If you are in danger of graduating college with no job lined up, keep calm! There are things you can do today to help find the perfect job opportunity. What if I don’t find a job? Will it pay enough? Where am I going to live? Should I go to graduate school? Across the U.S. college seniors are experiencing mixed emotions ranging from excitement to anxiety, from stress to fear.
What are you to do?
Relax.
Take a breath.
It is not ideal to be the one graduating college with no job lined up, so let’s about four things you can do starting today!
Before you graduate with no job stop by career services
Go ahead and stop by career services on campus and get your resume and cover letter in order. Surpirsingly, many students do not access the resources their university can offer. In career services you can have your resume reviewed, your LinkedIn page looked at and even participate in a mock interview. Your career services office may have leads on new job or internship opportunities tap into the resource. Many schools participate in a system called Handshake. Handshake is a comprehensive career platform with internships, jobs, reviews, events and often it is free! Go check into career services and get some support.
Time to Redo Your Resume
As a former hiring manager, senior manager for a national internship program and graduate school admissions representative, I’ve reviewed thousands of resumes. If you haven’t been getting any calls, it is time to redo your resume. As a new graduate, your resume should not exceed one-page. Period. I get it. Through college I did 8 internship and had part-time jobs. I still had to make allof my experiences fit into a one page resume. Most recruiters are only giving your resume a 20-30 second view, that one page needs to make an impact quickly. Less is more in this case.
If you do have too many experienes that you want to share, simply create two different resumes. I had one resume focused on sales epxerience and one tht focused on my communications and public relations experience. Your resume should use numbers to show results, use bullet points, include your techincal skills, and should no longer include your high school information. Career services is there to assist you in making your resume professional and polished. Go to the spring or fall career/internship fair on your campus, and take your new resume for a test drive.
Join LinkedIn and Expand Your Network
Join LinkedIn or update your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is a professional networking social media site designed to connect users to opportunities and each other. LinkedIn connects you with professionals to learn about career paths, seek career advice, understand industry trends and follow industry experts.
The job and internship postings are easy to navigate. The nice thing about using LinkedIn to search for jobs is that you are one click away from being able to research the company and discover if you know someone who works there. Using LinkedIn can make expanding your network less intimidating.
Start networking by reaching out to the people already in your circle. Talk to your recently employed friends, to your parents, your friends parents, your fraternity/sorority connections, professors, internship managers, athletic coaches, club advisors, mentors and members of professional associations about your job search. Your network of people might be bigger than you think. Don’t just rely on Internet searches and blindly sending off as many resumes as you can to solve the problem. Use other social media sites like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram to research companies, their brands, committment to diversity, new products or even if they are doing layoffs.
Make time for your job search
To find a job, you need to make time for your job search. Set aside 1-2 hours a day for job search related activities. Finding a job isn’t just about sending out resumes. Dedicate time to researching companies, finding networking events to attend, scheduling informational interviews, touching up your resume, applying and following up. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Make sure to get organized, schedule your time and don’t try to do everything at once. No one expects to be the one graduating college with no job lined up, it can be depressing. Stay close to your friends and support system.
Don’t get so caught up in the job search, that you fail to enjoy and embrace this unique time in your life. Celebrate the accomplishment of completing your degree! You can be serious and diligent about your job search and still make time to live in the moment!
