Beginning Your Job Search

Career services on campus

There’s no need to be afraid of approaching your career centre on campus grounds – afer all, these centres, especially in universites, boast a wide range of contacts and resources you’ll be able to leverage on.

When speaking to your career counsellors on campus, make your aspiratons and career goals clear and known so they have a beter idea on how to help you. If you’re facing any challenges concerning your job hunt, they’re the best people to turn to for guidance.

Some career service centres even ofer networking sessions, virtual or otherwise, for graduates to get to know employers, as well as fnd a mentor. Even if you’re not able to be on campus due to socialdistancing measures, you should be able to at least contact your school’s career service centres via email.

Career fairs

Whether they’re virtual, on campus or on public grounds, you should go into career fairs with a strategy in mind. Find out which employers are going to be there before the fair itself, and prepare some questons you would like to ask.

For physical events, bring copies of your resume to hand out to prospectve employers, as well as name cards, if you have any. As for virtual fairs, you’ll stll be able to send over a sof-copy of your resume, so make sure it has been prepared and updated. Afer the event, whether either virtual or in-person, be sure to email your new contacts to establish your connecton with them.

In the note, include any interestng points of conversaton you might have had to help the recruiter remember you out of the many faces they may have met that day. Send your resume across one more tme over the email, and add in the links to your online portolio or LinkedIn profle as well.

Recruitment services

Another way to get suitable job ofers is to engage recruitment consultaton services. Although you’ll have to fork out some cash, you’ll be able to meet up with them for consultatons to discuss your professional goals and use their connectons to potental employers.

Moreover, you can use them as a source of informaton to prepare for prospectve assessments and interviews.

Networking

Many young jobseekers and graduates proft from networks, both personal and professional, when looking for their frst job. It’s not just about what you know – it’s about who you know. So keep in touch with old contacts, make new ones, avoid burning bridges and never turn down a chance to network, whether it’s in a personal setng or a professional one!

Internships

Work placements and internships can lead to full-tme positons, especially if you have proved yourself to be a good ft for the company and get along well with your co-workers.

Apply speculatively

Writng to prospectve employers – even if they’re not advertsing vacancies – to enquire about available job positons is known as applying speculatvely. This has the potental to show your interest in a company.

However, you’ll also need to impress them with your understanding of their feld and why you’re exactly what they’re looking for. Even if there’s no available vacancies at that moment, they may keep your fle and consider you for suitable job roles in the future.

Using Different Platforms Other Than LinkedIn( (

With recruiters and prospective employers turning more and more to social media in order to suss out jobseekers, it has become increasingly important to keep it professional online.

It’s common knowledge that employers see professional social media platorms as a hiring resource. While this immediately begs the issue of managing and maintaining a good online presence and reputaton, what are some other things you should take note of?

Professional Platforms

When the topic of social networking on a professional level comes up, LinkedIn is usually the frst thing that comes to mind. But there are other platorms as well, such as forums, niche sites and alternatves to LinkedIn, such as Opportunity and Xing.

Even more importantly, how can you strike a balance between being personal and professional on popular platorms such as Instagram and Facebook? Here are a few pointers to help you.

While these platorms can be easier to handle because they’re devoted to business and professional networking, there are stll a few crucial points to take note of.

1. Your profle

Using the right words for your profle and summary can be enough to make it stand out from the rest. Additonally, you’ll need to use common keywords as well so your profle comes up when recruiters search for prospectve candidates.

Take note Keep your profle and career goals clean and clear with simple terms rather than something fancy or vague. For example, instead of using “tech maverick”, use “full-stack developer”. 2. Your picture

Choose a headshot that looks professional and shows your face clearly. Depending on the industry you’re applying for, your headshot doesn’t necessarily have to be formal, but it’s preferable that your background is clear and not too clutered.

Take note In industries such as law, fnance and banking, keep your headshots formal. However, for other sectors like tech and media, feel free to explore more creatve optons.

3. Connecting

If possible, get a mutual friend to introduce you to another person over the platorm, and tell them who you are and how both partes would beneft from the connecton.

However, if you don’t have a mutual friend to pave the way, customise a message that explains how you came across their profle and why you want to reach out to them.

Take note Wait patently for a response – don’t chase afer or harass those you want to connect with! 4. Communicating

How you comment and respond to queries gives recruiters a peek into your personality, morals, ethics and values, so be sure to steer away from negatve comments to keep your reputaton intact.

Keep in mind that recruiters are also known to look through comments lef on other people’s posts on top of your own.