Tips I’ve learned as a soon-to-be college graduate in my search for success
As graduation day approaches for college seniors, the one daunting question adults ask is: “What are you planning to do after graduation?” *pause for dramatic effects*
People generally answer in two ways: either, “I plan on attending graduate school” or “I plan on finding a job.”
Now let’s be serious: finding a job in the current market is hard. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current national unemployment level in the United States sits at 7.12 million people, which means the unemployment rate is 4.2%.
One of the problems is that older generations want to avoid hiring recent college graduates. A study done by Intelligent said that 4 in 10 employers avoid hiring recent college graduates in favor of older workers. The important thing to note is to never put the graduation year on your resume when looking for jobs. This puts you at an advantage when applying because they won’t know when you graduated.
Related: Navigating the Job Market After College
Another important tip is to always dress and act appropriately when presenting yourself in an interview.
Intelligent noted some of the reasons recent college graduates are denied include salary demands, lack of eye contact, dressing inappropriately, bringing a parent to their interview, refusing to turn on their camera during an interview, and using inappropriate language in an office workspace.
It is important to put yourself out there before graduating college. This includes being on your own when doing major life events, like attending a job interview. You should never bring your parents to a job interview. This shows your potential employer that you are dependent on your parents as an adult.
Additionally, the more clubs, internships, and summer jobs you get involved with in college puts you in a better position once you’ve graduated. This shows jobs that you engaged in after-school activities, were independent, made connections, and started to build your future outside of college.
Another way to put yourself out there is to get involved with college career fairs. Last week, Mason hosted their biannual Career Fair with Wednesday focusing on STEM jobs and Thursday hosting business, government, and non-profit companies. On both days, the event was filled with students handing out resumes in professional attire trying to secure a full-time job or internship opportunity.
Related: The Job Search Has Gen Z Grads Stressed. We’re Here To Help
A future event that Mason is hosting is the Communication Career Forum on October 29th. This is a chance for communication majors to bring their A-game to get future career opportunities. Reservation is required, but consider attending! It’s a fantastic way to get ahead in the job hunt.
There are other ways to apply outside of college job fairs. One way is to use job search engines. According to Zety, the top 5 best job search engines are:
- Indeed
- Glassdoor
- Monster
When applying for jobs, you typically need to apply six months to a year in advance. This is because jobs don’t often look at who is interested in their companies until months after you’ve applied. Online applications usually take longer to get processed and go through because of the number of applicants. Although these are the best job search engines, it is common for jobs online to not be updated or for employers to not even glance at your application. Unfortunately, it can be harder to get noticed online.
It is important to remain positive throughout this process because it only takes one company to say yes and jumpstart your career! Try some of these tips to improve your hiring chances.