People can be trained in software systems and office procedures, but communication, teamwork, and leadership are more difficult to teach so employers want candidates who already possess these skills. Use volunteer work, summer jobs, internships and/or community service projects to fill in your work experience. When possible include metric, numbers speak volumes!
Putting Your Resume to Work:
1. Quality not quantity: Apply for jobs you are qualified for. If the requirement specifically states 10 years of industry experience, don’t apply, you don’t meet qualifications.
2. If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t: You can make six-figures working 20 hours a week just by posting to social media! Yeah right, if it were true, we’d all be doing it. Job search scams are real don’t fall for them.
If you are a recent college graduate or a first-time job seeker contact MYJN and one of our experienced employment specialists will assist you in landing your first professional job!
3. Assessments are used to assess you: Assessment tests can feel like a waste of
time but employers use them to rule out candidates quickly. Pay close attention to the questions and take your time.
3. Stay the course: Job searching is a frustrating experience (second only to taxes, a topic for another day). You’ll apply to more jobs than you did colleges. You won’t hear back from most of them. You’ll feel like you nailed an interview, but not get a callback. It happens to us all, rejection is part of the process, but don’t give up, you will find the right job for you.
4. Social Media Warning: Employers will search for you on social media! Remove anything that may cause embarrassment or give an employer pause.
The most anticipated document for a college student is a diploma, and the most dreaded is a resume.
Any honors, awards, and relevant coursework should be added to this section. No need to list high school information; obviously if you graduated from college you completed high school. Once you’ve established a work history, the education portion will move towards the bottom of the resume, but for now, it should be front and center.
Okay, here comes the work experience
section. Don’t panic, just because you may
not have held a job in your degree field,
doesn’t mean you don’t possess valuable
skills. Volunteer work creates a wealth of
soft skills (i.e., people skills). Answering
phones and greeting customers translates
to communication skills, coordinating fundraisers equals leadership skills, and collaborating on school projects equals teamwork. These are soft skills that many employers seek.
People can be trained in software systems and office procedures, but communication, teamwork, and leadership are more difficult to teach so employers want candidates who already possess these skills. Use volunteer work, summer jobs, internships and/or community service projects to fill in your work experience. When possible include metrics, numbers speak volumes!
To learn more about putting your resume to work, head to our blog,
or contact us for an Employment Specialist to help you!
Landing a job with a newly earned degree is the final step for a college graduate. Don’t let your lack of professional experience stop you from pursuing your career goals.