What Recession?: Getting a Job After Graduation
What Recession?: Getting a Job After Graduation
If you haven’t been hiding under a rock for the last year (which was the best place to be), you may have heard that economies around the world are having some difficult times and that this difficulty has drastically affected national and international employment. As a current or soon to be graduate from undergraduate, graduate or professional school you most likely have some pretty pessimistic views about trying to get a job during the next 2 years. However, there are some things that you can do today, to make yourself more employable in the future regardless of how the economy is doing.
The purpose of the items below is to show potential employers, that 1) you are more than what is on your resume, cover letter, transcript, curriculum vitae, etc., 2) that you are passionate about your field of interest (even if you aren’t) and 3) that it is in your potential employer’s best interests to employ you versus some other individual. Having said all of that, I present the list.
Increase Your Skill Set:
When increasing your skill set, you have to have the precision of a surgeon and the broadness of a jack of all trades. This is required, because in today’s interconnected world, learning individual skills usually require learning several related skills. For example, if you want to be a website administrator, you cannot only learn about the various languages required to design web pages, you have to also learn how to manage and troubleshoot the numerous machines that store the websites.
This specific broadness is also required to know how all the tools work together to achieve final results. Spend some time online researching what kind of skills and tools people in your field of interest use on a daily basis. Additionally, find out if there are any standards or best practices that people abide by when working in your field.
Finally, throughout this learning process, keep in mind that the tools that you are learning today, regardless of how useless or tedious they may seem, are in fact making you a better person and are tools that will be added to the personal tool box that you will carry with you all of your life.
Become an Expert:
According to Princeton Wordnet an expert is,
a person with special knowledge or ability who performs skillfully.
Simply put, when becoming an expert you simply display to others that you have knowledge about your field of interest and/or the ability to perform skilfully in your field. With the advent of technology, becoming an expert is easier than ever. This is because anyone with access to a computer, can become an expert on the subject of their choosing by publishing their “specialized knowledge” to the Internet via a website, blog, newsletter, or any of a myriad of content sharing means.
So after figuring out what your field of interest is, think about how you would like to display your expertise to the world. Do you want to give your opinion about news that occurs in your field of interest? Do you want to write unique articles to help people in your field of interest? There are countless ways to become an expert, just figure out which way works the best for you and start today.
Network:
There is a poem by John Donne that includes the passage,
No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
At no other point is this statement more true, than when you are trying to find employment.
The book The Perfect Cover Letter states that networking results in “approximately 70% of all professional and managerial jobs found by job seekers”. While I am not sure that these numbers are accurate, I can personally attest to the fact that I’ve gotten more than a few jobs through networking and personal contacts.
There are various ways to network, but a few of my favorites are to 1) shadow a person in your field for a day, 2) attend industry events, and 3) join an industry organization. These three methods are my favorites, because they are the most enjoyable and informative and also have a higher return on time spent.
Get Involved in Your Community:
Being involved in your community tells a potential employer two things about a potential employee, 1) that the potential employee cares about improving society and “giving back” and 2) that the potential employee is willing to volunteer their free time to causes they believe in. Simply put, it shows that you are passionate about something other than just making money and have the potential to put that passion into your work.
Also, regardless of the moral implications of a company’s products and/or services, companies always want their employees to operate with the highest moral standards and be willing to promote a positive image of the company in the community. Therefore, it is beneficial to yourself, your community, and any potential employers that you exhibit this selflessness prior to your selflessness being called into question.
Sell Yourself:
No, seriously, sell yourself. This final tip is definitely outside of the box, but in today’s employment environment every little bit helps.
What I mean when I say sell yourself, is literally buy ad space online or offline in locations where potential employers will view them. These ads should be professional, simple, straight to the point, and inspire the reader to take immediate action. For example, they could insist that the reader click a link, visit a website, call a number, etc. Once the individual follows the appropriate action, you are assured that 1) you have their full attention, 2) you can supply them with information that will spur them to contact you about potential employment and 3) should they contact you, they seriously want to hire you.
Hopefully, the above four tips have helped you in some way and have improved your view of seeking employment after graduation. Also, if this article didn’t help you and you think it might help someone else, share it with them. And as always, any comments or questions are greatly appreciated.
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