If you’re graduating this spring, you have reason to be optimistic about your job prospects: Employers plan to hire 16.6% more members of the Class of 2019 than last year’s graduating class, says the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). That’s the biggest increase among recent graduates since 2007.
“You’ve timed it perfectly,” Brian Kropp, Vice President at Gartner, said to this year’s college graduates on CNBC Make It. “It’s hard to think of a better labor market that you could go into.”
Still, recent college grads want to be sure they present themselves well to potential future employers. “They don’t want to miss out on opportunities because they appear unprepared or unprofessional to a potential employer,” says Tara Wyborny, Director--Junior Talent Programs, at Genesis10.
To improve your chances of recruiters selecting your resume, contacting you for an interview and ultimately hiring you for a position that fits in with your career plan, our recruiting team put together a list of tips to help you slide more easily into your new role as a young professional:
Be sure your email address is appropriate.
No matter how qualified you are, when applying to jobs, you need an appropriate e-mail address. For instance, partyguy00@emailprovider.com might have been okay when you were younger, but when you are launching your professional career, it is not. Take time to get an appropriate e-mail address for your job search.
Create a LinkedIn profile--and update it often.
This is a great way to network and manage your online presence. It’s simple and recruiters will look at it often. And once you have it, be sure to to update it with new experiences and skills as you acquire them.
Clean up your online presence and lock down your Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Recruiters Google. It is an easy way for us to get a more complete picture of a potential candidate. We do not search in hopes of finding incriminating photos from college, but we like to make sure there is nothing lurking out in the open that could reflect negatively on our organization if you are hired.
Prepare for interviews!
I am always surprised by the number of college seniors who show up to interviews unprepared. We as recruiters do not expect you to have memorized our entire website, but we do expect you to have basic knowledge of the organization and the position for which you are interviewing.
Bring multiple copies of your resume and a notebook to the interview.
The extra resumes allow us to quickly and easily share qualified candidates with co-workers who also are involved in the hiring process. Using a notebook during an interview shows that you are engaged and interested in the position. Take notes! We also hope you’ve written in your notebook a few questions you’d like to ask about the role and the company. Sometimes that's all that stands between you and your dream position. Do not show up empty-handed.
No work experience? Use class projects! Often we see resumes with little or no work experience, but the applicant has a degree that’s perfect for the role. Candidates with irrelevant or little work experience should provide detailed accounts of class projects that demonstrate the skills they are looking to use in their first job.
Record a professional voice mail message.
Recruiters call candidates frequently with updates on applications, interview requests and to extend offers. When we get a voice mail message that is not set up or resembles, “Yo! You have reached Chris. Leave a message,” it can change our opinion of a candidate quickly. First impressions are extremely important.
This spring, the jobs market is on your side. Following this advice to present yourself well to a potential future employer can only help to ensure that you land the role for which you worked so hard these past four years. Good luck!
Learn about Genesis10's G10 Associates Program for recent college graduates.
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