Top 3 Job Search Tips for Fresh Grads

Congratulations! Tis the season to sport a cap and gown, shift the tassel from right to left, listen to inspiring commencement speeches, receive special gifts, and plan your future. And our family is no exception.

Actually, our situation is a little different as our son is graduating as a Second Lieutenant from the US Military Academy at West Point. Instead of a cap and gown, he’ll be in his formal military uniform, there will be multiple speeches, ceremonies, and parades, and his future is set for a while.

However, like most of you, I will be bringing a lot of extra tissue and wearing waterproof mascara for the entire week. As a mom, like all parents of graduates, I feel that this experience is a surreal and emotional milestone. It really is the delineation between childhood and adulthood, and we’re all wondering where the time has gone.

Parents are so proud and simultaneously so concerned about their graduate’s next steps. Where will they live? What will they do? What kind of job will they get with their sociology degree? How will they pay back those student loans? There is so much love, so much pride, and so many unanswered questions as thousands of fresh grads enter a very competitive job market.

If you’re thinking about the best gift you could possibly give a graduate today, forget a pen, forget a fancy dinner, and forget a check…give them the 7-Step Job Search Success System! They are so accustomed to learning online, and this proven system guides them through every single step of the job search process, provides hours of career transition coaching sessions they can listen to over and over again, and gives them the competitive edge needed in today’s job market.

If you want your college investment to pay off, if you want your graduate to be advised by a career coach with more than 20 years’ experience and a nearly 100% success rate, and if you don’t want your fresh grads living at home forever, then this is the perfect solution for you!

In the meantime, here are the Top 3 Job Search Tips for Fresh Grads…

Customize Each Résumé

Gone are the days of the one-size-fits-all approach to résumé Today it’s all about customizing each résumé for each individual opportunity. More than 85% of companies will use application software to scan résumés before a live person ever sees them, which is why it’s critical to use specific key words, buzz words, industry verbiage, and company jargon in each résumé and cover letter.

Network Like a Pro

It has always been true and will always be true that networking is the most successful job search strategy with a 75-80% success rate and 90% for executives. Keep in mind that an Internet job search only yields a 4-6% success rate. Get up, get dressed, and get out and network with friends, family, university alumni, job seekers, professional associations, chambers of commerce, volunteer organizations, or young professional’s groups.

Sanitize Social Media

Social media is a way of life, but it can also have an enormous impact on your professional life. Your posts, comments, shares, and tweets can literally make or break your career. In fact, 94% of recruiters and hiring managers will vet potential candidates using LinkedIn. You need to manage, monitor, and sanitize your online presence, and make sure your profile is professional, is polished, and is presenting you in the best possible light.

This is such a special and exciting time, but it can also be filled with fear and uncertainty. For all of the education your graduate has just received, this is one of those major life transitions that no one ever teaches you how to do or prepares you for…you’re just supposed to magically have all of the answers. However, there is no reason for anyone to suffer, struggle, or stumble through the job search process any longer. The perfect graduation gift is waiting for you.

Congratulations to all the graduates, and I wish you an abundance of happiness and success as you go forth and conquer the world! Woman UP!