Did you just graduate? Or are you graduating in a few months? First, CONGRATULATIONS! Before leaping into stressing about your next life goal, take a moment to appreciate yourself for the years of hard work you have endured to get to this point in life. I know its difficult not to get worried when there is no certainty of what is going to happen next, when and where you’ll be getting hired, who you’d be working for, how much will you be making etc. Most of your friends could have already secured a job offer whereas you might still not be sure if you have the right resume. And, you are probably regretting of not doing an internship either by choice or because of circumstances. Now, before you delve deep into sorrow mode, save your peace and read on to realize how you can get yourself out of this situation.

Disclaimer: This article isn’t a list of advises based on researches or studies. These are pointers that worked for me and hoping that some would be helpful for you as well.

To give a bit of background about myself, I graduated from a program (considered tough in general) with no internship or coop experiences in my field of study, went through a dreadful 4 months of job search before getting my first offer letter (have to admit those 4 months of job search was more excruciating than 4 years of university, so I get what you are going through). And, now making close to a 6-digit salary within 5 years of my graduation. Some call it luck, some call it right time and right place, some call it my potential, but I’d like to believe it’s a bit of everything.

Let’s dive into the tips that helped me get hired.

I’d like to divide the process of getting hired into 2 phases – 1) Job search and 2) Tackling the interview.

Job Search and getting invited for Interview

“Research is Creating New Knowledge.” – Neil Armstrong

When starting a job search, always do a thorough research of all the places where you see your future-self working. Don’t just apply for the 10 companies that came to your university job fair or only to companies that have a high profile. Think of job search as a two-way lane where you are looking for relevant experience and a company out there is looking for a candidate with your credentials. Do a web search of companies in your field of study such as “law firms in [city]” or “engineering companies in [city]” and make a list of companies including high, medium, low and no profile, and companies that may or may not have job postings.

I’d suggest spending a day in a week for research, then once you have made a decent sized list, spend the rest of the week applying. Then re-iterate the process of research and application weekly by expanding your job search as you get more exposure. You might come to some realizations such as probably moving to a different city is better for your degree or maybe taking that online course and getting a supplementary certificate will add more value to your profile.

First Job is an Investment

Now that you are done studying (for the moment) and ready to get into a phase of money-making, it is very tempting to get drawn towards fancy salaries and high paid jobs. If you wish to stay in the same field as your degree, then gaining some job experience relevant to your education and interests will give you a greater advantage to get yourself farther in a short period of time regardless of the salary. My first job after graduation was in a small company, hence my salary was barely above the minimum wage, it was frustrating to think that as a university graduate, I was making a similar income to that of a grocery clerk. But 2 years of experience from that position, set my profile high above some of my peers who were making double my pay at that time. Hence, in your first job, concentrate on the real-life problems and solutions you are getting exposed to, learn how to budget your time because if you find yourself working for a small company, you might have to wear several caps. More responsibility = better experience. Keep the same mentality as how in university/college, you knew every course and assignment was getting you closer to your goal. This is a very similar situation. Focus on the bullets you can add to your resume by working there rather than counting the dollars you are making. Note, this advise is only applicable for the first job. So, remember you are eventually going to make more, and your financial situation will get better. Hence, apply for all companies in your list from the above step, don’t filter based on the salary, just yet.

The Resume; Your Profile’s Ad Flyer

Time and again, a neat, well-written and well-formatted resume is generally welcomed by managers and HR reps. Instead of sending a resume dense with words, try adding personality within the resume. Getting an interview call is winning half the battle and a stunner resume will serve you as the right tool for that. Do a web search on resume templates and see if there are any apt templates for your profile. Once you are done preparing your resume, get it proofread by someone professional. They don’t have to be part of the career assistance but can even be a professor or a teacher assistant who you know pays attention to detail. In addition to a resume, a short and concisely drafted cover letter will come handy for including some character to your profile which is difficult to build into a resume.

