You’ve just graduated from college, and it’s apparent that you need to get a job as soon as possible. Finding a good job requires some effort which can leave you devastated. In fact, you should be ready for a long search without getting an employer who is willing to hire you.
But some fortunate folks take very little time before settling on their career. However, it’s highly recommendable to wait for the right time until you get the right job. Here are some outreach tips to help you find that great career of your dream.
1. Create a Striking Resume
The first thing before you start to job hunt is to create a stunning resume. Be sure to elaborate well your skills and competencies you have acquired over the years. Mostly, employers’ interest is drawn by the resume before they look at your cover letter.
Your resume should feature details of your academic qualifications, certifications, and the details of the companies that you have worked for as an intern or a volunteer. You’re also required to add contact details of at least three referees– people who can be contacted by employers to confirm that you indeed have the skills that are highlighted in your credentials.
If you can’t write a new resume yourself, you can hire a resume writing company on the internet and use their CV templates, resume, templates for your interview and marketing templates to customize your job hunting documents.
The Corporate template is a simple but effective for applying for corporate positions, as the name would imply, and its differently sized columns make for a thoughtful and effective presentation.
2. Develop a List of Companies You Wish to Work For
Your job search works wonders when you have a list of companies you want to work with. Not all companies meet your career goals, and it is important to narrow down to a few companies of your choice.
Once you have the list, you should get the insider tips or look them up on Glassdoor just to see what other job seekers are saying about them. Ideally, you should choose to work with companies whose culture and organizational structure resonates with your career dreams and are able to advance your career.
3. Network Mercilessly
Ensure that you have a network of friends and professionals whose main idea is to get you the right job. As you know, nowadays employers don’t advertise their openings out there, because it is expensive for them.
Why spend so much getting the right employee when they can just spread it through word of mouth within their departments and the next morning they have a bunch of candidates to interview!
If your network’s connections are wide enough, you’re likely to hear about it and fight for your chances to get hired. You can take your networking game to platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter or networking events.
4. Go for the Right Job
Don’t be tempted to apply for any job that shows up on classifieds and job boards; you should only apply for those that seek people with your skills and competencies. This means you should never apply just for the sake, mainly employers discard your application if they realize your skills are not their requirement. Apply for jobs which spell your worth.
5. Volunteer in an organization
If none of the employers seems ready to offer you a chance, don’t worry. Maybe your CV lacks something like the right experience threshold that employers prefer. It’s advisable to work in an organization as a volunteer. Mostly, employers love the idea of volunteers because they will not incur costs by paying you, after all, you are just a volunteer.
Volunteering will give you professional exposure, and once they are satisfied with your performance, they are likely to give you the job right away even without having to advertise for the vacancy or recommend you to another employer.
6. Expand Your Horizon
Career experts like Julie Jansen recommend attending professional association meetings in a related field including those in your own specialization.
If your experience is in marketing, for example, you may attend gatherings for finance executives or other fields which could possibly make use of your skills and experience.
You may also consider your old college alumni, as most universities have online directors of alumni. If you want to expand your horizons, you should possibly consider going that route.
7. Check Your Skill Set
When you have not had a chance to go through advanced degree courses, that’s not the end of your learning. If you’re crafty enough, you may consider taking additional coursework in your field to boost specific skills that can get you noticed by a recruiter easily. Also, the skills and experience earned from volunteering go a long way to increasing your chances.
8. Practise Your Sales Pitch
You should be ready with your sales pitch –a 60-second four- to five-sentence summary of your biography and career accomplishments. For example, when you’re told” ‘Tell me about yourself, why I should hire you?’
You should have a clear and concise statement about why you’re the best fit for the vacancy. If you do it convincingly, it will be a matter of 60 seconds, and you’re hired.
