Bring your past and appropriate skills to your new career or job. For example, if you are looking for a sales position and have worked at a call center when you were in school, something like “Customer experience” or “sales experience” should be in your updated resume. Find the keywords from the job description and tailor your resume with similar and almost the exact keywords to boost your chances of getting it past through ATS. 

Do prepare a pitch for networking events

Networking events are almost just as important as an interview. Your job in getting a job is to impress the employer with your professional skills. Therefore, dress professionally is undoubtedly required, but you should also go to a networking event prepared. Prepare a pitch about your professional self and engage with potential employers. You aim to receive more information about the company while “selling” yourself. TIP: Always try to stay as engaged as you can and get that chance to get their contact information for future opportunities. 

One example you may use for your “self-pitch”: 

“Hi, my name is ____. I am a Junior majoring in ____. I would love to know more about this company to see if I am a good fit for an intern or entry-level position you are offering. I have been part of the school’s [club/organization] and also handle the [responsibilities] for the organization. I am interested in your company especially after I found out that [any news about the company], and I am intrigued by the trends that are going on in this industry!” 

The pitch can be in different versions - create one by yourself that sounds the most natural for you. It is important to show the employer that you have done your research about the company before heading for the networking event. It is always a plus when the employer sees your interest and your effort before explaining what their company is all about. 

Work samples, portfolio, career portfolio, you get it. Do have one on hand, or at least prepare one. It could be a collection in Google Drive, or it could be a website you have created. A work portfolio is to demonstrate your work quality. It is crucial to have to stay consistent with your updates. It is always great to include a small URL link in your resume to your portfolio. So the recruiters or the hiring managers can simply check out your work instead of getting a hold of you to provide one. Who doesn’t like saving time? So, let’s not disqualify ourselves from not having a portfolio. You can easily create one on SquareSpace or Wix, even having a simple Google Drive with all your past work samples. 

What is your job search strategy? Browsing through LinkedIn? Sure, LinkedIn is the most popular job search platform, but if LinkedIn isn’t the best place for you to get a job offer, try considering trying something new. Test and trial other job search strategies to help you land a job. It could be going to a networking event, cold messaging recruiters, and even simply chatting with a friend who happens to be hiring someone. One strategy that you can try is to use different tools to help you find the right employer like JobSeer; it is a tool designed for job seekers like you. It helps with all of your job search efforts including, smart searching, skills recommendation, resume analysis, as well as networking with its recruiters’ and employees’ contact finder. 

This shouldn’t be news. Having multiple versions of resumes prove that you have researched the company and you are sincere about the position. Cover letters are similar to telling a story on how your experience can contribute to the company you are applying for. Look at resumes as a history of your experiences, whereas cover letters are your overall summary and contributions - this should be a major part of your job search. Great tip: always try storytelling; it is the best way to keep the recruiter interested and engaged.

Job search consists of many steps till we get our feet into the door, however, job seekers shouldn’t be discouraged because of job rejections. Each process is different for everyone with different circumstances and market trends. Learn how to deal with job rejections and turn that into motivation. Try to enjoy the process of job searching and fuel yourself with current market trends to find your own personal job search strategy, and ultimately aim for the position you want.

If you’re not a JobSeer user and would like to learn more about how it can strategize your job search, download our Chrome extension, and start searching!