Having graduated college you will no doubt be looking to securing your first paid position. But now that this task is a reality it may seem very daunting. But don’t worry, being prepared and knowing how to sell yourself can make this a much easier task. Here we are going to look at a few different things that can easily make all the difference and help you stand out from the crowd.
Be Confident
Confidence is key and we can mean different things by confidence, don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s about being loud and brash, arrogance is definitely not needed and even nerves in an interview are OK. Confidence, in my book, means being able to showcase why you are suited to the position, be able to exemplify your achievements, be it college assignments or projects where you excelled or achievements in part-time employment or any voluntary work or internships. It’s easy to say you are competent but if you have concrete examples it will go a long way to showing your strengths.
Have A Strong Resume
Taking the above statement, the resume is your first chance to prove your worth. Don’t hold back and talk up your achievements, there are no prizes for humility here. It’s good to know what type of job you are going for so you can tailor your resume to that, some jobs require a skills-based resume, for example, a hands-on job, you should list the equipment you’ve used or software you are skilled on or other positions could merit an experience-based one, so you could focus on research projects you’ve worked on etc.
Dress For Success
When you get offered an interview it’s important to dress for success. It’s maybe not fair but a first impression is made fairly quickly and this can be tough to make up for if you don’t look right. It’s important to consider your outfit as a whole and make sure your color-scheme works and nothing is out of place, little touches, such as handkerchiefs can even make all the difference.
Be Able To Show Achievements
We briefly touched on this point earlier but it’s really important if you can make it abundantly clear where you have made achievements and the more concrete the way in which you show this then all the better. If you have the type of career where you can show a folio of work or past examples then all the better, or any research work or reports you have authored then this type of thing will be a strong touch in a job application
Don’t Neglect Powerful Referees
Having a good reference is very helpful and with little work history behind you at the start of your career this can be a little challenging, but think about who knows you best and your strengths, a letter of recommendation from a college professor can go a long way, for example.
