5 Steps For Lining Up A Job After College
So it’s senior year, you have a few months before you graduate, and you have absolutely no plan for what you’re going to do after you graduate. The idea of being forced to move back home because you have absolutely no source of can be a bit stressful. Before you call up mom and dad or start begging your friends to crash on their couch in exchange for home-cooked meals, have a look at some great ways to help you line up a job once you can’t live the dream of a college student anymore.
1. Actually take a walk to your college’s career office
Surprisingly enough, the people who work here can actually be remarkably helpful in, you know, helping you find a career. It is what they get paid to do after all. The career center is basically your high school’s college counselor on steroids. You’re also not going to be the first one who walks in and says, “I have no idea what I want to do, help.” In fact, you’ll probably be the twentieth that day. Not only do they people who work at the career center know how to help you write a resume and work through various application processes, but they also have a huge list of alumni who are just dying to be taken advantage by twenty-two year old versions of themselves.
2. Make a LinkedIn profile
Social media can actually help get you employed once in a while, though it’s not going to be your Facebook profile picture of you doing kegstands on a Tuesday or your Instagram of you naked on the beach at age two with the caption “Glory days #tbt”. LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/reg/join) can be a great for you to increase your visibility as a potential candidate and to connect you to professionals. The premium version seems like a ridiculous waste of money, and if you’re willing to pay for it then you shouldn’t worry about getting a job anyway, but the free version gives you pretty much all the functionality you need.
3. MindSumo
On MindSumo (https://www.mindsumo.com/) companies (read: people who will hire you) post challenges for college students to figure out with creative solutions ranging in everything from reducing food waste in NYC to setting up computer networks in Saharan Africa. They also have a feature that connects users to mentors (read: people who will help you get a job), and if your response to a challenge gets picked as a winner, you make money, usually between $150-250. Not. Too. Shabby.
4. Network with everyone in every place possible
Quit being a germophobe and start shaking everyone’s hands. Usually companies will host networking events on campus (check back on the career office section, they’ll help you find out when and where these are), and these events are one of the best ways to make connections. Show up, steal the free food and sometimes booze, ask a question that makes you seem a lot smarter than you really are, and grab as many business cards as possible. Shoot an e-mail to everyone who talk to and they’ll remember you for your great question. Especially when your resume doesn’t jump out of the pile, having employers be able to place your face to your name is a great way to help land an interview.
5. Do it the old fashioned way
Remember how terrible filling out college applications was? Ready to do that again but for every single company you can possible think of? Perfect. Think of any company who might consider working for and just go to their website and look for the careers page. A lot of companies hire around the time that students graduate, and especially large companies are nearly always hiring. Fill out an application or e-mail their human resources department and hope that your application doesn’t end it up in a hopeless abyss.
Well there go, 5 ways to hopefully maybe get you employed. And if it doesn’t work out, don’t worry, just fail a class or two and take a victory lap. It’ll give you more time to find a job and college is a hell of a lot more fun than working anyway.