“I graduate in May, and I don’t have a job, what should I do?

It’s your last semester on campus and you’re enjoying the time you have left with your friends and planning your Spring Break trip. But, there is a fear creeping in. Some of your friends have a job lined up in a cool, new city after college and you don’t really know what you want to do nor do you have a job ready for you once you graduate. 

The job searching process in your last semester of college will be overwhelming and frustrating as you compete with thousands of other college graduates. Acknowledge those feelings, and keep on pushing. The following action steps below will help you fight those feelings and start chipping away at obtaining your job opportunity after graduation.

List It Out

Grab a notebook, legal pad, or your journal. Title the top of the page “Companies,” “Positions,” or “Places I See Myself Working.” From there, list out 10-15 companies where you want to work after graduation. If you want to go above that, do it! It’s much more beneficial to list out where you want to work than applying aimlessly on job hunting sites.

Start to research the companies and what roles they have available in May. Does the job description fit you? Do you like the location and size of the company? What are the company’s values? If you answer these questions early, it will help you out down the road. 

After that, nail your options down to a specific position. Under that, add 1-2 sentences on why you want that role with that company. This will undoubtedly be an interview question and knowing what you want, and why, early on is extremely important. 

Continue to revisit this list. Leave it on on your desk, jot down notes, and reflect on what you’ve done under each company. Did you schedule a call with a hiring manager? Mark it down. Did you finish an application? Mark it down. This list will help you create action steps for the job searching process so you don’t find yourself in a lull or a state of not knowing what you want upon graduation. 

LinkedIn

If you’ve never visited this professional development platform, it’s time to do so! Some even call LinkedIn the “Facebook” for your professional career. Here you can see current trends in the hiring market, connect with other individuals, and build a profile where current hiring managers can view all of your accomplishments and past roles. 

Take time to build your profile before you start connecting with others. Go to your university’s Career and Development Office. There they will most likely have a free of charge service where they will take a professional headshot for your LinkedIn profile. On your profile, add past employment, skills, award, scholarships, and courses that you’ve taken.

An overlooked part of your profile is your Bio, it’s the first panel that employers see under your headshot and banner. It is important to not only just list out everything you’ve accomplished, but also show the viewer of your profile who you are. Make it an interesting read, including some of your hobbies, a short snippet from a job you’ve had, and what type of work you are doing or are looking for. 

Because you graduate in May, use LinkedIn to find hiring managers or individuals in the department that you want to work for. You can do this by searching the company, and then filtering to see who is employed there. From there, reach out to this person by adding a note to your connection request explaining your position currently and why you are reaching out. At this point, you want to learn more about the role and positions that the company has available to you. 

Build Before You Apply

Students believe that just connecting with people on LinkedIn or applying to a job is enough. My favorite strategy has, and always will be, to reach out to my network first.

You’ve spent your last four years as a student, you’ve attended fairs, belonged to clubs, and have been taught by professors who have had real experience outside of higher education. Use these resources! Scan your network, look at the list you built, and ask yourself “Does someone I know or could get connected with work at any of the companies on my list?”

After you’ve found that person you can connect with, reach out via LinkedIn or use tools such as Mailscoop.io to find their email. Ask for 10-15 minutes of their time to chat, and if they can’t chat could they provide some more information on the role or connect you with someone who has time to chat. Cold emailing is not dead, there is no reason for you not to reach out and see what could happen. It will not hurt your career only give you a better chance at obtaining the role you wrote down.

Building before you apply won’t go unnoticed. The hiring team or department will see that you reached out and showed interest outside just a general application. Now that you’ve put a voice to your application and taken the pressure off of yourself and your resume, no longer will employers solely rely on one piece of paper to tell your story or know what you want out of the role. They now have a conversation to look back to. And in doing this, it will set you far above your competitors.

Trust this process and reach out if you have any questions! Just a couple tips to help build your job searching strategy.