lastly, by showing you every step in your search, your notebook
can also help you take note of whether you may need to fine-tune your
methods.

08

The search process takes a lot of time and energy and it

is important to make sure that you maintain your stamina. Before you dive in, try to assess what expectations
you have for yourself each week. Consider all of your
other responsibilities and come up with a thorough, but
realistic plan. Please see each up-coming section for
information on how to pace yourself through specific
tasks, including writing your resume and cover letters,
preparing for interviews, and networking.

09

NOTES

Appendix 1:
Your Ideal Job Description

2 What tasks will definitely NOT be included in your ideal work?

Your ideal work

Be as specific as possible in describing your ideal duties and responsibilities. Next to

each one, approximate the percentage of time you would like to spend doing the
activity. Do not worry about making sure the activities all fit within a particular
kind of job, just list the activities that you really love to do at work. (For example,
Meeting with potential funders to discuss how my organizations teen mothers program can add to their portfolio- 15%.)

12

13

2 Are you supervising individuals? If so, how many?

Are you supervising projects? If so, what kinds of projects?

2 Please summarize in 1-3 sentences what you will be doing in your ideal job

and, if possible, list a few job titles that seem to capture your ideal work:

(For this question, you want to look for themes in the tasks that you love to do; now is the time to
group them and reflect upon what kinds of jobs involve everything or most of what you love to do.)

14

Your working style and ideal organization,

colleagues, and manager
2 Please describe your working style:
(For example, do you tend to prefer working on your own? Checking in with your manager daily, every
other day? Is it important to you to be low-key and calm under pressure? Do you thrive when you can
bring your sense of humor to the job? etc)

2 Please describe the working styles of colleagues with whom you interact well

and less well.

(For example, some people work well with colleagues who take a lot of initiative or are more formal
on the job. Others tend to work better with colleagues who are more casual or who pay enormous
attention to detail.)

I interact well with colleagues who:

I interact less well with colleagues who:

15

2 What kinds of expertise would you like your colleagues to have? What kinds

of things would you like to learn from them?

2 Please list any aspect of an organizations culture that would NOT be a good

fit for you:

2 Please describe the kind of organization you would like to work for:
Mission(s):

2 Please describe the characteristics, working style and approach to supervision

of your ideal supervisor:

Approximate # of staff:

2 Please describe any characteristics and style of a supervisor that would NOT

be a good fit for you:

Organizational culture:

2 What kinds of things would you like to learn from your next supervisor?

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17

Benefits etc
2 Optimal number of hours you would you like to work per week:
2 Number of hours, which you will not work more than per week:
2 Optimal preferred salary or salary range:
2 Minimum preferred salary or salary range:
2 Description of optimal benefits:

Deal Breakers
Please list any elements in your ideal job that are deal breakers for you, that is,
without which you likely will not apply to or accept a job. Note, that it is also
helpful to list your deal breakers in order of importance. (For example, perhaps
you know that you absolutely cannot do your best work if an organization has
more than 40-50 staff so staff size of more than 40 would be a major deal
breaker for you.)

2 Description of minimum benefits you will accept:

2 Is there any information that you left out that you think is a key part of

your ideal job?

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NOTES

Appendix 2:
Potential Future Careers

Although it can be hard to imagine yourself in the future, do be detailed in this

worksheet. Your aspirations may evolve, but this worksheet will provide you with a
number of ideas and with a better sense of yourself. Dont forget that most people
change careers more than once during their lives so do not hesitate to incorporate
diverse ideas and dreams! (If you want, add career intervals such as 7-10 years or 15
years for greater insight.)

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In 1-2 years, I would like to:

2 Be working with these kinds of organizations (mission & culture):

2 Be doing these kinds of tasks every day at work:

2 Have these kinds of job titles:

2 Have these kinds of colleagues

(expertise, working style, educational background etc..):

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2 Be making these kinds of impact:

2 Have these kinds of job titles:

2 Questions I need answered or additional information, knowledge, or skills that

I may need in order to do the above:

2 Have this kind of expertise:

In 3 years, I would like to:

2 Be working with these kinds of organizations (mission & culture):

2 Be doing these kinds of tasks every day at work:

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2 Have these kinds of colleagues:

2 Be making these kinds of impact:

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2 Questions I need answered or additional information, knowledge, or skills that

I may need in order to do the above:

2 Have these kinds of job titles:

In 5 years, I would like to:

2 Have this kind of expertise:

2 Be working with these kinds of organizations (mission & culture):

2 Have these kinds of colleagues:

2 Be doing these kinds of tasks every day at work:

2 Be making these kinds of impact:

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2 Questions I need answered or additional information, knowledge, or skills that

I may need in order to do the above:

2 Have these kinds of job titles:

In 10 years, I would like to:

2 Have this kind of expertise:

2 Be working with these kinds of organizations (mission & culture):

2 Be doing these kinds of tasks every day at work:

2 Have these kinds of colleagues:

2 Be making these kinds of impact:

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2 Questions I need answered or additional information, knowledge, or skills that

I may need in order to do the above:

2 Have these kinds of job titles:

2 Have this kind of expertise:

By the end of my career, I would like to:

2 Be working with these kinds of organizations (mission & culture):

2 Have these kinds of colleagues:

2 Be doing these kinds of tasks every day at work:

2 Be making these kinds of impact:

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2 Questions I need answered or additional information, knowledge, or skills that

I may need in order to do the above:

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NOTES

NOTES

NOTES

is a Young People For initiative

Young People For

is a program of