You have the degree. You have the experience. You have the drive. You see others succeed. But you just don’t have the job. Yet. So what’s stopping you from grabbing your dream job?
Despite a booming labor market, graduates and those in the early stages of their careers often find job hunting challenging. This isn’t because you’re not qualified, it’s because you don’t yet know the multiple tips and tricks that will set you apart from the crowd and secure that job offer.
From your resume to your interview skills, there’s plenty to brush up on.
Let’s start with your resume.
Resume Dos
List accomplishments, not responsibilities
What does this mean? Well, at this stage of your career your responsibilities are aligned with your job title, and reciting them on your CV is a waste of valuable space. Instead, list achievements and stand-out successes. What have you done or achieved in your role that marks you out? That’s what recruiters want to see. “I sold 425 units in three weeks” is an example.
Be succinct
Essentially, you want to beat the bot: Use phrases and language that will be picked up by an applicant tracking system (ATS). A recent study from Harvard Business School showed that more than 10 million workers are discounted from hiring discussions because their resumes are not recognized by any ATS. Don’t be one of them. Tailor your resume and cover letter using matching keywords from the job advert so you’ll be shortlisted.
Reach out
Hiring managers deal with hundreds of resumes. If you want yours to stand out, start networking. Reach out and build relationships with people at companies you want to work at. Then, when they’re hiring, your name will already be in the mix, and as a bonus, many employees get referral bonuses if someone they recommended gets hired, so start now.
Okay, so you did the resume overhaul and you have the interview… Now what?
Interview Dos
Lean into soft skills
Yes, you need to be professional, but you can let your personality shine. Recruiters are hiring for a team as much as a role. How you communicate, your ability to read the room, how you respond to body language, and how you show humor indicates how you’ll fit into the company culture.
Big yourself up
You are selling yourself, a hiring manager won’t think you’re big-headed if you talk up your achievements. That’s the stuff they want to hear, and they want to hear it quickly.
Do your research
Know about the company that you’re interviewing with. Know what they’ve recently achieved and what they’re currently working on, and work it into the interview. It shows initiative.
Prepare questions
“What does success look like in this role?” and “What do you see as the most challenging part of the role?” are two great questions to ask at the end of an interview to show yourself as interested and engaged.
Ready to take your career by the horns? Here are three companies all currently advertising open roles on The Grad Cafe Job Board that are perfect for this stage of your career.
Indeed
The world’s number one job site, Indeed achieves over 250 million unique visitors per month, and it is available in more than 60 countries and 28 languages. Since 2004, Indeed has given job seekers free access to millions of jobs from thousands of company websites and job boards. It is hiring for a number of roles including software engineering jobs.
Find all job openings at Indeed.
Accenture
Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Along with the Big 4 and MBB firms, it is one of the most prestigious and largest firms in the consulting industry and has more than 674,000 people worldwide, in 200 cities across 50 countries, and is currently hiring for a range of technical roles which include MDM engineer, oracle/java developer, and internet, software and platforms strategy manager.
Check out all Accenture’s open roles here.
Airbnb
For graduates looking for their first job, Airbnb has a great company culture and good benefits. It scored 4.3 out of 5 on Glassdoor as a good place to work and has good hybrid and remote working policies. The company has a global footprint with offices in major cities across the world, and there are a range of jobs on offer here at the moment which include market managers, engineering and more.
Discover hundreds more just-out-of-college job opportunities via the Gradcafe Job Board
Aisling O'Toole is a journalist who over the past 15 years has edited some of Ireland's leading publications, contributed regularly to TV and radio, and occasionally the odd podcast.
