How to be employable as a junior?
When you are a junior, it can be difficult to find a job. It is not a new thing; it always has been difficult.
It can depend on some social events or it can depend on the domain, but there are things that every candidate can do:
- Being perseverant: apply to each job you see and suits you, be in contact with relevant persons, search and be present at all the important events in your domain. I remember when I got my first job. Besides the application to job boards, I send spontaneous applications to a lot of companies (probably around 50) and I received… only 1 answer. A ”no”. I knew all the job fairs from the city and I had over 500 connections on Linkedin since then.
- Attention to details: know the company, read the JD, prepare carefully your CV. Make a list of all the jobs you apply for. Before you go to an interview, read the job requirements, and analyze what fits you. Put into your CV only the relevant details regarding your profile and arrange it properly.
- Being reliable: if you have a deadline to solve a problem, respect it. It is a thing that makes the difference between you and other candidates that find a job. It is not HR’s task to send you reminders. You are not anymore in the college where if you don’t send a project, you can solve it next week. Now, companies will choose another candidate.
- Attitude - probably you heard a lot that you are a smart guy and you deserve a super-job. I can agree with this only if you can demonstrate this. Nowadays, there are a lot of young people who graduate from a faculty, so a diploma is not anymore a thing so difficult to obtain like it was for our parents. If you didn’t work a day into your life, maybe during faculty you didn’t have any internship or you didn’t participate in any special contest, how can a company give you a ”blank check”?
- Let a ”door open” - answer to the messages, announce them if you received another offer, ask for an extra-time when needed. The job market is not so big and you can come back to the same company in the future. If you want to be welcome, be sure you did not put yourself on a black-list.
- Balance your requirements. You can have great salary expectations or you can want to work only-remote. But are you sure that you can work properly and offer something relevant to the company? Be aware that every requirement you have must be justified with something you offer to the company.
- Have some goals in your mind. Express them, but also work for them. Set some priorities and put the recruitment process between them.
From the recruiter position, I saw on interviews hundreds of juniors. Now I know that I will sustain more a junior who maybe is average as knowledge but with a good attitude than an arrogant candidate with good skills. Because knowledge can be growth, but attitude can’t be changed easily from a certain age.
I don’t know if it is good or bad, but this would my choice.