So you've graduated from college and you still don't have a job offer? What now?! With many companies expecting people with 3 years of experience to fill entry-level positions, finding a good first job can seem like a daunting task. But don't panic! You are not alone. Here are some tips to get you a great first job.
1.) Freelance
Maybe you have some internship experience, or maybe you don't. But either way - taking on some relevant short-term projects is a great idea. Not only will you have concrete deliverables to put in your portfolio - you'll also accrue some great references from your clients.
But how are you supposed to find freelance work when the landscape is so competitive? After all - you have to compete with full-time freelancers with decades of experience and giant portfolios. I have two words for you: don't charge. If you know a family friend or local business that could use a new website - just have them pay for the domain name and hosting fees. If you know a business that needs fliers made or a new employee handbook written up - do it for free. If you see an opportunity and it's relevant to your field, you should consider taking it. The experience will pay for itself. Plus you get to help small community businesses that might not otherwise be able to afford professional services - and that's a great thing.
2.) Get Certified
A well-respected certification goes a long way - and many of them are free! Hubspot, Google, LinkedIn - there are lots of options for high-quality certifications. These courses are comprehensive and often teach you about free or low-cost tools that you can use in your field to streamline processes. Add a couple of these to your resume, and it can help fill in some of the gaps that you are lacking in hands-on experience.
3.) Network, Network, Network...
You are much likelier to land that interview with your dream company if you had a personal introduction from a current employee. But meeting someone who's not only in that position but is interested in offering you a recommendation is a tall order. So what can you do?
Start with your personal network. Uncles, grandparents, colleagues, friends - where do they work? Who are they connected to? Do you know anybody in your chosen field who can give you an introduction to a great company?
If not, hope is not lost yet! Remember, we live in the digital age. That means that networking is easier than ever before! You can try reaching out to people on LinkedIn or career forums dedicated to your field. Just be friendly, professional, and don't take rejection personally. Eventually you might find a really great opportunity, and even if you don't it never hurts to brush up on your professional communication skills.
4.) Tweak that LinkedIn Page
A lot of companies check an applicant's LinkedIn page before they decide whether of not to call them for an initial interview. That's why it is so vital to ensure that your LinkedIn page looks professional and gives recruiters a glimpse into what you can bring to the table. Make sure that your page is fully updated, accurate, and well-written. You should also ensure that you have a picture that makes you look professional and confident.
The other nice thing about LinkedIn is that unlike a resume, you can include a lot more detail about your past experience. You can also invite other LinkedIn users within your network to leave you recommendations that will be displayed on your page. You can also add certifications directly to your page so recruiters can open them while browsing your profile. There are lots of unique options that can help boost your presence on LinkedIn, so be sure to explore them and pick the most relevant ones when updating your page.
5.) Build a Website
It is pretty much a requirement to have your own website now. Luckily, there are lots of very inexpensive tools that can help you put together a professional looking website. WordPress is a good and very inexpensive option that also looks great as a skill on a resume (now that's feeding two birds with one scone).
Make sure that your domain name is unique and easy to follow. While it may be tempting, using a free URL like www.wendykim4996048.com does not look as professional as www.wendykim.com, and you want recruiters to know that looking professional matters to you. So it is more than worth it to splurge on purchasing a domain.
What should you put on your website? Well, it really depends on your field of study. Your resume, skill set, samples of your work, and portfolio are a good place to start. If you're in a writing-heavy field a blog section may also prove to be a good idea. Plus, sometimes people have enough success with their blogs that they can eventually use them as an extra income source, and that's pretty great.
6.) Put Together a Portfolio
Speaking of a portfolio, what should you put in yours? Like in the previous answer, it really depends on your field. But a good place to start would be to repurpose projects from college (that you have permission to use). These work out well because they're 1.) complete, 2.) fully edited and ready for submission, and 3.) pertain to your selected field. Just be sure that your portfolio is easy to follow, well organized, and only showcases your best work (quality is definitely better than quantity here). Just make sure that all of the work is yours and that you print it to PDF before showcasing it (this helps to make any potential errors less obvious than they would be in Word, plus it just looks more professional).
7.) Polish Up That Resume
When it comes to writing a resume there are a few key things to keep in mind: 1.) keep it to a page, 2.) make it relevant, 3.) stress those skills.
