About The Book
 

During the early stages of my job search as a college senior, I had an informational interview with a friendly junior employee from a commendable firm in my targeted corporate sector. When I arrived at his office to learn the ins and outs of his business, my chaperone described his daily duties and led me on an enlightening tour of his cubicle-packed corporate domain, affectionately referred to as "the bullpen" by him and his fellow junior-level troops. Escorting me around the inner workings of the company, he introduced me to co-workers and led me through other key departments, such as the company's massive sales and trading operation, which encompassed multiple floors of the building. I made mental notes of everything along the way, which helped me later at a formal interview. Although I benefited immensely from the walk-through and picked up a barrelful of insight, smack in the middle of the experience, I distinctly remember thinking, This is great and all, but what do I need to do to get a job here? What exactly do I need to do to get my foot in the door with a high-caliber firm like this? Suddenly stuck on the basic problem of catching on with a superlative employer in the first place, I quickly lost interest in seeking any further details from my gracious host on his small corner of the business.

Although I greatly appreciated the exposure, I realized straightaway that I held only a faint grasp of my forthcoming senior-year job search. I had managed a commendable grade point average. I had recently wrapped up a fruitful internship with a top-drawer business. But I remained in the dark on the steps necessary for landing top-level, postdiploma employment. I knew to make use of my campus career services center to the fullest and to check in with my personal connections, but I had no definitive blueprint for securing passage into the premium end of the professional domain. Despite four years of time, effort, and money invested in higher education, and despite my lofty aims for a post-college profession, I still faced a pronounced learning curve in landing with a blue-ribbon employer.

College can educate you on economics, mathematics, English composition, science, history, humanities, and the like, plus a kaleidoscope of advanced subjects pertinent to your major, but the experience sheds only marginal light on the subject of your senior-year job search. Despite the depth of your college grounding, your tuition nets you no definitive guidebook or concrete instruction on the subject of translating your blood, sweat, and tears from the prior four years into a gainful, career-inaugurating post within the corporate arena. College comes up short in the area of properly drilling you on the nuances of getting the most out of your hard-earned degree and steering you into a rewarding full-time career...

 



© 2016 S. A. Eberwein