Life is a series of endings and beginnings and entering professional life is an exciting chapter in a newly grad’s life. Fortunately, there is a lot of the first job out of college advice out for newbies from professionals.
Here are five actionable tips that can help you find and start your first job after college in the right way:
1. Perfect Your CV, Resume, and Cover Letter
A CV is not an absolute job guarantee, but it is more than a formality! It is your chance to make a first impression and land an interview. The fact that recruiters and employers ask for and pay attention to CV, resume and cover letter shows that the written word has a lot of importance in the professional world. Each of these three serves a different purpose and should be written accordingly. Give enough time and attention when crafting your CV, résumé and cover letter. If you don’t think yourself capable enough to do this job, hire a professional to do it for you or at least proof and edit your work.
2. Show Quality and Promise in Your Writing Sample
Even though many of the new grad jobs are unrelated to writing, they still require the applicants to show proof of their knowledge in their respective field through submitting writing samples or a writing task at some stage during the interview. Before embarking on your writing assignment, you need to ask yourself: “What kind of writing is the employer looking for: descriptive, persuasive or critical?”, “How does it tie in with the kind of work I am expected to do once on board?”, “In what ways a practical and safe service to write my essay online can be useful?” Just like you cannot afford to fail a class, you also cannot take the risk of submitting a less than perfect essay writing sample, as it may mean losing your chance to get hired. Therefore, find a practical and smart solution that can help you get your foot in the door.
3. Understand the Skill Set Required and Evolve Accordingly
A general bachelor’s degree can help your land a graduate job, but it is only the starting point. An employer is looking beyond academic credentials, i.e., skills and a particular mindset that you need to apply to fulfill the different roles and challenges of your job. When asked about what skills you bring on board during a job interview, think about all the abilities and personal qualities that helped you during group work, summer jobs, internships, and volunteer work and link them to the work context. These soft skills can be having a positive outlook, problem-solving skills, being a team player or a resource person, having great presentation skills, etc., are all cornerstone skills. During the interview, give examples of how you applied these skills in the past to solve your issues.
Make sure that you are also updated of the latest trends in the industry you want to involve yourself in – especially with the advancement of technology. Even non-tech related jobs are now getting tech-based. The rise of artificial intelligence and deep learning applications are now being synced-in with other industries such as finance and healthcare. Take chances to attend workshops related to these and develop skills needed for your target career.
4. Understand What You Value Then Proceed Accordingly
We all understand what we want (an exciting job with a huge salary) but most of are not truly aware of what is valuable to us. Ask yourself these crucial questions at the very start of your career: “Is a big salary really more important or room for career growth?”, “Is an exciting internship better than a modest but stable job?”, “Can a job with flexibility or perks compensate a modest pay package?” We need the foresight to understand what matters most to us not just right now but in the long run, say 10 years down the line, and then make decisions accordingly.
5. Be Willing to Learn from Your Mistakes
The fear of making a mistake can be intimidating, even paralyzing when you are a new grad at your first job, but they are the best way to learn and improve yourself. Learn to take calculated risks. Should you fail, accept, own and embrace your mistake and attempt to learn from it, these lessons will only add up and contribute to your experience in the long run. Above all, don’t be afraid to ask for help whenever you need it.
As a newly grad student, the professional world is full of great job and career opportunities if you have the right mindset and attitude and if you are willing to embrace learning and growing opportunities.
Author’s bio
Bryan Davis is a career recruitment advisor and independent writing consultant. He is passionate giving about professional writing and career advice to college students and grads.
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