July 5, 2017 By Malla

For the new college grads who need their first job

Because it's good to understand how the employer makes decisions about hiring recent college grads

Every year, a new crop of college students leave college. Which is wonderful.

But some don’t have a career plan. They start by revising their resumes and cover letters. Practicing interviews. Combing the internet for jobs. Reaching out to friends or family for any leads.

It pains me. It pains me because this is a process that needed to have started in their first year.

Yessssss #freshmanadvice

But, I ain’t one to judge. So anytime a former student or son/daughter of a friend reaches out, I help. I had several years in HR/Career Development so I know a few things about the job search. And I always remember those who helped me out and want to pay it forward.

But there is a hard part of the discussion. Editing the resume and coaching for the interview is easy. It’s understanding how to set up a career plan for a recent college grad that’s tough. Tough when you can’t return back to college and “correct” a few things.

So here is a short list of observations. This info is less the technical how-tos. Anyone can teach you how to spell check your resume. But if you reviewed it 10 times and are still not getting called, you need additional info.

You need to understand HOW an employer makes their decisions. The things that prevent your resume from going into the “dark hole” where no one calls you. You want to understand how that person is reviewing your information.

You’ll have a MUCH easier time once you understand these principles. So check them out and then master your technical job search items like resume reviews and interview coaching.

You probably didn’t visit your Career Services office

One of the first things an employer will notice is if you took advantage of the career resources on campus.

You know, the office that helps you get a job. That’s packed in the spring semester of everyone’s senior year.

Trust, I get it. You were consumed with classes. Having fun with activities on campus and meeting friends. Talking to professors. And other once in a lifetime experiences.

But somewhere around sophomore/junior year, you should have stopped by their office. Had someone look at your resume. Participate in a mock interview. Learn how to use the resources and find a part-time job or internship.

Because it would have been much easier to coach you on deciding between 2 offers rather than the basics of the career search.

So stop what you are doing. Visit, call, or online chat with your Career Services office. During the early summer, they are probably not crazy busy. And yes, they will help out a recent graduate. You might get lucky and be able to connect with a few employers who are still hiring.

Do this before you completely lose the benefits of campus resources as a young grad.

Realize that the job search is not about you

One of the hardest shifts as a recent college grad is realizing that no one is super concerned about your desires. Yes, there are companies who are interested in you as an employee and spend money on training, wellness programs, incentives, etc.

But, bottom line, they want employees who make THEM money/profit. Even non-profits want someone who will contribute to the bottom line.

So, you need to shift from student-centric thinking to young professional centric thinking. The easiest example is the difference between your college application vs a job application. No one is going to read through pages and pages of information to make a decision about you. They want the information that is easy to read, short and shows quickly how you will deliver value.

So start your job planning with this mindset – How does what I’m doing demonstrate my value?

For example, look at your resume. Is it easy to understand how your internships, extracurriculars and other experiences will help you deliver value to an employer? Or do they read like every other college student’s resume?

Here is one way to make the shift – Write your experiences as a narrative. You want to the reader to connect the dots between your activities and why you were better than other students who did the same thing.

Don’t tell me that you were the President of the Club and had meetings.

Tell me that you added a certain number of new members.
Fundraised $500 above your student activities budget.
Or co-sponsored 10 events with other clubs on campus.

As much as you think your resume is about you – it’s not. It‘s about why you will be able to solve a problem in my company. How you will contribute. Bring ideas and solutions.

So get help on this. And as much as I love your English teacher/professor, you really need coaching from those who have reviewed resumes. Find folks who have hired alot of college students. Or go back to step one and stop in career services.

You are not a seasoned professional yet

This is a common mistake I see among recent grads. You are sooooo darn proud of that degree. And you should be. So you start writing your resume like you are a seasoned professional.

Slow your roll.

Your career is a marathon. And right now – lined up next to other experienced hires – you haven’t reached the first mile marker.

So don’t start diving into:

Listing your education on the bottom
Adding profile statements
Listing qualities and transferable skills that stand out

Continue to write your resume as if you are in college. Yes. Take advantage of this for at least another year or so and list all your college activities at length.

