As a fresh-out-of-college graduate, you are ready, able and quite eager to begin work. But, no employer will touch you with a barge pole unless you have the all qualifying ‘work experience’.
Newly minted college students never had the going so tough. While novices who have just completed their education always get the short end of the stick as companies favour experienced candidates, some were cherry-picked by hiring companies right off the campus. But with the recession spreading, employers now prefer to ‘play it safe’ and clamour for experience.
And the irony is that how can you gain experience when no one is willing to hire you? It’s quite a vicious circle find themselves sinking into despair. The despondent cry rings loud and clear, “where do we start?” Times are rough, but there still are some tactics by which you can do well in interviews and actually land yourself a job.
The all-important resume:
Spend adequate time on crafting a polished and impressive resume. Some experts advise using a functional resume format, as it will highlight yours skills and abilities while subtly taking the focus off your lack of work experience.
Here, you can and actually should draw on any scraps of summer jobs, internships and part-time or even voluntary work to build a semblance of work experience. Else, keep the limelight on your subjects, achievements and projects.
Scour for interviews:
Use all possible means to land yourself a couple of interviews with decent companies. You can apply on job boards, answer classifieds and attend job fairs or other networking events to find employers. Always practice well by yourself, with friends or in mock-interviews before attending the real ones.
Rules apply:
Carefully abide by normal interviewing rules that any other candidate (whether experienced or not) would follow before attending an interview. Research the potential employer, job and industry to show that you have done your homework.
Prepare intelligent answers to likely questions beforehand (especially behavioural ones) so that you don’t end up mumbling or being stuck. These can range from your strengths, weaknesses or choice of profession/organization to dealing with a difficult decision.
Also ensure that you dress well, speak clearly and ask some intelligent questions to reaffirm your interest in the job. Also, remain confident in your ability to do well.
Be your own advocate:
Try to find out what the employer is actually looking for and accordingly display desirable professional behaviour like dedication, motivation, flexibility and initiative while you are answering the interviewer’s questions.
Be on the lookout for examples that will demonstrate that you are responsible, organized, willing to learn, can follow instructions and will get things done on time.
Here, you can talk about how you used to effectively priorities study tasks, set and achieved learning goals, resolved a classroom conflict, influenced a classmate’s opinion or built enthusiasm in the class. Speak about how you led a group discussion or team project to highlight your leadership skills.
Be Positive:
Try to put a positive spin on even small events without resorting to outright lies. You can show the interviewer your grades or professors’ comments to showcase your abilities. Or, carry sample materials like any projects or case you have worked on and discuss the experiences or what you learn from it.
You should also draw on any voluntary or part-time work experience to show that you can handle the work environment and relate skills pertaining to the job like customer service or salesmanship.
In short, the trick is to impress the interviewer by talking positively and displaying your enthusiasm and real personality. Concentrate on showing your potential and what you have to offer in a bid to convince him that you would be very successful for the company rather than why ‘you’ need the job.
And last but not the least; do not shy away from expressing that all you want is a chance to prove yourself, an opportunity to work for the esteemed company!
