How you kickstart your career as a fresh graduate can go a long way to determine your professional success or failure. So, did you just graduate or recently completed your National Youth Service? We say congratulations to you; all the years of attending classes, tutorials, studying and getting good or bad grades is finally over and you have made it.
Life is in phases and this is another one for you. Truth be told, being a fresh graduate can be confusing as I don’t know what stories of unemployment you might have heard out there. While many are true, some will definitely be exaggerated. This is why it is important for you to do things differently and ‘take the bull by the horn’ if you must get ahead.
The question most times, for many graduates is usually, ‘what’s next?’ This is a critical question you will need to answer and if you have you answer ready, we ask you to join us as we share these tips on how you can kickstart your career to get ahead in your job search.
Get a Professional CV, Cover Letter and Profilekickstart your career; Your CV, cover letter and professional online job search profile is the best representation you can get before any recruiter makes a decision on whether to invite you for an interview or not. These are very important to how long you will find yourself waiting for an opportunity. Ensure they are properly crafted and error proof.
Your online job search profile on Jobberman or other professional social media platform should be able to convince recruiters who look online to validate your professionalism. These online platforms also offer you another opportunity to be found by recruiters even without applying for jobs. As a graduate, ensure your CV and cover letter communicates your skills and optimism to learn and if you need help with a CV, don’t hesitate to get a professionally written CV.
Find Internships and Volunteer Jobs; Your goal as a fresh graduate is to learn as much as you can, and no other place offers you such as much as internships and volunteer jobs. The experience you gain with internships and volunteer jobs would translate into being able to land more job opportunities over a period of time. The goal of internships are not for monetary rewards but for learning and gaining hands-on experience. Whether you are waiting for NYSC or done with it, find internships or volunteer jobs to gain necessary experience and mentorship opportunities.
Leverage on Jobs Websites and Social Mediakickstart your career; Technology has long changed the way career professionals search and find jobs. Simply register, complete your profile and start applying for suitable jobs. Ensure you leverage jobs sites, social media and apps like Google Jobs, which partnered Jobberman to provide filtered job notifications to job seekers. Set up email job notifications, network your social media connections and inform them about opportunities you are looking for to extend your reach and ability to find jobs shared across social media.
Get Additional Skills; From our experience with graduates at career fairs and interfacing online, one thing that is common among fresh graduates is the thought that their University degree is enough. Dear fresh graduate, your University degree is great but not all you need to kickstart your career because the workplace requires even more skills. Research and acquire in-demand skills within your industry or career of choice and you would put yourself in a better position to enjoy a fulfilling career kickstart.
Network and Find Mentors to kickstart your career; Seek out professionals and mentors on your path to jump-starting your career. A mentor for you as a fresh graduate may not necessarily be a top-level career professional. If you have access to them, that is fine but if not, anyone with a job in your industry of choice with 3-5 years can teach you and guide you on mistakes and things you can do to get head.
final thoughts on how to kickstart your career; One of the great mantras I live by is to know that everyone’s experience should not be yours. You can learn from theirs and ensure you don’t make the same mistakes. Unemployment rates maybe at an all-time high but jobs are available for you if you have certain skills set employers are looking for. Focus on developing yourself to be the person that lands these opportunities. As a fresh graduate, do not be caught in the loop of not developing yourself beyond your university degree. By this, we don’t mean another degree. Rather, you can channel your effort into skills required for specific jobs and industries of interest as a fresh graduate. Looking forward to hearing your great career kickstart stories. Go conquer and build an amazing career because ‘yes, you can.’