If you don’t have many activities, go out NOW and volunteer to do something that you enjoy. Yes, NOW. Volunteering is a great way to develop new skills during your job search. And you never know if it may lead to an opportunity.

LinkedIn LinkedIn LinkedIn

This topic needs its own blog post.

But, I’ll get you started. START your LinkedIn profile if you haven’t already. Add your experiences. Include links and visuals of any work you completed in college. For example, did you complete a senior thesis? Include an excerpt if it’s relevant to your future career interests.

The key to LinkedIn is building your network. So make sure you invite all of your peers and friends you met in college.

And start adding alumni. Yup. People who have jobs. That’s a whole ‘nother topic. But if you start by adding people strategically to your network, it will give you options.

This is just a snippet of what you need to consider if you are job hunting after graduation. I could talk about this at length. But I hope that this gives you some ideas to start. And helps you reformat your resume and cover letters for success.

Stop the hype. It takes more than a 5 second inspirational quote

I’m tired y’all

The inspirational quotes on Instagram
The beautiful photos on Pinterest
The happy happy joy joy “I discovered this mountaintop moment” on Facebook.
The tshirt slogans that say “You can do it”.

I’m tired of people packaging life lessons for our youth into a 5 second inspiration quote.

Yes, we all need to be motivated. But let’s dive in deeper. Let’s tell them the truth of what it really takes. And share our lesson openly.

It takes more than “work hard”

Stop telling young girls that all they need to do is “roll up their sleeves and work hard”!! Give specifics about what working hard looks like.

I read a blog article recently, The 5 things the next generation of female executives need to know. I was SOOO pumped. The title was juicy. It was written by a woman who is in a top leadership position.

I knew it had to offer some sparkling insight and some real world examples. Because to achieve a CEO role as a woman, I know that she had to do more than work hard to keep the haters at bay.

I got even more excited the author shared that several of her leadership team are women. YEESSSS! Finally a company who is leading the charge.

But it when downhill afterwards. Here were the five tips that she shared:

There is no substitute for hard work.
Face your fears
Get outside what feels comfortable
Show up
Don’t shy away from the difficult, tough or impossible

And not one story was shared that illustrated how to do this.

Don’t get me wrong. The one liners are helpful. But you could share the same advice to any high school class.

Go for it.
Make your dreams happen.
Roll up your sleeves and go get ’em.

What the problem is

It doesn’t impart any specific advice for girls. Outside of a few t-shirt slogans or hashtags, it reads like just another inspiring speech.

We don’t need that. Seriously. It’s damaging. Because there are many who are doing this. And they are still not able to rise through the ranks to senior leadership positions.

And I want our girls at a young age to know the truth. To know more than just a “study hard” and “show up, it will work out” concept.

Let’s dive into the “mistakes” you made and lessons you learned from others.

What we would have been great to share:

Mentoring – the importance of finding good role models and being a good mentor . I’m pretty sure everyone on the list had a mentor and sponsor who coached them early in their career.

How to communicate in a male worldview environment – I don’t know if the author prefers to communicate with a female or male world view. But, I’m betting that she has had some tough conversations. Share those stories. What did you learn? What would you do differently?

Your responsibility to the next generation – This was the most disappointing aspect. The title focused on the next generation. But there was little shared about the responsibility for the future. Leadership comes with a responsibility. A heavy responsibility. If you focus on me, me, me, you miss the importance of supporting future generations. What could you do to empower them and change the paradigm?

To be fair, the author does share more insights in other posts. She talks about highlights in her company – signing the Equal Pay act for women, quarterly meetings that focus on increasing the diversity and inclusion at her Fortune 500 company, and the importance of hard work.

But it often reads more like a PR piece. I’d argue that most girls knew these things already. They want to know more specifics of how to do it.

Be clear. I’d rather live in a world where this type of article is not needed. Where people are treated fairly and justly.

But we don’t live in that world. Yet. So I encourage you. When you share tips, insights or are asked to speak about your story, tell your story. Tell specifics through your story and include the highs and lows.

You don’t know who is listening and how they can really use those insights to make a change