First Job Search – Job Hunting Tips for Fresh Graduates

I have you too in mind.

While the fundamentals remain same, I have included some special tips for you before the conclusion.

So please read on.

This is a situation which each one of has to go through once in life. For some it may not require many efforts because of the excellent campus placement facilities while for some it could be an ordeal. Generally the experience of any fresher who sets out to seek employment after graduation is somewhere in between these two extremes.

If not prepared properly then it could be quite a difficult task with delayed gratification. At the same time, if you were to work in an organized and focused manner then this will you find a job faster than if you don't have a right strategy in place.

This is an often asked question and there is no correct answer for this. It all depends on the type of course, the ranking of the institute, your institute’s efforts for bringing companies to the campus and your own interview performance.

Here are a few tips, suggestions from an experienced HR Consultant and Recruiter. If followed at the right time, you could be on a fast track to find and convert employment opportunities into a job offer for yourself!

For fresh graduates, there can be many types of jobs from different industries for which you can apply. For example, if you are a business management graduate, you may have to decide about the industry you prefer working for. Is it FMCG, consumer Durables, IT or consulting services?

Next think of the domain or field which interests you the most - sales or marketing or it is back end support.

Sundeep Kataria is the Founder CEO of a Management Consulting Firm. Established in 1991. His firm is also in the business of Head Hunting and Executive Search & Selection for well known companies.

Sundeep Kataria started the trend of CV writing in India.Till now he has helped hundreds of professionals in their career advancement with his expert services like CV Writing,Interview Coaching, Career Counseling and Executive Coaching.

His services are sought by professionals from all the fields and from fresher to top management level.

The contents of this hub are straight from his years of professional experience.

Like this you may list down your preferences for:

• Size - Large or small organization – even a startup may interest you.
• Location – Ask yourself “Do I want to stay in a particular town / state or I do not have any problems about relocation?”
• Field Work / Travelling – a sales job or a field market research job may require frequent travelling which necessitates being away from your home and office for many days in a month. If you don’t love travelling then don’t even look at sales or any other type of field jobs.
• Are you Shy or Extrovert? – In case you are an introvert, then behind the desk jobs in the domains of Planning, Analytics, Data Crunching, SEO, Ad Designing and Copy Writing etc. are made for you.
• Extended working hours or easy life? – An aggressive and fast growing organization is in no position to offer you a 9 to 5 job. In case you think that you are not cut out for such a irregular routine or long working hours then look for job in Non Profit Sector, Government, Semi- Government or public sector organizations.

Having set out your list or priorities and preferences you now know your destination.

It is very natural for the freshers to underestimate the importance of a well written CV.
Quite a few times, I have observed that the resumes of freshers from the same batch are exact copies of each other, except for name and contact details, of course.

It is highly recommended that your CV is sent under a proper cover letter.

It is perfectly alright to take the help of an experienced resume writer or professional CV Making firm.

• On line job Search – There are job portals, job search engines where you can post your resume. The recruiters will be able to find you here when they use these portals.Do upload your CV on a few of these job portals.Also you can do periodic search for the jobs advertised on these portals and apply to jobs you think are right for you.
• Job Fairs - From time to time, the specific industry / a job portal company / the newspaper organize such fairs. Do visit there with sufficient copies of your printed resume.
• Head Hunters, Search Firms – Pl check from the printed directories and newspapers as well online and make a list of such Placement Consultants and send them your CV as well as do follow up. Before writing to them you may like to check if they recruit fresher’s and also do they deal in domains / industry you are searching for job.
• Create a list of target companies – Just like the previous point, you may like to find out about the names of the companies which are in your chosen field, get their contact details and send them your CV as well as do regular follow up.
• Networking – Don’t just apply to the organizations directly for the job. It is highly recommended that the methodology is made more extensive. For example, you may consider approaching your seniors, who passed out from the same college / Institute / School / University and are well placed.

Ideally before 6 months of completion of your graduation, you should start applying for the jobs.

Keep your expectations modest but not too low. Depending on your country, prestige of the course, ranking of the institute and the economic conditions at that time will determine the demand and supply. Overall, it is advisable that you send out at least 100 applications for getting an interview call. It would be wise to keep your probability calculations between 1% to 5%.

At the same time don’t apply to each & enjoy job and every organization.

In other words, no carpet bombing please.

In addition to the points given above, it may be emphasized that following blunders by fresh graduates are quite common and they must be avoided at all costs:

1.Waiting for the response

The HR Department as well as the recruitment consultants receive hundreds and even thousands of letters and resume from the fresh job seekers. It is almost impossible for them to reply to each and every fresher. Therefore, be proactive.

Call them, visit them or write to them.

This exercise will help you get registered in their mind. In case of a vacancy, they will think of you first and from the over flowing data bank. It shall be easier for them to find your CV – and a single chance is what you need.

2. Immature and unprofessional digital footprints.

Now a days, it is a common practice by the recruiters, Human Resources and the background verification agencies to check the antecedents of the job seeker.

The careless/ casual / indecent / politically aligned / over critical / immature postings will tell the negative story about rather vividly.

Therefore, keep your social media profile very clean & professional

3. Photographs & Email IDs painting unprofessional picture

It is not common to see the photograph of job seeker in fancy clothes or on a beach. Similarly, the e-mail ids are also sometimes like: coolbuddy @ abc.com. Be sure that your CV will not even be read (leave alone being considered) if the recruiter notices these.

All these steps assume significantly increasing importance in your job search methodology if you are not very hopeful of getting a job through campus placement.

1. Plan your career on a term basis

Please answers to yourself that where do you see yourself in 1 year, 2 years, 3 years and 5 years from now. Be clear and work towards your objectives.

2. Avoid job hopping

No employer likes a job hopper. There is so much spent on the training, induction and building the organisation. It takes minimum 6 months to 1 year before a new employee becomes productive. Hence to be a favored candidate show that you have a track record of stability

3. Don't change the industry often

A rolling stone gathers no moss is an old adage and it is applicable here too. The higher the position, more is the need to have an industry specialist.

4. Don't hide facts in your CV or give wrong information

To err is human. Everybody makes mistakes. It is better to present a true picture than face the consequences of giving false information.

Frankly nobody likes the idea of going job hunting, especially you have just completed a long process involving many years of your life to acquire a degree. But just motivate yourself and change your mood to a pushy one – after all this situation is only for once. You are just at the start of a career.

All the best!