Helpful Tips on How to Find a Job After College

Posted How-to / October 31, 2020
Blake Shaw

Bostonian and residential moving and packing expert. Blake Shaw enjoys bar-hopping, music, and writing insightful content.

How to find a job after college? What does life after college even look like? You’ve been studying, passing exams, and hanging out with friends for the past years, and now Simon says you need to be an adult working on your career. It’s not a big deal – you’ll surely find a job, but how to land the one that you’d really like? What if you’re going to be moving interstate or moving across the country after you graduate? Don’t panic, you can do it all. Start with reading some very useful tips.

Whenever you’re entering an unknown field, such as searching for jobs after graduation, the best thing to do is to take advice from the more experienced ones. So now, when you want to get hired ASAP, and you’re excited about building your career and learning new stuff, the right move is to start reading into all the tips, tricks, and hacks you can find or hear from someone. Getting a job after college might seem scary, but with the right preparation, you’ll be just fine. There are even some tips for moving out of state or out of town in case you want to live somewhere else and you think it’s time for making friends in a new city. Let’s see what are the best tips on how to find a job after college graduation.

Decide What Do You Want to Do and Look for Entry-Level Jobs

The most important thing before you even start your search for jobs after college is to know what you are searching for. There are so many jobs out there, and you might be overwhelmed by all the open positions you find online. That’s why it’s crucial to at least have a field of work that you’re interested in, and that fits with your major and skills you have. Ask yourself what do you enjoy doing, or at least what you don’t find hard or annoying.

Narrow down your search, make a table or a list with filters, and eliminate all the companies that don’t fit. For example, the filters can be:

  • Do I like what that company does?
  • Do they have entry-level positions?
  • Would I work as an intern there if they give me the opportunity?
  • Can I progress there?
  • Do they have an office in the state I live in?
  • If they don’t, would I be ready for moving away from friends and family?

After answering these questions (or different ones, it’s your choice,) single down the top ten companies you like and start doing research on them. This is the first step in making a path that will lead you to a job you’ll love.

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How Long Does It Take to Find a Job After College?

Finding a job after college quickly depends on how lucky you are, how good your timing is, and ultimately, on yourself. A fresh grad student with good grades that’s constantly networking, thinking about future employment, and asking around can find a position in no time. That type gets noticed even during studies. They usually do internships during or right after college, and after that, they are offered a full-time job. If you’re not one of them, don’t worry, because it’s never too late to start asking yourself what you want to be and where you want to work. If you ask us, that’s even a better option than finding yourself working in a position that bores you and makes you hate Mondays.

One of the Crucial Tips on How to Find a Job After College: Talk to the People at Your Career Center

Every college has one – schedule a meeting with the advisor and explain to them what you want. They can help you even if you still don’t have an idea of what you’d like to do, what you’re good at, and what your skills are. If one meeting isn’t enough, keep coming and talking with them until you figure the best possible solution. You can do this as a student and as a recent grad. You may find out when the recruiters from different companies are coming to your campus and much other useful information.

If There’s a Career Fair in Your Town, Don’t Miss It

This one can guarantee you a successful job hunt. You will get to meet many recruiters, apply to volunteer, and get noticed. This is also a part of networking, but a bit more formal one. Stay positive and communicative, smile, and approach people that came from a company you’re interested in.

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Create a Job Network and Use All the Resources

All those with whom you shared classes, people you know, people you don’t know but your friends or parents know them… All of them are possible connections that can help you figure out how to find a job out of college. It’s normal not to have a network right after graduating, and no one is expecting you to be a first-class businesswoman or man. This is the perfect timing to start making one. There’s no need to feel intimidated by approaching someone you don’t know so well and asking them about their job if you know that they’re working (or used to be) in the industry you want to be in. Prepare a little pitch about yourself and stuff that are college-related: what you just graduated, what your interests are, and what you are good at. Ask them for advice and for a number or an email to contact them – that’s one more person for networking. Once you get their contact info, make sure you follow up with them.

Good Resources Can Help You Even if You Have Little Work Experience or None at All

You can find everything online, and with having that many things available on just a few clicks from you, the career you want has never been closer. Use everything you can find – from folks you know to job search websites, career-based magazines, and company pages. It will give you a better picture of what the job market is like, how people work in the industry you want, and how happy they are with what they do.

Create a Resume and a LinkedIn Profile

A good resume is a must, but how to create one? The trick you should learn when learning how to get a job out of college is to have the essential keywords in it, to keep it readable and practical, and to modify it for every different application. If you’re applying to a big company, the recruiter and HR team are reading hundreds of resumes each day, so don’t waste their time. Put all the important info in the first half of the paper. Your name, state you live in, your educational background, and places you worked or volunteered before. Since you’re not an experienced worker, you can’t brag about having ten years of experience in programming, but you can say why you choose them and why you would be the right pick. If you don’t already have a LinkedIn profile, create one, and put the link in the resume as well.

LinkedIn is a great way to connect with those you don’t know yet, but have plenty of mutual connections and interests with you. Use it, and keep in touch with anyone who might have some useful advice, or who can recommend you. If you like making friends in a new city you visit and keeping long-distance friendships alive, this is the time to reconnect with those guys and to see whether they have some ideas where you can apply. It might mean that you’ll have to be moving cross country, so be ready for that.

Apply Only to a Job That You Can See Yourself Working

Don’t go around sending resumes wherever you see someone is hiring. It’s not all about gaining experience, but being happy with where you work. Even if your favorite companies declined you, don’t lose faith and motivation. There are many more options around the corner, just be patient, confident, and persistent.

Get Ready for the Interview

If you do all the previous steps of how to get a job after college perfectly and mess up the interview, then not much work is done, unfortunately. You have to beat the fear you might have, and the way to do it is to be fully prepared for what might happen when talking with the recruiters. You can search for tips online, there are helpful videos and blogs all over the internet, so you can check out what are the usual questions and figure some answers to them. They will want to know who you are, how do you see yourself in their company, how would you act in certain situations, and what salary would you expect. If the job you’re being interviewed for is not in your state or city, they will ask if you are open for long-distance moving or for interstate moving to be closer to them. Remember that candidates who are closer have an advantage, so even if you didn’t think about local moving or hiring state to state movers and getting auto transport, do that now.

How to Find a Job After College in Another State?

The final and most important question is, how far are you willing to go for your career? If you managed to figure out how to get a job in another state before moving there, and a company offered you a position, talk to your loved ones before making a decision of moving state to state. They can help you with the things you need for your first apartment and throwing a moving away party. If you’re afraid about moving stress, check out some of the tips for moving out of state, such as how to pack books for moving. If you feel confident about relocating and you have the opportunity to work what you love, don’t wait any longer – search online and find the best professional long distance movers.

Would You Be Ready for Long-Distance Moving to Your Desired Employment?

Do you know how to move out for the first time, and what do you need to rent an apartment? Are you ready for learning house hunting tips and packing tips for moving, or will you be asking yourself should I move back home right after you relocate? It’s easy to leave and see how to change your address but make sure you don’t regret it. Even if you choose the best time of the year to move, you still need to know your moving expenses checklist and to figure the cheapest way to move out of state if you’re on a small budget. If you already had to leave your home and to create a college packing list because you left for the campus, then you’re probably familiar with the whole process – it’s not that big a deal. However, if you’re leaving for the first time, this can be very stressful. Once you’re sure about your decision, feel free to start your cross country moving experience

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