JLV College Counseling
Getting work after you finish college is a daunting prospect, especially if you hear that others are having trouble. Your new qualifications will be a big help, but you may have a lack of experience in your field. Here’s how to get a job without having to resort to waiting tables.
Polish up your resume
The first and most important thing to do is to make sure that your resume is in top condition. If you are not sending in a resume that looks good, you aren’t likely to get called back no matter how many applications you submit. If you aren’t confident about your resume, you can get in touch with your career services office on your campus or a professional service which will review and edit the document to put you in your best light. Make sure that you also have a good form cover letter drafted up which you can easily personalize to each job application.
Be on the alert
Sign up to any and all job sites you can find that might be relevant to your search. These include general national and state-wide job boards, as well as boards that cater to your specific niche. Sign up for alerts so that you will hear about any jobs in your area which fit your qualifications or desires. This way, you will always be able to get that application in quick. You’ll need to spend a heavy-duty session going through each site when you first sign up to catch the jobs that have already been posted, but after that, you can just check your emails.
Widen the net
If you want to pursue a job in a very specific field, then you might have trouble finding matches. In order to broaden your chances, try widening the net. Look for jobs in the same industry or in similar niches which you can use to gain experience before stepping up into the role that you really want. If the roles are scarce, or you aren’t getting called back for them, then they might not be a good starting role for you. If you are less specific with your search, you will get more opportunities – and one of them may surprise you by being your dream job after all.
Take an internship
Internships often sound like a poor deal – you work for free, and at the end of it, there’s no guarantee of a job. But if you have no experience and no way to demonstrate your skills, you might need to do something drastic to make yourself more attractive to employers. Taking on an internship gets you that much-needed experience, and you may learn more about your industry, too. There’s always a chance they will take you on full-time later, and even if they don’t, you can use the opportunity to make as many professional contacts as possible.
Go social
It might sound unprofessional, but social media is actually a great place to look for jobs these days. Recruiters use sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and even Facebook, to advertise for jobs and candidates. Make sure you use the right keywords for your industry in your bio and when making posts, and that you have yourself listed as looking for work. This will help head-hunters track you down. You can also do some searching of your own to look for open positions that aren’t being advertised on job boards.
The number one thing you can do as a future college graduate is to persevere. It might take you months to find a job after graduating, but keep going – the right position is just around the corner!
 Corinne Ledling is a businesswoman who’s very passionate about her job. She’s a Content Manager at Bizstats.co.uk and loves to share career tips and tricks. |
JLV College Counseling 
I found it helpful when you said that you can use social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to find job recruiters that offer the kind of job that you’re interested in. My son wanted to become a doctor in the future. He wanted to make sure that it’ll be easier for him to find a job that will suit his qualifications, so I’ll make sure to find a website where he can find job postings.