Four Job Searching Tips for Recent College Graduates

Searching for a job as a new college graduate can be difficult for many reasons. First, many employers aren't hiring right now due to the condition of the economy. Second, there may be hundreds of applicants for only a handful of positions in a given company. Finally, many employers are looking for experience and maturity in a candidate, and one falls into the conundrum of not being able to get a job without experience and not being able to get experience without a job. In this article, I describe four tips for new college grads searching for jobs.

College Graduate Job Search Tip #1 - Be Productive

If you're unemployed coming out of college, don't make looking for a job a full-time job. Instead, devote considerable time to things that will help your resume, such as volunteering. If you volunteer eight to twelve hours a week for a month, you will quickly make your resume more impressive while gaining real-world experience. Consider a temp job for the time being also. Whatever you do, try to make it have some relevance to the field in which you wish to work, and take advantage of opportunities to learn relevant or resume-boosting skills, such as CPR, first aid, and spreadsheeting. Remember, if you perform especially well in a volunteer or temp position, you may be given the opportunity to advance into a paying job.

College Graduate Job Search Tip #2 - Use Your Network

Hopefully you spent your college years establishing a strong network of professional contacts, including professors, employers, and peers. If you have connections such as these, use them. Don't ask for a big favor from people you aren't close to, such as writing a letter of recommendation or making phone calls to get you a job for which recent college grads wouldn't usually be hired, but you might be able to find leads for jobs that you wouldn't normally see or hear advertised, or get an interview for a job that hundreds of other new college grads are also applying for. Did you join a student alumni organization or fraternity in college? Those are other strong networks to consider. Your college may also have career resources available for its graduates, so take advantage of those.

College Graduate Job Search Tip #3 - Use Technology To Your Advantage

You're a college graduate - it's time to make your internet profiles more mature. Make a list of everything you've ever done on the internet. If you're a recent college graduate, you may have had profiles on sites such as Livejournal, Xanga, Friendster, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and more. Consider deleting older profiles, removing or untagging unflattering photos, and making private any profiles you wish to keep. Consider your Facebook profile picture - are you doing anything in it that an employer would find offensive? For example, a potential employer will be unimpressed if your profile picture is you doing a keg stand at a frat party. A picture of you in a dress or suit at a formal function is more likely to leave a positive impression in an employer's mind.

Technology can also be used by recent college grads to find jobs. Putting a resume and personal statement on a job searching website can be a good first step to landing interviews, and some people have found jobs through Twitter and Craigslist. Make sure that you have a professional email address (i.e. firstname.lastname@domain.com).

College Graduate Job Search Tip #4 - Be Prepared

Make sure to keep multiple copies of your resume and personal statement in your briefcase or car, just in case an opportunity presents itself. Also make sure that any clothes that you would wear to an interview are clean and ready to go in case you are called for an interview on short notice.

Another important thing to remember is to be prepared for an interview. As a recent college graduate, you've probably applied to numerous different employers. For each of these positions, you might want to prepare a notecard with information such as your relevant skills and experiences, as well as questions that you'd like to ask the interviewer. Studying this information for a week or more before an interview will allow you to perform better during the interview and will make it more likely that you will be hired.

Whatever you do, be persistent. Finding a job right out of college can be difficult, but it is not impossible. Good luck in your job search and future career!