Your senior year at college is exciting! Sixteen years of school will end and you can finally get started on your career! Are you prepared for a successful college grad job search?
The truth is that most college graduates struggle with finding a job. The majority of college career centers lack the resources to meet the individual needs of the over 2 million college students who will graduate with a bachelors degree in 2021 seeking entry-level jobs.
If you want to prepare for a successful job search and take advantage of job opportunities, here are 5 college grad job search tips for success.
Start Online Networking — Now
If you haven’t already, start building your network to leverage the power of networking in 2021 and beyond.
Often, it’s about the people you know and who they can introduce you to. Studies show that 70-80% of jobs are filled directly through personal referrals. Networking is a key part of any successful job search. You don’t need to wait until you are working to start building your network.
So, start developing your network now. Start by building relationships with people that you come into contact regularly. This may include fellow students, teachers, professors, and advisors on campus. If you volunteer or work in a job or internship, there are several opportunities to build your network.
Job Search Tips for College Grads
While the job market recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, here are a few important things to keep in mind to position yourself for job search success.
Mindset & Attitude for Job Search
Be flexible when considering your options. Entry-level jobs are just that, entry-level. Your first job is the first career step. It may take a couple of steps to figure out what you really want. Don’t get too bogged down trying to land the “dream job.” Your career path will evolve as you build experience, skills, and knowledge about your career passions to create new goals.
You’ll also need to be resilient and determined. While some industries are thriving (technology, accounting, finance, supply chain, logistics, marketing, human resources), others are still recovering (hospitality, travel, entertainment). Keep your fundamental goals in mind.
Consistently work your job search and career marketing plans to achieve the best results in the shortest time.
You’ll Need a Modern College Grad Resume
Your resume is probably one of the most important career marketing tools you’ll need for a successful job search. Yes, I said “Career Marketing” tool since essentially that is what you will be doing — marketing yourself.
Keep in mind that the modern job search is driven by technology. This means your resume must highlight your unique qualifications for your career target, separate you from your competition, and get you past the applicant tracking system (ATS) software. You’ll need to include the appropriate keywords and keyword phrases that illustrate your skill and experience for all job applications.
Yes, I said “skill and experience.” Even college graduates seeking entry-level positions have relevant skills and experience to draw upon. Whether it’s academic projects or coursework, volunteer experience, or community involvement, there are several areas to explore to find, and highlight, valuable experience.
Finally, your resume must have strong visual appeal to connect with human recruiters and hiring managers.
How To Include Internships (Paid and Unpaid)
One of the most common questions that college graduates have is “Where do I put my internship experience?” This is a good question. Unfortunately, like with many things in resume writing the answer largely depends on you, your situation, and your career goals.
For some clients, internship experience warrants a whole section due to the depth of experience, the number of internships involved or other unique sets of circumstances.
In situations where you had one internship, aligned with your career goals, and you have other work experience, you can include the internship in the work experience section.
Other internships are narrower in scope and duration and may fit better in the Education section. As I said previously, there are so many variables, no client situation and background are an exact match.
The bottom line here is whether your internship is paid or unpaid, it’s work experience. If it’s relevant to your career or job target — include it. Your volunteer experience, community leadership, and other areas may also be valuable to highlight your qualifications in your college grad job search.
Build a Professional Image and Leverage the Power of LinkedIn
Let’s face it, the world is becoming a digital landscape. This is true for both the workplace and the job search.
According to LinkedIn, there are more than 100 million job openings every month, with 35 million of them being filled by applicants through LinkedIn. Without a doubt, this professional social media platform is one of the best ways to find a job.
LinkedIn is the “professional” social media network and the “place to be” to market yourself to potential employers. To maximize your career and business opportunities, build a professional profile on LinkedIn that communicates your unique combination of skills, experiences, passions, and personality. Keep your message professional, LinkedIn is not the place to relive your partying escapades.
You’ll need to dig in and learn how recruiters and hiring managers use LinkedIn to find candidates like you. As a starting point, you’ll want to focus on your Headline, About, Education, Skills, and Experience sections. These are all relevant for most college grads seeking entry-level jobs. You’ll also want to use a photo that presents you in a professional environment. Appear as you would want to appear while meeting a potential boss for the first time.
Think of LinkedIn as your digital billboard. There is so much to unpack but you can find more tips and insights on LinkedIn here.
Best Entry-Level Job Sites for College Graduates
In this technological age there is no shortage of career websites for college graduates to search for entry-level jobs following graduation. I’ll list a few of my favorite entry-level job sites below.
As I mentioned previously, LinkedIn is an amazing resource and the place to be for all things professional. In addition to networking opportunities, LinkedIn is job search database, it serves as a digital resume and a social network all in one place. Build a strong, keyword-optimized profile to market yourself and be found by recruiters and hiring managers. LinkedIn has so much to offer that it ranks as the #1 place to find entry-level jobs for college graduates.
Indeed, is second on my list since it is the largest job search engine in the world. The portal is so large that it offers something for everyone, including entry-level job seekers and college graduates, and provides extensive search criteria.
Another online search option that you may not have heard of is Google. Google has built a very powerful job search engine pulling jobs from many popular sites including Ladders, Zip Recruiter, Career Builder, LinkedIn, Military.com, Glassdoor, and Monster. Like both LinkedIn and Indeed, you can search, sort, save, and set job alerts in the portal. For many, Google will save you time since you no longer need to check all the different job search portals. Be aware, you will not find Indeed listings among your Google results. So, you’ll need to continue to check Indeed if you want to see their job postings.
Another great job search hub is FlexJobs. This is an excellent resource for college graduates. FlexJobs specializes in remote, work from home (WFH), and flexible jobs including entry-level and early career experience level positions. FlexJobs is a fee-based service that utilizes the revenue to create a great user experience by ensuring positions are legitimate, providing product discounts, and job search support services.
You can follow this link to find a few more online search options and additional resources.
Career Services Professional for College Grads
Searching for entry-level positions after graduating from college can be complicated and exhausting. The differing perspectives of grads and parents can create stress that isn’t good, or helpful, for anyone. Instead, cut down the stress, reduce the time spent in your job search and optimize your employment options by hiring a pro.
EZ Resume Services is a full-service career firm offering tailored services for college graduates and entry-level job seekers. Whether you need help to clarifying career goals, identifying relevant skills and experience, or creating exceptional career marketing materials, we can help.
Schedule a complimentary session with me. We’ll discuss your situation and create a plan to move forward.