A Comparative Guide to Scoring Your First Real Job
Picture this: you are a rising college senior or recent graduate. If you’re lucky, you got a well-paying job right out of school via that summer internship. If you’re like most grads, however, you’re probably beginning your first job quest and wondering how to successfully find employment.
The best way to think about your job search is to imagine that it’s like your social media account. Let’s compare: in your job hunt, each resume is a status update, each interview a like, and each job offer a follower.
In these social media platforms, you have to send out hundreds of well-liked tweets before you can get a single follower who is not a friend or family member. Similarly, in your job search, you will have to create and send out dozens of resumes to get one interview, and hundreds to gain that coveted Holy Grail of all job offers.
Furthermore, you can’t just create once a week status updates – you have to unleash your creativity every single day. If people are not reading your posts, then they are not liking them; and if they are not liking them, then odds are they aren’t following you.
The same goes for searching for a job. If you are not constantly sending out your Resumes or CVs, then there is little hope of gaining an interview, let alone a job. But gaining more followers on your social media accounts is not just about the number of updates or posts. If followers were attracted simply by a user’s large number of posts or an account’s flood of photographic posts, then everyone would have a million followers.
Each of your social media posts has to show your wit, just as each of your resumes has to be unique and show your skills. If you do not stand out from the flock with your clever insights or inventive photographs, then no one is going to be interested in following you. In the same regard, if you are not showcasing your skills in your resume, then potential employers are going to forget about you and what you can do for them. The squeaky wheel gets the oil, as the old adage goes.
Moreover, just as a user’s followers would be turned off by the thought that who they’re following post about the same things on their timeline one after the other, interviewers will not be so keen to read the same generic resume that you sent out to everyone else. This is why writing customized resumes that highlight and showcase the skills that the posting requested when applying for jobs . Following the directions within the job, requirements are absolutely imperative in your job quest.
Another thing you will notice about a social media platform is that people are more likely to follow someone with an already large following. Likewise, Employers are also more likely to hire a person with more work experience. How, then, do you garner the experience to make people want to hire you? When you first start your social media accounts, you go for “easy” followers – your friends and family. Similarly, When you begin your job hunt, you can bulk up your experience with entry-level work such as internships and volunteering.
Hooking the perfect job post-graduation isn’t as difficult as you might expect – but the strategy behind how you seek the job is what separates the good from the best. Let your abilities and qualifications shine, and the rest will fall into place.