Looking for a job? Check out Source for listings

By Sophia Whang
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

With graduation and summer break come the same excuses, masked
as an adventurous trip to Europe or a relaxing year off, all to
hide the common fact of unemployment.

How many people go through with backpacking in Europe anyway?
Mary Louise McMahon, Norman Stahl and Jason Wall, two of whom are
career counselors at the UCLA Career Center, have constructed a So.
California Job Source to ease the hassles of a job search and fears
of professional rejection.

A cover-up is no longer needed with the help of a 500-page guide
boasting over 8,000 professional job contacts in the fields of
accounting, entertainment, law and real estate, to name a few, in
the entire Los Angeles and San Diego metro areas.

It also promises to aide in developing winning job strategies by
including examples of resumes and lists of job support centers,
company Web sites, alumni networking, and employment agencies.

However, there are worthy competitors offering the same advice
and services.

Examples of resumes and cover letters included in Job Source are
helpful, though mostly for their formats, not content. While the
guide emphasizes the importance of an effective cover letter, the
examples lack the brilliance or even remote creativity needed to
impress the dullest of employers.

A book that effectively guides readers in the process of
resume-creating and cover letter writing is Robert Orndorff’s
The Unofficial Guide to Finding the Perfect Job. Although it lacks
a listing of company contacts like Job Source, there is a
step-by-step approach to writing a resume, effective examples of
cover letters, and even a list of action verbs to work into
resumes.

Job Source is unlike any other guide covering Los Angeles in its
extensive collection of employment categories, neatly organized and
easily accessible with each company’s address, phone number
and Web site listed. Sometimes even a company’s job hotline
and names of intern coordinators and human resource directors are
included.

Like Job Source, there is also the 16th edition of The Los
Angeles Job Bank that includes detailed descriptions of the
companies, including benefits ranging from casual dress to life
insurance, but Job Source can flaunt its longer list.

In addition to that, Job Source has tips regarding phone
etiquette, interview preparation and even the necessity of
thank-you notes.

After four-plus years of enveloping the typical college
etiquette, there is never enough training to develop the most
refined presentation of oneself suitable for a business
environment.

Though the book’s statement of being “the only
source needed to land a job” is a bit bold, it is useful for
the knowledgeable advice and convenience of contacts all in one
source.

Though other guides may include a wider variation of industries
and extensive descriptions, this guide is more concentrated; it is
catered specifically to Southern Californians, and it’s list
is longer, geared to those who think size does matter.

If going out to get this book is a hassle in itself, the two
authors mentioned earlier can be visited on campus after class.