New Grads | Career Advice
Top #6 Creative Strategies to Land Your Dream Job
Methods that work in any economy
As a tech manager at Fortune 500 companies and successful former freelancer, new grads, parents, and young analysts routinely ask me how to find their first job after college. This pandemic has forced many folks into the job search arena, so here are my Top 6 tips to accelerate your job search and land your next job.
(1) Apply SEO to create a “Hire-worthy” Profiles:
Most candidates are rejected before they even know they are being considered. On Social Media that is…
You might have a profile on LinkedIn or Twitter, but unless your name pops up in searches for critical skill keywords, you do NOT stand a chance. Those who do have such stellar profiles get called for roles and hired without the role ever being advertised. Without such a “killer” profile, job seekers are relegated to fighting with thousands of other candidates for the same scarce jobs.
So give yourself an edge. Make your profile SEO worthy.
Do not submit BORING, generic resumes!
List the keywords most commonly used on job descriptions, get recommendations, add coursework, and projects that showcase your skills. Make sure your resume reflects this too so that the person reading it can assimilate how you match the role within the first half page.
For new grads and younger professionals who do not have corporate experience, add your academic experience using a hybrid functional resume. In short, everything about your profile must look valuable to the employer, instead of the boring generic formats that scream desperation — “I just graduated, please give me any job!”
(2) Show, Don’t Just Tell:
Portfolios are critical, whether in IT, marketing, or creative careers. Consider it a “Show and tell” for potential employers.
Women, especially those in tech, seem to fail at this. Many either never create portfolios or worse, never share it with potential employers, assuming the hiring manager will find your website link, buried in a forgotten corner of your profile!
I once landed an interview with a CMO by sending a 90-day plan and a dozen revenue-generating ideas instead of a cover letter. The letter plummeted me to the list of top 3 candidates even though I had minimal “direct” experience. So dare to be different; Highlight skills and strongly emphasize what can you do for the employer.
What value do you bring to potential employers?
Most applications allow you to add attachments, website links, and cover letters. Use it to showcase your value to the role.
The catch-22 of looking for a job after college is that even most entry-level positions are hiring for someone with experience. However, there is no rule in stone stating this experience has to be paid. Did your college event marketing project increase attendance by 25%? Did you create a new code R/Python library?
(3) Generate custom leads:
Leverage social media. Do you know how many editors pitch for stories on Twitter? Do you know how photographers and models get found on “Instagram”? Social media is an amazing resource for landing jobs, and bypassing gatekeepers, but most folks never use it for that purpose, except LinkedIn!
Linkedin is still valuable to have a presence and “be found”. However, just applying blindly on LinkedIn job pages, unfortunately no longer makes sense, given the intense competition due to the pandemic. Most jobs have 200+ applicants within days of their posting date.
Instead, look for folks who add updates about job roles. Then reach out and pitch your match to the job. Do NOT ask for informational interviews. Those have been done to DEATH!
[ If you would like detailed instructions, look for the book link at the end. ]
(4) Referrals are Still King:
Networking still works. People over Automated Systems.
Ask around, and tell them exactly what you want. Know what roles you are looking for instead of “any job”.
And STOP asking about informational interviews. Those have been done to DEATH. Especially, if you are a woman or person of color!
For this to work, you need to have “open” vs “closed” social networks. This means that those tenuous “client of the uncle of a friend” is more likely to land you a job than your own uncle or neighbor. Nurturing such networks takes time, but it is possible whether you are a college senior or an industry veteran.
Connecting directly with job posters, referrals, and hiring managers exponentially increases the chance of landing a role. For creative ways to network with such managers, (even when you are stuck at home) look at this piece below. This is by far the fastest and best way to land a job.
(5) The Power of Small:
Please don’t overlook startups in your community. Or even startup across the globe. Many growing firms have gladly adapted remote work as their default operations, so the world is your oyster!
Small and medium-sized enterprises might not pay as much (that is changing slowly), but your learning, skill upgrades, and responsibility will be much higher than what is possible in larger firms.
Also, look for local job boards — these obviously favor local talent and often post jobs much before the bigger names. It is also easier to get a response applying on niche sites compared to the big-name company portals.
(6) Create your own job!
When others zig, you zag!
Dare to be different!
Use sites like Upwork, Fiverr, Gumroad to find gigs. They will not pay much, at least initially. But you do get to build a valuable portfolio, and the learning is amazing! Plus, if you are strategic about it, you might just build yourself a high-paying career, while working from home and setting your own hours! This happened to me, true story! :D
If you are a creative person, start selling on Etsy or writing on Medium.
More adventurous? Build your own website and add a Paypal button.
Try these unconventional methods and you will be sure to land a job quickly!
Not quite convinced, or need deeper more detailed instructions on how to navigate the world of Upwork or generate custom job leads? Want to see a sample “hybrid” resume?
If yes, check out my book ‘Job Search Strategies’ on Amazon.
For those interested in the exciting world of Data Science and Machine Learning, check out my book ‘Data Science Jobs’ also on Amazon.
Open Disclaimer — As per Medium rules and the spirit of transparency, both these links point to Amazon and take you away from the Medium platform. I am the author of these books and will receive royalties if you purchase these books!
