Starting a Career Path After College

Life is full of monumental steps in life, and graduating from college is one of those. You take that sigh of relief throw your hat in the air and say goodbye to semester after semester of books, tests, readings, grades etc. We at Innovation Simple know how good it feels to have accomplished a formal degree; but now what? With life structured mainly around the education system, what happens after that is accomplished?

Well, ideally you go out and start your career and live happily ever after right? If you’re like many college students, this is much easy said than done. You may be used to applying and interviewing for jobs that come and go, but it is a little different when it comes to a job you want to progress in and make into a career. Here are three important tips to help you be competitive in the job hunting process.

Keep An Open Mind
You may have chosen your field of story because you have a specific position or dream job in mind. However, job hunting with a narrow idea of what you will and won’t do will make finding a job extremely difficult, and lesson a lot of positive experiences you can have while job hunting, such as your interviewing skills.

You will have more options by expanding your mind to different possibilities. Think of it like fishing, if you throw out a big net you will get more variety of fish to sell and choose from. Likewise with job hunting, if you throw a broad net out you will have more variety of job opportunities to choose from.

Networking, Networking, Networking
Networking is key to finding a job. In fact, most people are hired because they knew someone internal to the company who referred them. This is because companies would rather forgo the advertising and hassle of the public hiring process, it is costly and takes a lot of time and energy. If someone is qualified and recommended by a respected member of the current staff, it is highly likely they will at least get an interview.

Networking can be done with everyone around you, former professors, employers, colleagues, family, friends etc. Keep in contact with your job network and continue meeting and introducing yourself to people throughout the job hunting process to create new connections.

Build an Online Profile
Whether it is a personal blog, website, linkedin, facebook etc. having a professional website showing off your skills, projects and achievements is a big deal these days. Take the time to put together a portfolio that really says who you are. Be sure to have a specific goal in mind other than “To find a job” that is too vague, uncreative and not very ambitious.

These three tips can take some time and effort, but really they are quite simple and in the end they will help give you the edge you need to land an awesome job after college.

For more job hunting tips read this informative Forbes article specifically written for new college graduates.

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