Job Search

The euphoria of graduating is probably subsiding now and the fears of not having found a suitable graduate role are probably kicking in.

Money is probably becoming scarce as goodwill of parents and friends dries up, and the reality of daily job hunting takes over.

The slippery slide starts when you start considering taking jobs ‘just to pay the bills’. But beware here. I have seen many a graduate end up in a dead end job and two years later, find it even harder to get back into a commensurate graduate role.

Plus, is two years of working on a supermarket checkout for a minimum wage is going to look fantastic on your CV???

Get back to basics and find out where you are stuck – it can only be in one of 4 places.

1. You don’t know what you want to do
2. You don’t know where to search for suitable roles or you feel ‘there are no jobs for graduates’
3. Your CV is not opening doors to interviews
4. You are getting interviews but are not getting the job

Where are YOU stuck?

My free e-book will help you get kick-started. It’s full of ideas to help you determine what is stopping you from getting a good graduate role.

The choice is yours – download the free e-book for a kick-start OR accept the job on the supermarket checkout.

The euphoria of graduating is probably subsiding now and the fears of not having found a suitable graduate role, is probably kicking in.

Money is probably becoming scarce as goodwill of parents and friends dries up, and the reality of daily job hunting takes over.

The slippery slide starts when you start considering taking jobs ‘just to pay the bills’. But beware here. I have seen many a graduate end up in a dead end job and two years later, find it even harder to get back into a commensurate graduate role.

Plus, is two years of working on a supermarket checkout for a minimum wage is going to look fantastic on your CV???

Get back to basics and find out where you are stuck – it can only be in one of 4 places.

1. You don’t know what you want to do
2. You don’t know where to search for suitable roles or you feel ‘there are no jobs for graduates’
3. Your CV is not opening doors to interviews
4. You are getting interviews but are not getting the job

Where are YOU stuck?

My free e-book will help you get kick-started. It’s full of ideas to help you determine what is stopping you from getting a good graduate role.

The choice is yours – download the free e-book for a kickstart OR accept the job on the supermarket checkout.

Does your job-hunting need a boost?  Try these 5 top tips for some turbo-boosting!

1. Begin with the end in mind – get really clear on what you want.  What type of role?  What geographical area?  What salary scale?  Small, medium or large company?
2. Schedule time each day to job-search. I’m not talking a cursory scan of the internet.  Get really focused for at least 1-2 hours per day.  And if you are unemployed then make it your full-time job to find a job!  Don’t just think you’ll find a job online, face-to-face networking too is very powerful.
3. Let everyone in your network know you are available for work and what you want to do (refer to point 1).
4. Don’t discount speculative letters. They DO work!  The trick is to get it to the right decision maker.  That’s where your homework comes in.  I’m a great fan of going back to the old-fashioned way and send a printed CV and cover letter – emails can (and will) be ignored, but its kind of novel now to receive a letter!  I’ve never know anyone open up a letter and immediately put it down without reading a bit.
5. Follow up! Ring a few days later to introduce yourself and ask whether they have received your CV, and whether anything is available now or possibly in the near future.  Don’t hide behind an email, show your personality and ring.

Give it a go – what have you to loose?

I adore working with undergraduates and graduates, but I don’t like the way that universities turn you into clones of each other.  I believe that you should all have lectures on ‘Personal Branding’ to help you identify who you are and what you have to offer when graduating.  Think about how hard it is for companies to recruit graduates when you all look and act the same!  Same degree, same classification, same CV format (usually boring) and same answers to interview questions.  Usually taught by people who have never been in anything else but academia all their life!

A pattern I’ve certainly noticed is that you need to stand out from the crowd and start doing that from at least your 2^nd year of studies.

What makes you unique?  What is your passion?  How do you express that?  Do you have a goal and a clear path of how to get there?  Are you proactive?  Do you seek out opportunities and grab them?  Are you fully present in the moment and embrace everything that uni life throws at you?

The pattern I see is that students who do this get the good jobs, get the opportunities and launch their careers straight after graduating.  They are not still applying for jobs 6 months after graduating or having to accept a lesser ‘non-grad’ role just to pay the bills.  Which are you?  I hope not the latter, if so, a change of strategy is required sharpish!

Stand out from the crowd – don’t be a sheep!  (Unless it’s a black one) 😉

Statistics have shown that up to 75%+ of people hate their jobs. Now hate is a very strong word but I’d certainly endorse that figure by saying that 75%+ of people get little or no enjoyment from their career/role. Are you one of them?

It’s so easy to ‘fall’ into a role because:

1. The salary/title was attractive
2. Someone else said you’d be good at it
3. You were promoted

But I’ve spent the majority of my career coaching sessions –

1. Helping people who seem to ‘have it all’ – good salary, great title, company benefits – but are extremely unhappy. (They’ve climbed the career ladder and now feel it’s resting up against the wrong wall)
2. Coaching people who seem to be following someone else’s dream career (I suspect that others try to get you into a career that they would have dearly loved themselves)
3. Listening to managers who were excellent managing a process, but it’s a different game managing people; and they just don’t like it!

So how do you get yourselves out of this pickle, so you don’t become part of the 75%+ statistic?

The first step is to have a strategy/plan of moving from where you are now, to where you want to be. And then being prepared to take ACTION to get there. (After all, you wouldn’t go on a holiday without doing a bit of research first, would you?   Making a plan – visiting travel agents, looking on the map, researching the area, buying the currency etc. etc).

However although this option is open to everyone, some people never make the first move.  In fact some seem to get some pleasure from being ‘stuck’. Is that you?

If not, get that plan together and have the trip of your life, into a career you truly deserve and love!

Want to get started now?

Download this freebie to get you started :  Graduate Career Wheel

The Graduate Career Wheel is a great start. In minutes this wheel will highlight to you where your career is good and what needs to be changed.   You’ll feel so much better knowing you have already made a start on ‘the plan’!