Right out of collegeâ¦..hunting for the first job can be frightening. Many questions may be a part of your night mare. How do I know which companies are hiring? What jobs to apply for? Which company should I choose? Should I look for a good company or look for a good salary? How do I get noticed? Where do I start from? Here are answers to some question you may have in your mind!!
How do I begin? You need to understand that, with no previous work experience to show the kind of employee you can be, it is important to involve at various levels to show the commitment and dedication to your selected career path. The first important and intelligent thing to do would be to create an excellent professional resume. The resume should show the best out of you and the interviewer should spend only 30seconds to know about you. It is always a good idea to get your professional resume done by resume experts.
How Do I Get Noticed?
We can do so many things to get started, apart from preparing a new resume; you should get active on the social networking sites & registering on all the job websites. Itâs not a bad idea to invest in being premium members on any job websites as it may fetch you more opportunities and you may gain more ideas about the job market.
What kind of job are you looking for?
It is very important for you to know the job you are looking for or what you want to do professionally. The best way is to prepare a list of things you are good at. This can be done by digging into your experiences while you were studying. Experience could refer to your projects, internships, workshops, on the job training, summer jobs, seminars etc. Make a study and identify positions that are best suited for your skills sets & are of your interest.
How to build a strong network?
Strong network refers to people who could guide you to get a job. Getting a professional resume, registering on job portals is not the only way to find a job. Building a network of people who can guide you to find a job would be a good idea. Spread the word without hesitating because ultimately you are looking for a job. Approach your seniors or mentors who are already working, parents friends, batch mates who are already placed, neighbourhood (thatâs if you know they are working in a company which is of your interest too). Discuss your interests with them and take advice as to how to get closer to your goal of getting a job in your preferred area of work.
How do I market myself?
Here we refer to marketing yourself online i.e. building your online network. Since you have stepped out of college, it is more important for you to work towards building a professional network than building your social network. The first step is to get familiar with LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter. Here you can connect with companies and people that could bring you closer to find new job opportunities.
To learn about the companies & the available roles follow these companies on LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter. Networking is about connecting, engaging, sharing ideas & building relationships. It is important to identify and connect with people with similar interest and explore more about what they do. Once people identify that they are of the same grounds of interests as you, they may start sharing information and engaging with you on a regular basis.
One more important thing that we cannot ignore is your profile description. It is important to ensure that your profile description is written to the best; as many employers today consider profiles after reading the same. Hence spend quality time in building an excellent profile description about yourself.
Another important thing to note â pay close attention to what your profile says about you. Employers today give a lot of weightage to social media profiles to shortlist candidates.
Get active on LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter now!
How to polish my interview skills?
Getting set to attend interview is one important part of getting yourself a job.
Learn about the company: Every interviewer would want you to know about their company. Itâs always good to browse the website of the company and learn more about the company before you get to the interview desk. Know your role: It is an advantage if you could know an in-depth knowledge of the role. This could help you prepare better in terms of role related questions. Mock: Doing a mock interview probably with an experienced person would be a good idea. It could be your senior, your sibling, your friend etcâ¦. Take feedback: Ensure you take feedback of your body language, confidence, eye contact, volume etc. Try working on improving them if required.
It is important for you to know and understand that, we cannot get a job if we do only one of the above. They all go hand in hand and it is important for you to get your professional resume by experts, build your network, build your online network, prepare before you get to an interview (either written test or a face to face interview)