Career hunting tips for fresh graduates
Credit to Author: JAIME ZULUETA| Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2019 16:45:06 +0000
It is graduation season again and many young Filipinos will begin searching for their first careers. Having experienced career hunting twice – once as a university student and another as a master’s graduate, I have experienced the frustrations, nerves and pains of career hunting. At the same time, as a hiring manager in a dynamic company, I have first hand experience of what it is like to be on the other end of the application process. Being on the hiring side of things has given me a new perspective on how competitive the application process for positions is. For example, in the past three months it has taken me 200 Kalibrr profiles to find 3 prospective candidates and to make one hire. Candidates need as much help as possible to increase their chances of being accepted into a company. The following tips should help young professionals in pursuit of their desired careers.
Prepare a well-crafted resume
A beautiful resume is the first step in landing a career in one’s dream company. It will get one a foot in the door, also known as an interview. Having reviewed hundreds of applications at this point, I have realized that a common mistake that kills the applicant is sloppiness – wrongly-spelled words, poor grammar and outdated experiences. Sloppiness is a sign that a candidate has not placed enough effort for the application. I have even received email applications that got the name of our company wrong. A resume is similar to a lawn which needs to be gardened frequently. One must keep reading and editing their resume as time passes to make sure it is a polished product.
Research everything possible for the interview
Let us say one has gotten to the interview round and is scheduled for a phone or face to face interview. One will typically have two or three days to prepare. Candidates commit the frequent error of under preparation. Many have no idea of what the company they are applying to does or what the role they are aiming for is about. They expect to be spoon-fed the information during the interview. This is a mistake that not only shows lack of effort on the candidate’s end, it also changes the purpose of the interview from a stage where the candidate can showcase their passion and skills to an information sharing session. Hiring managers and interviewers have limited time and usually set a minimum expectation for their interviews. The more time spent on explaining about the company and the position equates to less time for the candidate to stand out.
Play the chances and pivot if necessary
In my view, one has a higher possibility of getting a position that applies to his or her experience and background rather than one that does not. For example, a Finance graduate applying to a finance role will more easily get accepted rather than a Literature major. Hiring managers are reviewing tens if not hundreds of resumes and are filtering profiles based on certain hit points: grades, college course and experience among other things. So, what happens if one is not studying or working in the field of the desired position? This is when one must pivot their profile to match the position. If an Accounting graduate dreams of entering a Marketing position, then there are methods to develop his or her skills in the latter – online courses at online education sites such as Udemy and Coursera, offline certificate programs and books.
Maximize social media
The Philippines is one of the most connected places in the world. The more tech-savvy Filipinos should make use of technology to improve their lives. Platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook can serve as entry points into desired companies. Especially on LinkedIn, graduates can connect and message with recruiters of most companies. The nice thing about this is that company recruiters are primed to respond to applicants. At the same time, sending an application directly to a recruiter puts your profile above the rest of the competition as only a small number of applicants contact recruiters.
Hopefully, these pointers can help graduates perform better when hunting careers to win their ideal first job out of university. Cheers and good luck!
Jaime Zulueta is the Credit Operations Manager and Hiring Manger at First Circle where he oversees the Risk Operations Department. He obtained his MBA degree from from Waseda University in Japan and can be reached through jaime.zulueta@firstcircle.com
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