With the spring semester over, many college students are either looking for their first job after graduation or an internship to gain experience. If you don’t know where or how to start, here are some tips:
Be Organized
Make it your job to find a job, no matter how long it takes. Try looking at jobs and follow the ‘rule of thirds‘ when deciding what to apply for. Have a system to track your job hunt and keep a schedule to get you ready for when you find a job.
Go beyond submitting resumes on the internet.
Don’t take the easy way out. Placing your resume on Monster or Career Builder takes 5 minutes and many employers give less time considering it. It’s a great way to what opportunities are available, but it doesn’t paint the whole picture.
You can also ask your friends, family, and other associates to help you. Pass your resume around, you’ll never know what we will happen. By passing my resume around a friend of my mother who knew of a job opening in her company. It wasn’t advertised.
Try state employment agencies if you want to widen your net. You also may want to put your portfolio online in a blog format.
Produce an eye-catching and accurate résumé.
There are thee basic typs of resumes. “A résumé tells potential employers not only who you are but also what you have accomplished and why they need you,” says an employment consultant.
Chronological: This is the most popular resume. It lists your work experience in reverse order. If you have some formal work experience, this could help you. Potential employers like the ease of seeing where and when you worked.
Functional: This resume lists skills and training you’ve had such as software expertise. If you’re a student or someone with less work experience, you may want to consider this type. List skills that would be used for the job you’re applying to.
Combination: Like the name indicates, this resume combines the functional and the chronological style. A great way to use this resume is by putting the relevant skills you have and then list the jobs you’ve had chronologically.
Hunting for a job can be nerve-racking, exciting, and difficult. This is just an overview to help you get started.Anybody have more tips to include? If you want to share stories or tips, please leave a comment. I really want to help people out, so if you need some ideas to get a job, email me. I’ll give you some job listings from my university’s alumni career center for the area you’re looking in.
Photo Credit: Daquella manera
