5 ideas & suggestions that can be implemented during the job hunt season for graduate students in the USA.

Since many students had requested me to share some ideas on what can be done during the job hunt season, as it can be extremely challenging, frustrating and tiring period, here are my few pointers

1) Look out for opportunities to work in research labs in your universities. It may be for a research project under a professor or in an independent study. Create this opportunity if you can. It will shoot the value of your resume. 

2) Please do a lot of running in your gym or campus to keep good physical fitness. I used to vent my frustrations and anger in this fashion. Building your stamina helps you in acquiring high confidence and mental strength. One hour of investment every day helps you to regain focus. Please do not neglect your health. 

3) Students make a lot of mistake in writing a good resume. Please proof read your resume many times before submitting it to the job portal. I will write an article soon on how to make good resumes. It has so many aspects to consider.

4) Maintain an excel sheet containing the details of the job applications that you have applied and wish to apply. Also put the status of each job. I will see if I can get you guys a good template soon. Looking at this sheet should motivate and push you to apply more. Please quantify the work you do which can help you show a pattern on where it maybe going right or wrong.

5) Do not excessively rely on company websites alone but try other avenues like referral through alumni, friend or relatives. Also try to attend as many job fairs as possible. Referrals contribute to many of the success stories but is not the only way to get a job. Beef up your LinkedIn profile. Make it look impressive for recruiters. Split your efforts and time in different avenues.

In the end it is super important to have positive attitude and intent. Never think of what might happen if you do not get calls but rather start formulating your plan B, in that way you will be prepared to face any situation.

Found this quote online and it was quite motivating

"You won't know what you are capable of until you push yourself to new limits. The things that are worth something cannot be handed to you, you have to earn them"

Hope this helps,

Adhi