How to get your first job

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First things first.  If you were fortunate enough to not have to work your way through college doing minimum wage jobs or interning for businesses, you are already behind. Believe it or not, getting your first job is like a hamster wheel. Employers want to see you have experience doing the job they are hiring for and require you to have at least 1-2 years of experience and you are looking for experience to get a job. It's funny how that works. What worked for me was internships. Now I know this may sound like slave labor, but don't cry foul yet, nobody said life was fair and every job you would have to do in life you would be paid for, if that were true I would be the CEO of doing dishes, taking out the trash, and cleaning my laundry. See?

Internship is also a code word for experience. As long as you gain skills and workplace knowledge from someone without your last name associated with it and they work for a legit organization, you are "in like flynn." Some skills entry level business grads should become familiar with are Excel, Power point, Word, Outlook, and Access for starters. If your line of work is more finance minded, SAP and Quick books are also some programs you should be studying up on in your free time while on the job hunt.

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It is important when drafting a resume with limited experience, that you have current job history and desirable skills to stand out from your seasoned competition. These can be life skills not earned at an organization that you have experienced in life, such as being president of school clubs, volunteer note taker for a class for credit, student aid for a professor, editor of the campus newspaper, missionary work in Africa...etc. These life experiences have skills associated with them you can later use on resumes and in interviews as evidence to support why you are an ideal candidate. Like college, businesses like well-rounded people too, so that one time you had to have a pep talk with your club to get them on track and lift their spirits or spend extra time running to the copy room for the professor, it will pay off.

Now the question is, how do I create a resume'? The truth is, unlike proper placement of postal information on a letter or logging into your computer, there is no one way to write one. You are going to find everyone's resume' template is as unique as they are.The one rule of thumb is to include skills, experience, and education onto one page with your name at the top in larger font and bold.If you have a lot to include, use size 11 for the body of your document and Times New Roman font. There are many good sites out there you can search and find examples of other grad students and senior employees resumes' to use as inspiration for your own. Other good resources to capitalize on for assistance with this are unemployment offices and temporary employment agencies.

Which brings me to my next point. Where to go when hunting for jobs. With technology so advanced now, applicants no longer apply in person for a job and many are found or inquired about from recruiting sites.

As soon as you complete your resume, run spell check, and are lucky enough to know someone in HR or familiar with how a good resume should look, you should immediately sign up that day with sites like Monster, Career Builder, Indeed..etc. Recruiters search these sites all the time for fresh meat, I mean entry level workers, right out of school, that are willing to work hard and cheap to break into the business world.


If you have job history doing tasks and obtaining skills a position is seeking, call your local temp agencies and sign up with a few to help find you work there as well. These agencies will hire you as their employee to complete an assignment at a business for a set amount of time, giving you legit and new experience to add to your humble resume. Word of caution, just like in retail, these businesses work as a middle man for finding the right candidate for a job and take a cut of the salary you will make, so the amount the client is willing to pay and your paycheck will differ. For those with bills to pay and experience to earn, this is a recommended option.

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Now just because you sign up with an agency and a career site does not mean recruiters and businesses are going to be falling over themselves to come to you.This is a two sided process. In the mean time, you need to search for jobs of interest with experience and skill level you can fulfill and apply to them too. The key to this is applying as soon as the posting is live on the site.  A one or two day old post is already going to have 30 people fighting for that one spot. Even if there are things in the position you may have to get better at or even learn as you go, apply. If a hiring manager likes your resume and scores you an interview, you can use this to sell yourself to employers to win them over with your personality and assets you have to bring to their company.

A big rule in business is to never lie. This includes resumes, school, skills, experience, and any opinion that is uttered out of your lips that can be heard by your potential employer. In business, there is a place called "The Blacklist" you never want a company to list you on or your professional life is over. It could be you rubbing colleagues the wrong way with an abrasive attitude, lying about your qualifications, or not doing what was asked of you. Do everything in your being to avoid this list.

