Once you graduate, the overwhelming pressure to find a job can leave your head spin-ning. You may have gotten your degree and had a clear path in mind and now, it is a matter of getting into graduate school to complete the requirements for your chosen career path. Or, your bachelor’s degree is all that is needed and it could be that it is a matter of applying to anywhere and everywhere that is hiring for your dream career. One final option is that you are completely unaware of what to do next and you are looking for just about any sort of job that can give you some stability as a post grad. There are steps to applying for a job as a graduate that you should know before diving into it.
The first step to applying to a job is to create or boost your résumé. First, you want to make sure you have the most up to date information on where you are working now, where you are living and how to contact you; that AOL email from when you were 13 may not cut it when applying for a job now. You want to make sure that the most recent jobs, awards, and work you have done are listed in a way that will make you stand out against other applicants. If you volun-teered with charity organizations, made Dean’s List at your university, held leadership positions, started a program or club, you definitely want to list those.
The second step would be to find businesses, corporations, or offices that have the job you are looking for. Do some research on the kinds of companies in your area that you think may have the job for you. Is this company looking for someone to fill a position that you would like to apply for? Do you meet the requirements to apply for that job? Where do you ideally want to work? Would you be willing to move away to another state or country to get a job? You need to figure out what would be best for you and apply to the jobs that you feel would suit you.
The third step is to write a cover letter. Most companies would like some sort of cover letter attached to your résumé. This letter is supposed to be directed at whomever will be re-viewing your application. This letter, depending on the company, can be an introductory letter, meant to say who you are and why you are applying for a job or meant to be something else en-tirely. Some companies do have a format and questions for you to follow. If you find that they do, definitely stick to the format provided.
The fourth, and final step, is to review everything. Double check to make sure you have everything spelt correctly on your résumé and cover letter. Check to see if you have the infor-mation laid out in an appropriate manner. Be sure to have one page for both documents; some employers aren’t fond of a very detailed account of what you have been doing, stick to the es-sential, important details of your academic, extracurricular, and work lives. Once you have done that, you can send your documents to potential employers.