Are you thinking you are the only one who does not know what do after graduation? As you sit in your classes do you overhear conversations of colleagues who seem to have it all figured out?

This may sound like the beginning of a commercial for a ’self help, quick fix’ road to success. It’s not. Here’s the bad news – there are no shortcuts when it comes to your life plan. It takes time, thought and quite a bit of research. But you know how to do research, right? It’s what you do each semester for papers, midterms and finals.

Where do you start? Pick a couple of career fields that appeal to you. Then visit your local or university library to begin your research. Here at USC we have just published a library guide to provide quick links to online career resources. In one place you will find professional organizations, company listings and contacts. In addition, the CPPC web site provides information on relocation and specific job listings using connectSC.

The number one reason someone fails to move on in the interview process is lack of knowledge about a career field or a specific organization. Using these resources to find information will provide you with a broad understanding of the issues and trends, leading employers and organization culture. Reading through job descriptions will help familiarize you with what background and skills an employer generally requires.

Your next step is to join a professional association as a student member. This will give you access to publications, conferences and contacts. Use the Trojan Network as a resource to identify USC alumni who may be working in your field. One on one conversations with professionals in the field will add a touch of reality to what you uncover in print and on the web.

Take some time this week to get started. And by the way, the folks in your class are part of the ‘Trojan Family’ so join the conversation and share your ideas about what you want to do with your life.

Do your remember all the bad news about the market for college graduates last year? As recruiters started canceling visits to college campuses, reporters forecast dire consequences for the graduating class. But what really did happen?

A significant number of students did not even try to find a job according to national statistics. Many moved home with family members and sat out the summer waiting for something to happen. Others filed graduate school applications in hopes that the market would improve in a couple of years and an additional credential would make them more marketable.

Many employers were conservative in their hiring, while others did not hire at all. In some fields, offers were deferred to a future date while employers tried to manage resources in a complex new economy.

Our experience was far better than the national averages. The percentage of students going to graduate school was identical to 2008 and while it took a bit longer, the jobs were there for those who were actively engaged in the job search process.

What does this mean for you as you plan your job search this year?

First, stay focused on your choice of career. If you have not tried an internship in your field, this semester would be a great time to start. The financial firms did extend offers last year, but most were given to former interns.

Avoid the temptation to follow the media lead with their reporting on ‘hot jobs’. If these careers appeal to you, definitely pursue them. However, do not completely change direction based on an internet story. Rather, continue your research on your career field and keep up to date on trends and market leaders.

Work on a short 2-3 sentence summary of what you are looking for. Whenever you meet someone, tell them your story. Members of your network can be more helpful if they know some specifics. This is the year to build your network. (see previous posts under the networking category)

Bottom line you need to be an expert in your field. Get involved in a professional association. Use class assignments as a way to learn more about your possible career choices. You do not want to end the year back at home watching the news about how people like you have no options.

As the semester begins we learn that the unemployment rate in Los Angeles has reached 11.9%. Over a year has passed since the global financial meltdown. What have we learned? Where do we go from here?

Throughout the year we will share advice, resources and welcome your comments. We begin with the lessons of the Class of 2009.

Lesson #1 – Don’t narrow your options. It is important in a competitive economy to be focused on your career goal. However, it helps to do some contingency planning.

Let’s say you are interested in a career in real estate. Find an internship with a real estate firm to get some experience and possible consideration for a full time job. At the same time, take a look at other regions of the country where the economy is recovering at a faster rate and consider applying for positions out of state. This gives you a back up plan to begin work as soon as you graduate and start accumulating the experience you will eventually bring back to the California market when the local economy improves.

Maybe you are considering graduate school as a way to ‘sit out’ the current economy. You’re thinking things will improve in a couple of years and you’ll have an advanced degree. Unless you are planning to attend medical school, you might want to test the waters. The job market for the USC Class of 2009 was far better than the national averages. Apply to graduate school, but also apply for full time positions.

What you can do this week to get started? Talk to people: parents, faculty, staff and friends. Find out what they do and how they got to where they are. You will learn that there is no straight line from a degree program to a particular career choice.

You have options. Think of a pyramid. You are at the bottom, the widest part at the beginning of your search. You need a strong, broad foundation before you can begin to narrow your choices. Spend the next couple of months exploring a wide range of possibilities. As you continue your conversations, you will decide what is viable and what is not. Keep an open mind and you will improve your chances for a full time offer by commencement.

With ‘move in day’ a new academic year begins on campus. After you have unpacked the boxes, visited the bookstore and reconnected with friends take a few minutes to navigate the career center website. We have planned a full calendar of events for the fall and will host the inaugural ‘USC Career Fest 2010′ in February. You don’t want to miss the opportunities to connect with employers and alumni.