During my job search, after about 2 months of no progress, someone gave me a tip to tweak the resume and cover letter a little for each job making it more a targeted application instead of just submitting a generic profile. I would also include the company’s name that I am applying to in the cover letter, so that it shows some effort from my end. But, please have at least the generic resume and cover letter proofread. You’ll know how much of a difference it makes.  In short, the resume and cover letter are your representatives, hence put some effort into them prior to applying.

Send me a direct message if you’d like me to proofread your resume/cover letter and provide feedback.

Networking; Making the Right Connections is Success in Advance

Networking is an on-going process. There is no defined good time to network, sometimes you get to network unintentionally like this senior who sat next to you for an exam whom you ended up keeping in touch or it can be intentional such as connecting with professionals from your field for the sole purpose of networking. Either way the larger your connection, the better it is regardless of whether its your first job search or your 15^th. Some points to keep in mind while reaching out to your network is to stay humble, at the same time show your confidence. There is a misconception that showing you are overly confident, helps getting your foot in the door. But, from my experience, I realized that genuineness attracts more people as they can visualize working with a team-minded person. So, look for the thin line between confidence and over-confidence while networking and reaching out. And, remember that networking is also a two-way lane, sometimes someone will be able to help you and sometimes you’ll be the one doing a favor. This will grow your connections stronger. An example would be, let’s say you went for an interview and unfortunately was not selected, recommend this job to a fellow person in your connection whom you know is also trying for a similar position. Regardless of whether this person gets hired or not, you have initiated a behavior that’s infectious and likely come back to help you too.

Send me a message if you need help with sending targeted messages to professionals in your field such that your request doesn’t get ignored.

Perseverance
“If you are going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

We live in an age where we expect instant results. So, to be motivated and keep applying even after a few setbacks during your job search is challenging. Specially when the society uses landing in a job as the success parameter to getting a degree. The key to persevere is to trust the process and moving forward. Keep perfecting the process as you go, and eventually the progress will pay off. Learn to realize that the additional effort you are required to put during this time will actually come to serve later, like in my case writing this blog to try help those going through the frustration of job search as a new graduate with no field experience and not knowing anyone from the inside.

Moving forward, let’s say that you have got a call for interview. Good job!  But what to do next? How to ace that interview without having industry experience that can speak for you? Continue reading.

How to Tackle the Interview

References; Having Strong Reliance is Influential

Even before going to the interview, make sure to have at least 3 strong references. It could be your professor who can give a good feedback about you or it could be a department manager in your university for whom you volunteered during your second year, or it could be your direct manager from Best Buy for whom you worked part time and have a good relationship with. Let your references know beforehand and take this information with you for the interview.

Now that you have got the references sorted out, lets move to facing the interview.

Attitude and Ambiance; Make them hear more than what you are saying!

While it is undeniable that you have all rights to feel special about graduating, let’s be a little practical and realize that there is a significant number of graduates from your program in any given City and likely some graduates from previous years and some of them may even have industry experience starred to their profile who are also going to be in job search mode and highly likely competing for the same positions.

However, on a positive note, we know that the interviewer has seen something in your application that they feel its worth discussing over an interview. So, when in the interview, it is important to showcase more of your personality and character as a team player and as a reliable resource rather than re-iterating what’s on your resume and drawing more spotlight to just academic achievements. Good interviewers know to ask valuable questions to understand your temperament and how adaptable that will be to their team.

Try to maintain a level head, showcase apt confidence without going overboard. You should realize that you are discussing your skills with a person who has years of experience ahead of you, at the same time you should portray enough strength for the interviewer to feel confident in hiring and training you.  

Also, like the other tips discussed above, an interview is also a two-way lane. So, this is your opportunity to ask some valuable questions to understand if the company and the position are suitable for your career and long-time goals.

Reach out to me by sending me a message to go over some of your sample interview questions and how to respond with a balance. I can voice record and send you the response, through which you can tell how voice modulations can make a difference to convey your thoughts. Also, we can discuss some questions worth asking about the position during your interview.

Good luck with that Job Search! Leave a comment if you find any of these tips to be helpful.