4 Tips to Land Your First Job Right After College
Landing that first job right out of college can be difficult if you don’t have the right strategy. Walk your students through this article and help them learn how to get a great job.
Guess how I went about finding my first job out of college? I spent my days filling out online applications and my nights praying something would come out of it. How well did it go? Horribly!
This “spray and pray” job hunting tactic is common among the uninformed. You’re basically just throwing your name into a giant database to be lost forever. You could be contacted eventually, but there are many faster ways to land a job.
Here, I will share four tips for actually landing a good job. Why is this important? Because landing a job right out of school means that you can begin earning a high income. Most student loans have either a six-month or a nine-month grace period attached.
By getting a job right away, you can use your first paychecks to move to a new place, settle into your new home, buy professional clothing, and maybe even buy something cool like an electric skateboard to get to and from work. Sorry, I just had to mention that. I’ve been obsessed with electric skateboards lately.
Once the grace period for your loans has ended, you can use your steady income to pay them back. Getting a job ASAP after college is key for staying ahead as a young professional. The time for “finding yourself” has ended. Time to bring home the bacon! Mmm. Bacon.
Technique #1: Act Fast!
One time I was getting ready for a job interview in another city. I drove up and then decided to stop by Barnes & Noble to tie my tie and walk around a bit before arriving at the job interview. Someone in the restroom said, gesturing to my tie, “Man, I’m glad I don’t have to wear one of those anymore.” I laughed awkwardly
This interaction stayed in my mind. As I went to the parking lot five minutes later, I saw the man getting into his brand new Porsche 911. You bet I was kicking myself for not asking what he did and if he’d like to hire me.
About a year later, I interviewed at the same place where, as it turns out, he worked. How much faster would the process have been if I had just introduced myself at that bookstore? How much more money would I have received? As with investing, the sooner you start a job, the more money you’ll earn.
Technique #2: Use the Career Services Angle
Use your school to get a job. Many companies fish at certain colleges. That means you’re already ahead of other applicants because you graduated from or currently attend this school. Contact your career services department and ask them about who may want to hire you.
This was essentially how I got my first job after college. And it paid well, too.
Technique #3: Call ’Em Out!
What job do you want? Where? Contact the person who can get you that position. Heck, buy them a gift basket. Offer to take them to dinner. Make a video showing them why they should hire you. If you reach out to them specifically, they’ll be much more likely to hire you.
You may be thinking that this could be expensive. But that’s insane. Spend $100 and take someone out to dinner. I can almost guarantee their words will earn you more than $100.
Either by giving you a job or giving you a name of someone who can get you a job. Upfront investments in life are necessary. You must be willing to throw down a dollar with no guarantee of it coming back to you. But it will.
Technique #4: Be So Good That They Come to You
YouTube is a good example of this. Do you want to be an actor? Start a YouTube channel. Produce compelling content. When a video goes viral, someone may contact you wanting to hire you.
This means that yes, spending time on social media can pay well. Even if a job doesn’t come directly out of it, you’ll have raised your brand awareness. And make no mistake, we all have a brand. The greater your awareness, the higher you’re worth. Pretty soon you’ll be on a box of Frosted Flakes.
- Are you good at grabbing opportunities and not letting them pass you by?
- Which college are you applying to? Which companies try to hire from that school?
- What else can you do in a professional way to get somebody’s attention and enlist their help?
- What can you do to build your brand?