Unless you have 10 years of experience, your resume really shouldn't be more than a page. Recruiters look at dozens of resumes every day, and they will lose interest if you hand them a 5-page dissertation on everything you've ever done. You're straight out of college - it's ok to not have a giant resume. If you're struggling to fill up one page, make sure that you aren't selling yourself short. Try adding a professional statement or certifications to fill up that empty space in a professional way. Or you can try playing around with the text size and spacing to make sure everything fits together well. Make sure that your resume is easy to read and skim, with bullet points and bold text to stress the more important aspects of your experience. You can see dozens of examples online showcasing the best formats and recommended practices for your particular industry.
What should you put on your resume anyway? If you don't have a lot of experience, it may be tempting to write a full paragraph for every Sorority bake-sale or canned food drive that you attended. But the truth is that quality is better than quantity here as well (as it usually is). You absolutely should let recruiters know that you did volunteer or that you were in a sorority, because that can be a powerful networking tool. But the organizations that you worked with be much more useful to you in a list at the bottom of your resume rather than taking up 50% of it.
Just because you're low on experience doesn't mean that you don't have skills. Let recruiters know that you're a wiz at Excel or know how to code in HTML. Lots of people pick up on skills relevant to their industry through hobbies or side-projects, and if you're able to demonstrate that knowledge you absolutely should.
8.) Yes, You Need a Cover Letter
This isn't even a question. If you're scheduling interviews and 2 candidates submitted well-written and thoughtful cover letters, while the other 44 did not - who are you going to call back? Cover letters give you a chance to convince a recruiter why you should be scheduled for an interview. Think of this as the pre-interview, where you put your best foot forward and let them know who you are and what you bring to the table. You can look up examples online of what should be included in a cover letter for your industry.
9.) Prepare for that Interview
Unfortunately, you can do all of the prepping and mock-interviewing in the world and still get blindsided by a question. That's why you have to be ready to think quickly on your feet and adapt. If you remain calm and don't let your nerves get to you, you should be fine. Remember - this isn't the last available interview on Earth. Even if you blow it, there will be other opportunities. Plus you will have learned what not to do, and won't get stumped by the same questions next time.
Make sure that you have all of the traditional tricky questions worked out before you go into the interview. These are the questions that are meant to illicit negative responses - like "What is your greatest weakness?" Negative responses during interviews are usually frowned upon even as a response to these types of questions, so it's best to have a strategy planned for answering them going in.
Speaking of negativity - don't complain! Did you hate your last internship because it was in a toxic work environment? Don't complain. Did you work on a team project with Trixie and she was a total pain? When it comes time for the interview your only response should be "Trixie who?" Even if you're 100% right and you were the victim of some unpleasant circumstance, you really shouldn't bring it up. Why? Because your interviewer has no way of knowing whether the environment was actually bad or if you're just a complainer. Nobody likes a complainer. So don't complain! Just don't.
10.) Never Give Up and Keep Applying
During your job search some things will hit you hard. You might get through 7 rounds of interviews with your dream company just to be told after 8 weeks that they have gone with another candidate. That's brutal. That's crushing. But that's no reason to give up.
Never stop applying. Even if you have an interview with your dream job, keep applying. That way when it comes time to wrap up your job search and pick a place to work, you have more than one option. I you do start counting on one opportunity to pan out and it doesn't, you've lost all of that time that you could have been interviewing with other places and exploring your options.
11.) Don't Settle
Times are tough and sometimes you have to do what you have to do. But if it can at all be helped - don't settle. Lots of graduates feel desperate after not being able to find a job in their field right away, so they take a position in an unrelated field. That's a good way to lose the chance to put your foot in the door with the career you actually studied to enter. If you can, it's always better to hold out for something relevant.
Likewise, you shouldn't work for a company that you have a bad feeling about. If you have good reason to suspect that a company is unethical, poorly managed, or not being transparent with you - then it's not really worth it to work there. All you're going to do is set yourself up to be unhappy and not have a good learning experience. Wait until you find something that you could see yourself doing for the next few years, even if it's not necessarily your dream job.
I hope that these tips have been helpful to you. Even though it may seem bleak right now, there are still hundreds of companies looking for qualified candidates just like you. With some careful planning, confidence, and perseverance - you will have your first job in no time!