Title - 5 tips for new graduates to get hired
Some pointers that I've got are:
1. Craft an effective cover letter and resume
2. Leave a positive impression during interviews
3. Be an intern who over delivers
4. Follow your passion
5. Network to open doors
On Craft an effective cover letter and resume
- Highlight your assets and achievements in a concise manner instead of rambling about laundry lists of insignificant duties. Use direct action verbs including led, troubleshot, researched, innovated, demonstrated and attained.
- Find out about the qualities, transferable skills, content knowledge and experience level required of the job. Suss out what employers are looking for and highlight how you meet such requirements in your cover letter and resume.
- If possible, quantify your statements using numbers, percentages or costs.
- Refrain from repeating chunks and paragraphs from your cover letter on your resume. The objective of a resume is to present a succinct factual history of your educational qualifications and employment history.
- A cover letter should provide subjective information such as your interests, values, motivation, and how the company culture appeals to you.
On Leave a positive impression during interviews
- Present yourself well. Do not be overly flustered by unexpected or difficult questions. Interviewers are more interested in whether you are able to maintain your poise and composure when challenging questions are posed to you.
- Competency-based interviews are increasingly common and serve to assess whether candidates have the abilities required for the role.
- Situation - Provide a concise context (who, what, where, when, and how) comprising real life examples.
- Task - Talk about what you had to deliver and the specific challenges or constraints you faced (client expectations, deadlines or a tight budget).
- Action - Elaborate on specific actions you took. These should indicate the abilities required for the role, like initiative, teamwork, or perseverance.
- Result - Summarise your achievements and the learning points you took away.
On Be an intern who over-delivers
- If you are on internship, treat it as a job and not an academic module you need to pass. Show a keen interest in learning and do your best to deliver consistently high standards.
- The internship method of hiring is highly favored because of the reduced risk of a poor job fit, as compared to the traditional route of holding several one to two hour interviews with a candidate whom the company had no prior work interaction with.
On Follow your passion
- Be wise and courageous enough to affirm your strengths, talents, and interests, and stand up for what you would like to do for a living.
- Passion, in addition to a massive dosage of discipline, is key to the enthusiasm, zeal and motivation to keep you persisting when the going gets tough.
- If you settle for a job because of prestige or career security, instead of how it brings out your strengths, your job satisfaction is likely to fade quickly, leaving you uninspired.
On Network to open doors
- Stay in contact with your lecturers, internship supervisors, career coaches and classmates. They may be aware of job openings in their company or the industry suitable for you.
- Tertiary education institutions may regularly hold recruitment talks and alumni mentoring sessions. Attend as many networking events as possible and speak to industry players. If you are painfully shy, teaming up with your friends and classmates might make the experience less daunting.
- Approach key speakers at the end of the event and follow up with specific questions and feedback via email. In this way, you will have a deeper understanding of the industry demands or company culture.
Yours,
Something Small Thinking Big