’sc@work’ is a year old this week. Our career blog shares advice, resources and comments on current career topics and trends. Most of what appeared on this site over the past twelve months is still relevant today. We welcome your comments and ideas, so share your thoughts on our blog.

Construction continues on the new student center but we are still open in the Student Union Building. Come by for walk in advice, appointments, workshops and help with finding and internship or full time job. We are excited to have you all back on campus and look forward to working with you throughout the year.

The interview process tends to be an intense experience for most of us. While it is important to convey your commitment to an employer in a serious manner, your success in the workplace will depend on your personal connection with colleagues and clients. You may need to lighten up a bit.

Last spring when I was conducting interviews with students seeking a competitive internship slot I asked each candidate: what do you do for fun? Most students did not have an answer. For those who did they described working on a research project or setting up a foundation to support a local youth group. While these are worthwhile efforts and show an engagement with learning and service, they don’t answer the question.

What is behind the question? Basically an employer wants to know what it will be like to work with you. When you reach the interview you have passed the resume review and demonstrated the technical requirements of a position. Now, in your first face-to-face conversation the employer is trying to determine if you are a ‘fit’ in the organization. Describing what you do outside of work adds an additional dimension to your personality, beyond what the employer can find on Facebook.

Try it out on a friend. Ask them what they do for fun. Now, don’t listen as much to the answer as observe the non verbals while they respond. People naturally relax and smile when they are talking about enjoying life. They convey an energy and enthusiasm that opens a window to another aspect of their life.

Now, translate this to your interview. When the employer asks this question he or she is offering you the opportunity to relax, smile and show a different side of yourself.

For the last blog of summer I encourage all of you to do a quick inventory of what you did for fun this summer – while you still remember. Then draft a couple of answers to the question.

Tell me about your failures.

How do you respond when the interviewer poses this one? We have all made mistakes, but this request can derail your opportunity if you are not prepared with a straightforward answer.

Here is the thing. You have spent a significant portion of your time as student with the one goal to succeed in the classroom and not fail. Now the rules change. It is not only acceptable to fail – within limits – but employers want to you to talk about it.

Think about your summer work experience. Can you come up with a few examples of mistakes? How would you present them in an interview?

In a recent New York Times interview, John Chambers, the chairman and C.E.O. of Cisco Systems was asked “How do you hire?”  His response: “First thing I want to ask you about: tell me about your results. I never get hard work confused with success. So I’d walk you through the successes, and what did you do right. I’d also ask you to tell me about your failures. And that’s something people make a tremendous mistake on. First, all of us have had mistakes and failures. And it’s surprising how many people say, “Well, I can’t think of one.” That immediately loses credibility. It’s the ability to be very candid on what mistakes they’ve made, and then the question is, what would you do differently this time?”

The article continues with the other skills Mr. Chambers seeks including strong communication and customer orientation. But his priority on understanding success in terms of results and failure as a learning tool for change provides an important perspective on where you should focus your preparation for an interview. So don’t seek sympathy for long hours, emphasize what you accomplished. And don’t pretend you haven’t failed, articulate what you learned in the process.

I have often thought this would be a good question to ask an interviewer. When you get to that point when the recruiter says “Do you have any questions for me?” I think it might be interesting to ask “Have you ever failed at work? How did the organization deal with your mistake?” The answer may give you a realistic insight into the employer’s culture.

As summer comes to an end, celebrate your success and consider the magic of mistakes.

What happened to summer? Is it me, or does time go by more quickly on breaks? Before your experiences of the past few months are lost in the excitement of the new semester, take some time to reflect on what you learned. 

Did you travel, study, work or all of the above? Review each experience and come up with a list of what you learned about yourself, the skills you acquired or any challenges you overcame. Some of these will fall naturally into a resume, but others will provide the content for your interview answers.

Why did you choose to travel, study or work this summer? It is certain that will be a question an employer will ask. How did you grow as an individual or as a professional as a result of travel, study or work? Most employers are looking for someone with a good sense of themselves – both the strengths and weaknesses. What challenges did you face and how did you meet them? Did you fail or succeed? What you learned from your mistakes may be as important to a recruiter as the tale of your biggest success.

Once you have your list, update your resume with your new work, travel and education. Then begin to develop a narrative that will tell your story of the summer. When an employer asks you to “tell me about yourself” you can use this two minute script to introduce yourself, your most recent experience and how it has led you to be sitting across the desk from the recruiter.

This exercise may seem simple, but it challenges the best of us. Ask your friends to help. They will remember what you talked about all summer and will help to fill in the blanks. Stop by the career center and talk to an advisor for additional feedback.

Once you have completed this summer inventory, you will have a better idea of your next steps – where the gaps are in your work or education. Enjoy the remaining days of summer and come back to sc@work for additional tips and opinion.