By Shawna Mount
Every college student and recent graduate fears and questions their ability to obtain a job. Some graduates wonder how to get a job without the experience, while current students are searching for experience without the job.
Originally published in April 2007 by Harper Collins, “Getting from College to Career: Your Essential Guide to Succeeding in the Real World” by Lindsey Pollak is the perfect guide for students transitioning from college to a career.
In her January 2012 revised edition, Pollack offers a definitive guide to obtaining the experience, skills and confidence needed to snag the right job.
Though it is best for every college student to absorb every detail this book includes, the book is organized enough to allow skipping to sections the reader feels will benefit their needs.
Some top points for college students include:
- Get organized
- Clean up your Internet image
- Intern …. early and often
- Put your resumé through the wringer
Pollack explains that employers are researching possible job candidates online more and more frequently. An inappropriate image or status update can lose you the job, no matter how well you performed during the interview. Her advice:
- Make sure your online security is airtight. This means that you want to privatize anything you wouldn’t want an employer to see.
- Set up a google alert on your name. This will allow you to track any mention of your name by receiving emails anytime your name is posted on the Internet.
- Remove inappropriate images and information that could raise red flags to an employer.
- Be careful when writing status updates. Even if something was meant as a joke; the employer may not find it very amusing.
Interning is the only way you can get the job experience. Without that experience, most employers will not hire you. Interning early and often will help you gain the experience you need. Pollack’s advice:
- Internships will build your resumé. You will be able to discuss and show accomplishments in your experience during an interview which will boost your affect on the employer.
- Internships will build your professionalism by training you the basics of business interaction which will be crucial in getting things done on the job.
- Internships will build your job contacts. If you succeed and impress in an internship, those you came in contact with may be willing to write up letters of recommendation and help you out with finding a job.
- Internships build your industry knowledge. You will be able to learn the lingo within the field and how things are run. It will also give you a chance to figure out if it is the field you really want to go into.
These days, face to face contact before an interview is almost impossible. Hence, the reason you want to create a good resumé. The resumé tells the employer who you are and whether or not you’re right for the job. Pollack’s advice:
- Having your resumé looked at by knowledgeable people is always a good thing. A fresh pair of eyes can always catch something you missed.
- Give it the one-minute scan test. Have a few friends or trusted advisers to take a 60 second look at it. Then, ask a few questions to find what information they were able to absorb about you. Revise it if your main points are not sticking out.
- Direct your resumé toward the job you are applying for. What may be good for one job, may not be good for another. Then, show it to a person you know within your desired field.
- Check over and over for any spelling or grammatical errors in the resumé until you are sure it is flawless. A small grammatical mistake can lose you the job.
- Get a notebook or some other form of recording and keep track of your research, ideas, planning and other information of importance.
- Create a filing system for the documents that will be passed to you during your job search.
- Have a calendar so you can keep track of your interviews to keep yourself from double booking, forgetting or being late.
- Keep a spreadsheet or document to record the people you have interacted with and the dates you submitted a resumé and went to an interview along with the jobs you applied to.
Pollack’s tips and advice will be the smart guide in leading you through the transition from college to career. The book is available on most bookseller websites and in most retail book stores. The list price is $16.99, but is available at a lower rate on several websites like Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
