Essential Knowledge for Recent Graduates and Career Changers
10.16.2024 | Blog
Today’s recent graduates and career changers face more challenges to continuing their professional journeys. Gone are the days when you could walk into a business, discuss your qualifications, and start work very soon after. In this article, you will learn a few important things you should keep in mind for getting a job in today’s world.
Photo by cottonbro studio
Master Communication Skills
The ability to communicate is paramount to landing a job, as very few jobs require no exchanges with others. Your interpersonal skills, how you conduct interactions and relationships with others, are often judged by how you present yourself both in writing and over the phone.
Strong written communication is key for reaching out and replying to recruiters and hiring managers. The same is also true for composing your resume. Both cases require knowing how to professionally and concisely present yourself to a prospective employer.
Phone etiquette, knowing how to present yourself during a call, is also necessary for job hunting. Whether it is an initial screening or first-step interview, a phone conversation will often be the first impression you are able to give to recruiters and hiring managers. As the adage goes, “first impressions are the most lasting”.
Photo by Markus Winkler
Craft Your Resume
Your resume is still a very valuable tool for presenting yourself to employers, even in today’s constantly evolving world. As such, it is vital to know how to properly format your resume. To learn more about what you do and don’t need on a resume, see this previous article.
Part of composing a resume is using key words from the job description, a type of SEO if you will. Your resume is your personal brand marketing, an advertisement of your fit with and potential for the employer’s role. It is considered best practice to make position-tailored versions of it and give due care to crafting each.
With only one to two pages of paper real estate, it is also important to be concise yet detailed with the contents of your resume. Recruiters and hiring managers tend to review applications and resumes quickly for the best fit candidates. Being too wordy and lacking clarity on your experience and skills can potentially cause your resume (and chances) to be denied.
Image by Dirk Wouters from Pixabay
Highlight Your Skills
Especially for recent graduates and career changers, skills are some of the main qualifications for being considered for a position. This is because skills are gained throughout education, work experience, and personal enrichment. Presenting your applicable, transferable hard and soft skills makes you more appealing to a potential employer.
Hard skills, technical skills gained from formal learning and experience, show employers what you have taken time to develop. This category of skills includes machine handling, foreign language, and data skills. These are often proven to potential employers by certifications and previous personal or work experience with certain programs and technical roles.
Soft skills are gained through personal interactions and experience with various issues. As such, this category includes skills centered around one’s work ethic, ability to learn, and way of dealing with others. These are demonstrated by answering questions about how you manage relationships, stress, and unexpected problems during the interview.
Understand Your Qualifications
Qualifications include your work experience, education, skills, and knowledge that you can bring with you into the role. For both new graduates and seasoned professionals, knowing how your qualifications fit your desired role is important. For further advice on this, please see our previous article on how to do a SWOT analysis of your professional qualifications.
Be mindful that qualifications alone do not get you the job. What they do get you is the chance to be considered for the position, from first contact to being hired. In every interaction, you must sell yourself and your qualifications to those in charge of filling the opening.
Knowing how to convey the value of your qualifications is just as important as having them. The qualifications on your resume must match the job you are applying for. They will be fair game to be asked about during screenings and interviews.
Navigate Your Interviews
Interviews are what you might call a necessary evil during the job search. They are stressful and time consuming; however, they help both job seekers and employers find the best mutual fit for their situations. As we discussed in this article, proper preparation and approach to the interview can help lessen stress.
Professionalism during interviews is indispensable. Professionalism is multifaceted when it comes to presenting and selling yourself to the employer. For a broader view on the topic, check out this article on presenting yourself professionally.
Your attitude during an interview plays a huge role in being hired for a position. We have a previous article focused on the types of candidates that recruiters tend to avoid. The same qualities can also be off-putting to interviewers. I would also add that a humble, yet confident demeaner goes a long way.
The current situation for recent graduates and career changers is not the best; however, that is ok because there is always the next position to try for. And you now know the important things to work on in between interviews:
- Clear communication skills will help you market yourself better on your resume and throughout the interviewing process.
- Showing the most applicable skills will make your qualifications a stronger match for the position.
- Approaching the interview in the right way will make you stand out better to a potential employer.
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Ready to take the next step in your job search? Please feel free to peruse our current openings and reach out for any inquiries. You can also submit your resume to us directly, and we can contact you if we have anything you would be interested in. Let’s work together to hire your future!
Links
Bond Homepage: https://bond-consultants.com/
Bond LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bond-consultants/
Jeremy’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-salzer-bond-recruiter/
Cover Image Credit: Photo by Ann H