How to Prepare for Your First Job

Jobs rarely land on your lap, unless you are an ultra-smart and extremely capable individual. For most of the students, it needs preparation in advance. This article was written for the first year Engineering students but does apply to others as well.

1. Get a decent grade

You don’t get a job because of your grade but you may be screened out of many job opportunities if your grade is too low. Many employers may not allow you to appear for a job assessment test if your grade is below 5 (out of 10), some may set a cut-off of 6/10 or 7/10. If you can maintain a grade above 7.5/10.0 you are absolutely safe from being screened out. In term of percentage of marks, try to maintain at least 70%.

2. Learn the fundamentals

Your college time is perhaps the best time to learn and get the fundamentals right. You must not fool yourself in believing that you are doing enough to get good grades and regret the rest of your life for not learning the fundamentals. You must be hands-on in your approach, apply your learning in real-life situations and expose yourself to critical reviews/assessments. 

3. Build employable skills

Communication is perhaps the most essential employability skill today and not having that skill can be a serious handicap for getting a job. English has become the language of choice for most of the businesses worldwide and it will work to your advantage if you can master the English language as a medium of professional communication. You should be comfortable in Reading, Writing and Speaking in English.

As a B.Tech student, you must also build analytical and problem-solving skills. Most employers run an Aptitude Test to assess your analytical and problem-solving capabilities which may include quantitative analysis, logical reasoning and basic math questions. 

If you wish to work in the IT industry and especially in software programming, your best option is to learn programming from the first year itself. The Programming language does not matter. Learn to code in at least one language of your choice

4. Become a Pro in using the Computer and the Internet

As we are in the age of Digital Economy, all paper works will move to digital ways and your inability to use a computer or the Internet can become a major hurdle for you getting jobs. Use your time at college to become comfortable with digital technologies.

You need to learn how to search for information on the Internet (Google Search) and how to use different tools to use and analyse information. There are thousands of useful apps that you can leverage to your advantage.

Writing blogs or having your own site adds to your advantage. It also helps if you keep yourself aware of the trends in technology. Last but not the least, use online learning sites to learn new things and enhance your knowledge.

5. Get a couple of good internships

An internship provides you learning through Exposure and Experience. An internship is an opportunity to learn practical aspects of professional work life, which is very different from what you learn in the classrooms.  Employers often prefer candidates who have completed one or two internships before completing their college degree.

6. Build a professional and social network

Build your own professional and personal network early and also stay active to keep it meaningful and useful. If you do it right, your first job may come directly from one of the connections in your professional network. 

You may want to start with an account in LinkedIn for building your own professional network. You should take time regularly to browse profiles of professionals working in different industries and roles. Invite yourself to their professional networks and follow their posts and shares. Identify professionals you may want to learn from or work with in the future. Share your thoughts, work and learn from them on a regular basis.

Besides LinkedIn, there are many other sites (stackoverflow, dribbles, ..) which cater to specific areas of interest and you should join these early based on your areas of interests. Not only you will get connected to experienced professionals, but you will also get a decent idea on the nature of jobs in respective industries.

7. Sign up with a Career Mentor and be in touch with your Career Mentor

It may not be easy to find a good career mentor, but if you find one, grab it with both hands. A career mentor can help you in many different ways -- starting from building career awareness, identifying development opportunities and sharing perspectives on a wide variety of jobs or careers.

8. Enhance your “likeability” factor

A “likeable” person gets many more job offers than someone who has similar (or even better) skills but is not liked so much.

9. Assess your skills and knowledge regularly

Most of us don’t know what we don’t know and we live in our make-believe world. All employers assess candidates on certain chosen parameters based on the company culture and job requirements. Instead of failing in job interviews, it’s wise to try out similar assessments well in advance and work on building the gaps.

The more self-aware you are, the higher are the chances that you will be able to select jobs/career that will make you happy and successful in your career journey.

10. Improve awareness of current and future trends in Jobs and Careers

While you should be preparing for a career that is relevant in the future, most of you are conditioned for a career of the past. One of the B.Tech students once told me that her father didn’t approve her joining Accenture as Business Analyst. He wanted her to join a ‘stable job’ in a bank, even if it is the job of a cashier in the bank. This conversation happened a couple of years back and I am sure the gentleman didn’t know that banks are unlikely to hire any ‘cashier’ in future.

Along with your regular studies, keep learning about what’s happening in the industry, what new technologies are hot, what skills are in high demand and where are the new jobs getting created.