Kazira

So you are just getting started on figuring out what is the best approach on getting that maiden job offer, or better yet, a few offers to choose from! Well, you're just about to graduate from a pretty good school, with some pretty decent grades, majoring in a reasonably sought-out subject. How bad could it really be?

Let me start by telling you that there is no silver bullet to job hunting - you've got to put in sweat and blood to see some decent offers come your way. More over, since you are fresh out of school with slim to none experience, you are looking at some daunting odds stacked up against you. Everybody wants new employees to "hit the ground running". We do not want to waste precious company time, money, and effort in training these young college recruits. We would rather look for folks already in the workforce rather than recruit these newbies. Guess what, you've got competition! What is a young, college gradaute to do??

Some of you are probably saying that "this guy is exagerating". All I am trying to do is to impress upon you the severity and degree-of-difficulty of the job search process and hoping that you are taking an informed and smart approach towards your job search. I am guessing that by now you've done the typical things any soon-to-graduate would/should do -

1. Prepare a kick-ass resume

2. Add the resume to the "Resume Book"

3. Post resume on Monster, Dice, etc.

4. Participate and network at the career fair

5. Reach out to the company where you did your internship(s)

6. Ask Dad/Mom/Uncles/Aunts to give you some leads/intros

In my experience, the key to effective job hunting is to follow/internalize the following 7 habits/traits  -

1. Work smart, not hard

2. Have a focussed approach

3. Think quality, not quantity

4. Prepare/present a "package deal"

5. Early bird usually gets the worm

6. Take/keep good notes

7. Have courage to accept a decline/rejection

In Part II of this series, I will give detailed insights into each one of these 7 habits/traits.