Youth Incorporated Magazine

If you’re someone who’ve just graduated college, you’d know the pain in the pit of your stomach that comes at the thought of embarking on your first job, let alone finding one that suits your interests. But the process can be less daunting if you follow these few steps to score a good job once you’ve graduated-

Fine-tune your Resume and Cover Letter

While spell check, grammar checks and proofreading are important, it is also necessary to make sure that your resume reads like you have the necessary skills and experiences that make you ready to take on the job.  Instead of just enlisting the places you’ve probably interned at while you were a college student, elaborate on the kind of job you did, and what your role at the organization entailed. If you haven’t interned anywhere, mention the social work you undertook as part of social service, or the extra-curricular activities you were involved in. It will give the interviewer a sense of who you are, and where your interests lie. When it comes to a cover letter, it is always advisable to have a targeted one, meaning that your cover letter should be exclusive to each of the organizations you’re applying to. Talk only those skills you possess, that will benefit the particular company you’re applying to. It should seem like a personalized letter, addressed only to that particular company.

Keep your options open

If you aspire to get into Human Resources professionally, don’t limit yourself to chasing after a job in that department. Assess your skill set and this about what other departments might come in handy. This is why it is mandatory to take up an internship during your college vacation break. The internship will give you a feel of what it actually is like to work on the job. This will help you decide if you actually want to take up the job full-time or not. If you decide that the job isn’t for you, list down a couple of other options you’ve thought of, and narrow it down to what interests you, and where you can truly make full use of your skills.

Make a list of the companies you wish to work for, and start contacting them

You don’t need to worry about looking ‘unprofessional’ by directly approaching the companies you’d want to work for. Start by finding out contact details of the organization, and send out your resumes immediately. The company websites usually list a generic website to send your CVs to, and chances are that your resume might get lost in the inbox. A rather sure-shot way would be to call us the company and ask them to direct you to the concerned person, someone in the department, or ask them for a specific e-mail ID to send your resume to.

Be well prepared for the interview

As daunting as an interview may seem, it helps to get some stress off, by being well prepared. The best way to do this is by thoroughly researching about the company and what they do. In this way, you’d get a sense of how your skills and past experiences could help you at this particular organization. Another method to be well prepared is to look up common interview questions, and how best to answer them. There are a number of sites that could help you with this. Also, look up YouTube videos to understand body language, eye contact, postures, etc.