Vin Diesel: Google

Now there is however a fine line about selling yourself in an interview too. Don't be too humble or you will seem like a complete rookie, don't walk in cocky and arrogant either. Buy note cards and create your answers you will rehearse with senior workers, whether that be family or friends, that can give constructive criticism about your interview to help you look your best to a boss or hiring manager.



Next, invest in your wardrobe. Gentlemen should own at least 3 suit jackets and slacks with appropriate collared shirts and ties to wear. Ladies should own black and nude closed toe pumps, kitten heels, or flats. Ladies should have the option of a shirt and trouser look and a pencil skirt, blouse combo (solid color, with no cleavage showing or sheer paneling and boat or scoop neck) not sexy or short, that enhances your face to stand out to the interviewer. Gentlemen should have their hair cut no longer than the middle of the neckline area, tapering as it  is coming down.Military cuts are frowned upon also.  Do not use gel or "wet look" products and do not apply strong cologne. Ladies should style their hair into an up do, such as a flat ironed pony tail, bun, or other hairstyle that keeps it out of your face and does not distract. Make sure to sport only naturally accepted hair colors your high school would allow you to attend with( in the school handbook). Cover any tattoos with foundation or clothing and remove all alternative piercings. Ladies should wear minimal jewelry such as a wedding ring or small earrings.  Ladies should consider manicured  or nude nails and very light makeup of faint eye shadow preferably brown, cream, or black, fine eye liner on top, and mascara with a tinted lip balm.

Both sexes should bring a brief case or satchel of sorts in a neutral color to carry extra resumes, reference sheets, breath mints, hand sanitizer, and a book or time passing activity(crossword, Sudoku), preferably not a cell phone, as that gives an impression of immaturity and disruption for office workers and fellow candidates in the lobby. Shut off your devices before entering a meeting room and write down where you parked your car for stress and embarrassment prevention. (Guilty)


Stay up to date with your email linked to your phone and create an account with just your name as the address. When replying about jobs or getting back to employers, wait a day if they are setting up an interview with you, so you don't seem desperate and unemployed. Respond to phone calls and inquires right away to secure a spot. Be cordial and prepared and practice, practice, practice interview questions.

If any or all of these tips helped you land a job, drop us a line. We love to hear from our audience. If you have an article suggestion you would like to read on a related topic, email us.

Happy Hunting!

Kate.

About this Blog

Image used Courtesy of bustedhalo.com

Up till now, we've been like baby eagles, always having our parents watching over us, giving us advice or comforting us about the new and stressful situations that are to come in our lives. It is now as graduates, we are pushed out of the nest and must fly out into the world on our own to figure things out in a very dangerous and cut throat world that preys upon the naive'. The one course you'll never learn at college that matters most, is what you are going to do with the rest of your life and how to become a somebody in the world. Those you must search for within and work hard at everyday to make it.

The sad truth is, while you were living it up on campus for the last four years, it never occurred to you at the time you might have to go out and get, God forbid, a real 9 to 5 job. Unless your dad, uncle, aunt, sister, brother, mother, or cousin owns or has inside connections with an entry level position at a corporation, most of us are going to have to pound the pavement and beat down doors in order to get that first job because lets face it, with the new economy, there are excess number of people out of work right now with more experience and qualifications to work for those same jobs than us, and employers get to be picky about whom they want to come work for them now.

This blog is written for people like myself, who are recent graduates trying to make a name for themselves in the world and figure out what the hell they are doing in the mean time. This is my first hand experience of how I entered the "real world" and advice I have to give you all who are currently doing the same.

I hate to burst your bubble, if you think for one minute you're as valuable as the fancy piece of paper you possess says you are, you're in for a big shock my friend, because as of today, you are a tiny fish in a big pond. You're only as good as the skills and experience you have and the connections you add over time. Get ready to fight off all of the sharks and schools of fish to swim your way to the top of the corporate ladder one day at a time.

Your life as an adult starts now.