Work
Here you will find information about how to find a job, choose a career, write a cover letter, and much more.
*At the bottom of this page you can find a complete index of all the job related topics within Place Corps How-To.*
Here you can find a printable pdf version of the complete Place Corps Jobs Guide.
What Kind of Worker Am I?
Work is a part of our lives and our identities. Who we become and the quality of our lives is strongly impacted by our career choices and who we are in the work world. We live in a work and money centric society in which work means what you do to make money, and the more work you do and the more money that work makes, the better you are doing. But better in what way? And for what purpose?
◈ Work is one part of life, and money, or financial capital, is one kind of wealth, but there are many other parts of life, and many other forms of capital, or wealth. As you make your way into adulthood, you have the opportunity to decide what parts of life are important to you, what your values are, and the kinds of wealth you want to build in your life, and how work fits into this.
Making a Professional Plan
By deciding what kind of work will be meaningful to you based on who you are, your values, goals, and interests, and keeping in mind how the work you do relates to and allows for all the other kinds of growth you want to pursue.
Meaningful work: Simply put, meaningful work is work that fills you up rather than empties you out. Meaningful work often has a number of qualities in common:
Harvard Business Review Suggests the Following Career Planning Considerations:
1. Environment: What kinds of environments, management styles, and ways of working do you thrive in?
2. Role: What kind of roles and prospects for growth are you looking for? Compensation: What’s the minimum compensation you will accept and what’s your ideal range?
3. Skills Acquisition: What skills and competencies does your resume currently demonstrate? Are you looking to gain additional skills or further specialize in what you know now?
4. Career Narrative: How does your resume position you in the hiring market? For example, does it suggest you’re someone who cares about socially driven work? Does it suggest you’re great at building, launching, and leading new initiatives? Have you collected “prestigious” company logos?
5. On the Horizon: Is there a meaningful and realistic step you can take within the next 18 months based on your answers? For example, are there opportunities you can take off the table or add?