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.

The post Five College Grad Job Search Tips For Success appeared first on EZ Resume Services.

The reality is that the modern job search is complicated by evolving technology. Technology makes it easier for job seekers to apply to TONS of jobs via the internet. However, on the receiving end, it requires more effort to receive and sort through the large volume of resumes received. To handle the volume in a systematic, organized, and impartial manner, technology is used to receive and filter resumes. The key is to understand how sending your resume with technology can work for you – not against you.

HOW DOES TECHNOLOGY READ MY RESUME?

The vast majority of companies utilize Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) software to receive, review and store resumes. But that’s not their only function. The primary technological benefit hiring managers and recruiters get from ATS is that the systems filter candidates OUT. The ATS system reads your resume and compares it to the job description. If your resume is not ATS friendly or keyword optimized to the job description, you will be filtered out before a human ever reads it – regardless of your qualifications.

PASSING THE TECHNOLOGY FILTER

Understanding the challenge you face is only half the battle. But, if you’ve come this far and you “get it” – you’ve come a long way. Now, to pass the ATS test, you need to focus on three key areas to improve your results. Let’s review each now.

#1 – KEEP IT SIMPLE

If you need to write your resume and don’t know where to start, the internet has thousands (if not more) free templates to help you. The problem is most cannot be read by ATS systems. Stay away from fancy fonts, graphics and formatting – keep it simple. Use standard fonts such as Calibri, Arial or Verdana. Keep your headings simple (Skills, Work Experience, Education) and well-organized with the appropriate white space around each section for definition. List your work experience in chronological order, or you risk confusing the ATS system and being filtered out.

#2 – KEYWORDS COUNT

As I said previously, the ATS compares your resume with the job description looking for a specific keyword match. Keywords can be skills, abilities, credentials or other qualities that the job description contains. You should review the job description to identify the keywords included. Look for hard and soft skills. Keep in mind that hard skills are usually more important than soft skills. But a mix of both is important. Once you have identified the Keywords needed, find a way to include the ones that apply to you on your resume.

#3 – TAILOR EVERY RESUME

Remember, the ATS wants specific keywords to see a match. Therefore, to increase your chances of passing the ATS filter, you must tailor every resume for every position. Yes, this is time-consuming and a lot of work. But it’s necessary if you want the job. Why? Because in today’s job market, jobs with the same titles can require very different skills and abilities (keywords) from different companies. Even positions with the same company but in different departments can require different skills.

TAKE-AWAY

The bottom line, sending your resume and waiting is no longer an option. Technology can work for you or against you. If your resume is effectively communicating your skills, abilities, and qualifications and you are applying to positions you are qualified for, you should expect 3 calls from every ten resumes you send out.

NEED HELP

Ready to get your job search off the ground? Schedule a complimentary session here. We’ll discuss your needs and ways that we can help you.

To Your Success!

The post Three Key Reasons You’re Not Getting Calls After Sending Your Resume appeared first on EZ Resume Services.