By Kaycee Holmes, Senior Account Executive, CorporateDoes the question “what are you doing after graduation?” give you night terrors? Do you avoid calling relatives because they might ask you about your job search? Ah, the days of being a college senior. Whether these feelings are still fresh in your memory or you can just barely remember them through the fog of a distant past, it is safe to say we can all empathize.
If you are still sans plans post-graduation, stop panicking and start making things happen! Jobs aren’t going to find you if you’re balled up in the corner of your apartment or drowning your sorrows at the pub around the corner. If you are a college senior (or simply on a job search), follow these simple, yet crucial tips to build your foundation for a successful search effort:
1) Update your résumé: Feeling a little leery about your résumé? You probably aren’t the only one. It’s important to formalize what you’ve done in your career – even if your career is only six months in duration –in order to let companies know what experience you have.
• Put your professional experience first. You want to be considered as a professional first and as a student second
• Add descriptive points of what you actually did at your internship/volunteer group/organization and how it fit into strategies and business goals
→ Hint: Everyone knows that “implemented a new filing system” is a cover-up for doing nothing and that you read that on every résumé website ever created
• Send your résumé around for critique. Send it to your friends, your professors and your professional network. It’s hard not to take constructive feedback personally, but people in your network want you to find a job too!
2) Network: You never know who you could be talking to. Did your friend ask you to come to a charity event? Go! Is there an alumni gathering for a basketball game? Join in the fun! By extending your professional network, you cast a wider net when it comes to looking for jobs. Are you looking for ways to get involved? Consider the following types of groups:
• Young Professionals
→ Dallas Regional Chamber Young Professionals*
→ Texas Young Professionals
• Professional Interest
→ Social Media Club
→ American Marketing Association
• Charity
→ Young Texans Against Cancer
→ Helping Hands for the Family Place**
3) LinkedIn: Update your LinkedIn profile with your newly re-vamped résumé content. Follow companies that you like and consistently check their “careers” sections. The LinkedIn Learning Center has a great set of resources to help you maximize your profile and identify opportunities. Connect with recruiters, classmates and professional contacts – you never know who can connect you to your next career step!
4) Put up an appropriate Facebook/Twitter/MySpace picture: While your future employer would like to know you have a social life, you should re-think the photo where you are wearing a beer helmet or your Sports Illustrated-esque photo shoot in Cabo last summer. They could take a non-professional picture to mean that you aren’t quite ready to settle down with a full-time job. Live by a new motto when it comes to appropriate pictures: WWKMD – “what would Kate Middleton do?” ***
In addition, job search websites, such as Indeed and Monster, can lead you in the right direction based on your location and expertise. If you are local to the DFW area, DFWCommunicators.com is a great resource for media/PR/marketing jobs. Check with your college and alumni resource center (such as the University of Florida Gator Nation Network, my alma mater) to see if they can connect you with other alumni for career advice or opportunities.
Are you interested in joining Edelman at one of our 54 wholly-owned offices around the world? Apply online!
Looking to build your résumé with an internship at Edelman Southwest? E-mail us!
*Edelman’s Dallas office does pro-bono work with the Dallas Regional Chamber. Our general manager, Teresa Henderson, sits on the DRC Communications Council.
**I sit on the board of the Family Place Partners, a women’s auxiliary.
***This does not include her pre-William modeling days.
No comments:
Post a Comment