When you finish school and try to find a job, it gets difficult. Period. I know it’s worse for us graduating or graduated students who are still struggling to find our place in life, what we’re passionate about, what we excel and suck at.
You might think that your resume is up-to-date and I thought the same too, until recently. For some weird reason, I had written my job experiences from least recent to most recent. Since noticing that mistake, I’ve been going back to it ever so often editing the line spacing, changing the font, trying to do a fancy one on Adobe Indesign. It might not occur to you whenever you “improve”, so just keep going back whenever you’re free, even if you have found a job.
Likewise with the resume. Update your profile picture if you have a better one now, follow more companies that align with your interests. Many companies even use LinkedIn to scout talents too, so you may find yourself landing an open invitation, who knows?
After doing the above, remember all the friends you made in school? They might be on your Facebook but not all of them are on your LinkedIn. Change that. Attend graduation talks or internship opportunities that your University hosts. Talk to people there, you might not necessarily need to be finding a job or tell yourself that you HAVE to network, but rather, just mingle and hear how others are doing in the industry.
Don’t limit yourself to one platform for your job hunt. Know which ones take precedence but use others as well, especially the less known ones if you’re looking at gaining more experience at start-up companies. In Australia, we have Seek, LinkedIn, Indeed and so many more that you will soon find once you start applying.
I am by no means an expert on this but I just think that it’s a nice touch to a job application. If you’re the hiring manager, wouldn’t you be less inclined to cast a second glance to a cover letter that you know is one that is sent out to the masses? That’s what I thought. Besides, it is good to address the qualities and skills the company is looking for in your cover letter so take some time to edit your cover letter.
In many countries, there’s this program that is specifically catered to fresh graduates. It ensures that fresh grads have at least a year experience in the relevant field they’re looking to enter. Companies may even choose to take you in after you’re done with the one year stint. Think: internship but with a reasonable pay. Many graduate programs open applications a year before it’s due to start however, so take note to start applying early.
Even if you don’t fulfil many qualities or the criteria that the company is looking for, don’t be afraid to try your luck to find a job. You can still sell yourself through your cover letter and during the interview, if you get called up. If you are rejected but genuinely believe that this is what you want, you can also try to drop an email explaining that you’re extremely interested and understand that your degree may not be necessarily relevant but you are willing to learn or go through a probational period, or internship, to come up with a few examples.
It’s not bad to get help. You may be good by yourself finding a job but you can do better if there are other people keeping an eye out for you as well. It’s pretty simple, ring up a recruiter company and register your details with them. That’s it.
If you’re struggling to find a job, maybe you can look at other ways to kill time in the midst of your job hunt. There are plenty of courses available online that are, wait for it – FREE. The common ones being Google, Khan Academy, Coursera, there are so many more for you to take your pick. Many subjects are available for you to pick up as an additional skill to better equip yourself for the job you’re eyeing, or even as a hobby – it’s good to keep your mind active and constantly be educating yourself. This will only reflect well on you, insinuating that you’re a diligent person who wants to constantly do better, increasing your chances of finding a job.
This goes without saying. Prepare for your interviews by researching the company, not only finding out about what they do and the news about the company recently but also go on websites like Glassdoor to read up on the reviews so that you have a very clear sense of what to expect. The more you know about the company, the more questions you have for them, especially at the end of the interview when the interviewers ask, “do you have any questions?”
These tips, of course, are only a checklist to make sure you’re doing what you can. Don’t be dismayed if you’ve been going at it for a few months and coming up empty – it’s not that you’re incapable. As much as I wish these aren’t true, there are so many factors included in the job hiring process such as your nationality in the country you’re finding a job in; they might prefer locals or they don’t realise how your previous education system worked and thus unsure of how capable you are. Take the rejection as a good opportunity to practice your interview skills.
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