Gambling and Your Job Search

If I asked what five companies are at the top of your career wish list, odds are that you would feed me names of five Fortune 500 companies. If you poll your friends, they are likely to give you a similar list, particularly if they share your major or concentration. Extrapolating a bit further, it’s not hard to imagine that most business students across the country are applying to these same 500 companies.

Yes, these companies have good jobs available. The question is, how much energy should you put into pursuing the same jobs as everyone else? If you had the choice between two lotteries, would you play one with 1,000 entries or the one with 100 entries if the potential outcome is equivalent? The point is, it may be wiser to focus your search where the odds are better. As you consider the companies you would like to work for, I invite you to dig a little deeper.

Don’t rely on the companies that have branded themselves into your consciousness. Put some effort into this! Check out the awesome array of databases the UIC Library made available to you (http://researchguides.uic.edu/business), including Hoover’s and Vault among many others. Read Crain’s Chicago Business – check out their lists. Get ideas from professional publications.