4 Things You Need to Know As a Job-searching Student

4 Things You Need to Know As a Job-searching Student4 Things You Need to Know As a Job-searching StudentIn a world of unpaid internships, life after graduation may seem a bit tough for the average job-searching student. The thing is, the skills you pick up in the university are usually not the only thing youll need for career success writing papers and multiple choice tests is all fine and dandy, but that doesnt really predict your success in the workplace. There are, however, some things you can learn which will make the job search much easier. 1. Focus on one job at a timeYoud be excited to hear that (or highly disappointed) when assessing a job-searching student, what the manager looks at is not your GPA. According to data-crunching done by Google, there is absolutely no correlation between a high GPA and workplace success. What they do look at, however, is how invested you are in your search. Whether the student is actually trying his best to get the specific job, or if hes just applying to a bunch of them, and hoping for the best. What this means for you, is to do your research. Before applying to a large company, you might want to find out how things are done there (the easiest way to do this is through GlassDoor.Learn about the company culture, the competition, and about the industry in general. You could check out the companys about us page for the general information, or for the specifics, comments on the company from ex-employees on GlassDoor. In addition, you could also look up the interviews of the founders the mora you know the better. Theres a good chance that the interviewer might ask what aspect of their companys activities excite you the most and why. Even if that doesnt happen, youll still seem more knowledgeable and confident. In addition, rather than going wild and sending your resume to every job opening you find, you could focus on a handful per week. Tailoring your resume and cover letter for each position makes it much more likely to g et you hired.At , for our premium services, we ask our clients to name 3 of their favourite companies, and then tailor the resumes specifically for those. As a result, over 81% of our customers get invited to an interview in either their first or second choice just because we make that extra step of customizing the application for the specific company.2. Impress them with your resumeCrafting a resume is thenightmare for most job-searching students. While a minority of them have somework experience, the majority is stuck with some minor school projects and extracurricular activities. Staring at their blank resume in despair, thinking what else is there to fill besides their education? The answer to that comes off a bit surprising for most most employers arent really expecting a lot of work experience from a job-searching student. What they are looking for is willingness to learn, and for them to actually be a good culture fit for the company. That means that if you can properly sho w your personality through the resume, youre pretty much guaranteed an interview. There are a number of ways to do that, such as mentioning your key strengths, life principles, books that influenced you, etc.Anything goes, theres no set voreingestellt for a resume the only thing that counts is whether this really describes who you are. What you shouldnt do, however, is use fluff words. When you dont have a lot to fill in your resume, there might be a temptation to fill them with generalities, such as Great at critical thinking, open-minded or team-oriented. These words, as you already know, dont really mean anything. The HR also knows that, you know that, and so does literally anyone who looks at your resume. If you do want to include buzzwords, have something to back them up youre good at critical thinking, and youve done x, y, and z, which backs up your claim. In such a case, if you dont get hired, you shouldnt even be disappointed you probably just werent a good culture fit fo r the company, and wouldnt have liked working there anyway.3.Ace the interviewThis part may seem a bit scary for most job-searching students, especially the ones who dont have any previous job experience. Youd be surprised to learn, however, that most interviewers actually ask the same questions. For example, what would you consider your biggest strength and weakness? or even quirkier ones, if you had a choice, what would you pick as a superpower?. For the quirkier questions, you need to provide an even quirkier answer. Maybe mention how you would manipulate the stock market in the past using time travel to become the richest man in the world? Or you could use the power of mind-reading in order to achieve world dominion?Many career advice websites recommend being confident and in charge during an interview. Saying that, however, doesnt help one bit. You dont just grow confidence out of nowhere, right before an interview. Rather, be prepared. Prepare a list of the interview questions that theyre most likely to ask, and prepare set answers for them. Getting to rehearse the answers and the tone with someone you know beforehand can take you a long way. Even if you flunk an interview or two, youll have gained some experience with the process, highly increasing the chances of getting hired.4. Put yourself in the shoes of the employerThe formula for success with the job search is remembering the fact that the employers are people too. Before submitting your resume or cover letter anywhere, try re-reading it from a different perspective. Ask yourself, does this make sense? Is this original and novel? The usual answer for this is no, meaning that you need to do more research. In fact, while doing interviews for a small project, me and a co-worker discovered that out of 15 student, only 2 were decent. The rest of them had either very plain resumes, or cover letters copy pasted from Google. When you realize that most of your peers are as clueless as you, creating a resum e that stands out doesnt seem so hard anymore.Following all the above-mentioned advice may seem a bit hard at first, and it may take some practice to get the hang of everything. After all, reading an article doesnt instantly make you an expert at job-search. However, after an interview or two, youll be wondering how you had difficulties with the process in the first place. And finally, remember that going out of your way to look for advice online, already puts you one step ahead on the path to scoring that sweet sweet internship. We bet on that.Did we miss anything important? Feel free to drop us a line down in the comments below Else, like our Facebook page for your weekly dose of inspiration. Nick Zviadadze Certified Storyteller, Job Hunting Enhancer, Digital Marketer and a Coffee EnthusiastLeave a Reply Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *CommentName * Email * Website Subscribe now for moreSee more great content and inspiring exa mples of resumes done right each month. Subscribe Youre subscribed Latest posts See all posts by Eric D. Halsey The Resumes of Chernobyl by Eric D. Halsey 4 Ways Creativity Can Improve Your Resume by Katherine (Tori) LutzHow to Create a First Year Elementary School Teacher Resume