Preparing for the corporate world – A guide for college students

As graduation draws near, anxiety along with trepidation of getting a decent job seems to take over. Why not save yourself from impending doom by being prepared beforehand and present yourself in the best possible manner for recruiters to hire you? Opportunities are endless, but it is up to you how you avail them. We hope to guide you to pave your career path and minimize the imminent danger lingering around the horizon of not doing justice to your years of academics and hard work. Formulating an effective job search strategy will bring you in close proximity to recruiters, searching ardently for a potential candidate and increase your chances of getting hired.

• Networking- a mesh of innumerable opportunities

Do not undermine the potential benefits of an extensive and well established network of friends, colleagues, peers, and teachers. Just like advertising is done by word of mouth, having amiable relations with the people in your surroundings can boost your social presence and keep you in the limelight. Social networking events are a great place to be. Most of these casual informal chats may unexpectedly land you somewhere you’ve always wished to be. Networking normally doesn’t cost a dime and is totally worth the effort and time that you may invest in it. So never miss out on an opportunity to sell yourself; you never know where your first job after graduation might be. After all it’s the number of people who know you, not how many you know.

• How effective is your online presence?

Extensive networking can also be done online. Just as an alluring online presence is necessary for a business, be it a start-up or a multi-national one, similarly we as fresh graduates should realize the importance of having an effective online presence. If you have created an ever-lasting presence in person, it is highly likely that your recruiting and employer contacts will go on to further search about you on social networking sites as it gives a holistic view of the candidate. The most popular forums are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and the like which paint a fairly close picture of your personality, giving the recruiter an idea of what they must be signing up for if they plan to hire you.

Online recruiting softwares are also on the rise like Jobvite, Halogen, and Kronos which deploy information available online to make hiring decisions. Recruiting software maker Jobvite in its 2014 Social Recruiting Strategy found out that 78% of HR managers opt for social networking sites to form a database of potential candidates that may fit the job specifications, and almost two-thirds plan to increase this reliance on social networking. This automatically entails keeping your social profiles clean and presentable.

• Ever heard about soft skills?

As much as you pride yourself on your grades, certifications, degrees and technical skills, there’s a lot more to getting hired. There are certain things which you should know of, after graduation and take care of to be able to present yourself as an eligible candidate for the specific position. Among these is developing your soft skills. What are soft skills? They are a part of your emotional intelligence, encompassing interpersonal, communication, and teamwork skills. Above all soft skills involve having a positive ‘can-do’ attitude and being able to keep your calm in panic situations. This secures your position in the company and helps you gel into corporate culture. Be proactive and try to be in the forefront, actively communicating with people in-person. Communicating online does not suffice.

• What does your resume say about you?

Your resume is a reflection of what you’ve gathered throughout your academic life and is the crux of what you are capable of. College career services offices and online tutorials can help you tailor your resume for each prospective employer as per the job description. Your CV should have proper basic information and link the employer to your social networking sites where further information about you can be obtained. A messy and cluttered up is certainly not desirable as recruiters have an exodus of resumes to swift through. Be mindful and precise about what you include in your resume.

• The art of following up

Make it a habit to let employers know you want the job. The level of interest that you invoke can take you places for sure. Following up after a job interview or just calling in for some information after submitting your application can keep you on the employer’s mind when they are considering filling a position. Obviously that doesn’t mean bombarding the employer with emails and phone calls. Work with persistence. Do not halt your search while awaiting news about a job or while refurbishing your resume to meet the growing standards of the talent-hungry market scenario.

These are just some of the tips for recent graduate to prepare themselves for the great ordeal and crucial juncture of their life. Explore your opportunities; the sky is the limit.

In January 2016, College Recruiter is publishing content designed to help college students searching for entry-level jobs upon graduation or summer internships. See our focus in “Connecting the dots: Creating a 2016 career action plan.“ Check out College Recruiter’s blog and connect with College Recruiter on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Barney Whistance is a passionate finance, heavy machinery and lifestyle blogger who loves to write about prevailing trends. You can find him using Twitter and LinkedIn.