The following article will give new grads great tips on how to land their first job
Your first professional job can be very hard to obtain, and you might be competing against hundreds of other grads to land only one role. If you executive your job search the right way you can overcome many mistakes other recent grads make and improve your chances of landing a job.
Give the Impression That You Have More Experience Than You Do
Landing your first role in your profession can be quite competitive because many new grads are competing for very few spots. To make yourself stand out from the competition, your resume should give the impression that you have more experience than you do. Here are 3 suggestions on how to do that.
1. Include volunteer job-related experience.
If you have any volunteer unpaid experience in your field you should make sure you list that experience. Below you will find an example.
Data Analyst (Volunteer), ABC Corp 2017
As a volunteer data analyst, I assisted the strategy department in determining the effectiveness of major projects’ outcomes. Used Excel and Salesforce to attract data to analyze success.
2. Include job experience not related to your field.
When looking to land your first job in your field of training, if you do not have relevant work experience, you should list unrelated work experience on your resume. This will show potential employers that you have experience in a work environment. In addition, many employers value unrelated experience, such as working in fast-food or retail, because it develops great work ethic and customer service skills.
3. Include academic job-related experience.
If you have no job-related experience but have the academic-related experience, elaborate about that in your resume. See the example below.
Academic Project – J2EE Mobile Banking Application
University of Waterloo 2017
For my final academic project at the University of Waterloo, I designed and developed a mobile banking application using J2EE, Java, Spring, Struts, ibatis, JSP, AJAX, HTML, Oracle 12g, Maven, Log4J, slf4j, iText, Edit plus, Eclipse IDE, JUnit, WinCVS, Axis2, JSON, and UNIX.
Highlight Academic Achievements
While academic achievements are always important to include in a resume, highlighting them is even more crucial when you are looking for your first job. Any academic achievement you have obtained, such as a high GPA, scholarships, awards or any other accomplishments, should be listed on your resume.
Focus on Entry-Level Jobs
As a new grad right out of school with little experience, you should focus on looking for entry-level jobs. These are jobs where employers want to hire someone who has little or no experience.
Starting with an entry-level search might seem like common sense, but a lot of grads don’t make applying for entry-level jobs their focus. Most want to jump right into a high-paying job with all the perks and benefits. But they forget one thing: those jobs require experience.
Experience is something a new grad doesn’t have. By putting in the time and working in an entry-level position, you’ll gain the experience that employers are looking for and then you’ll be qualified for more advanced roles.
You can look for entry-level jobs on all major job sites, specialty sites, aggregators, job classifieds, and entry-level job sites.
Get Experience by Internships or Volunteering
If you do not have any job-related experience, a great way to get it is to do an internship or volunteer in your field.
Many companies offer both paid and unpaid internships designed to help those breaking into that profession gain experience. If an intern performs well in their role, a company often will hire them when the internship is finished.
To find internships or volunteer roles, look at all major job sites, specialty sites, aggregators, job classifieds, entry-level job sites, and internship/volunteer sites.
https://eliteproresume.com/2019/08/19/how-to-get-paid-and-unpaid-internships/
Proper Interviewing Etiquette
You worked hard in school, got good grades, did an internship, and when it comes time to interview, you mess up. This is very common for new grads, but it can be corrected.
The number one thing many entry-level job seekers have trouble with is how to interview professionally. Most new grads do not know how to communicate in the corporate workplace, so when they interview, they are too casual in the way they express themselves and make the mistake of littering their speech with slang. This turns potential employers off. My advice to new grads is to practice proper interviewing etiquette and learn to speak in a professional manner.
Conclusion
Getting that first job in the profession they trained for can be a difficult undertaking for a new grad. Applying the tips in this chapter will make looking and obtaining your first job easier.
