Graduate Jobs: Tips to Find a Job in 2020

The graduate recruitment season in 2020 is all set to become a battlefield. With graduate jobs, work placements, campus drives and internship opportunities round the corner, it’s obvious for freshers like you to get puzzled. For those of you in the final year of your college, January to May are vital months this year. Whether it is about graduate jobs, work placements, on campus drives, off campus jobs for freshers or even internships, kindly do not neglect the application deadlines.

When it comes to large companies and competitive industries, getting in early will give you an edge over your competition. But you need to make a list of companies first. After you are 100% sure about the companies you want to apply to, reach out to some references, write some emails and send out your applications on time until you receive an interview call for your best-fit first job.

Here are some tips to help you apply to relevant graduate jobs on time and get through.

Research the company

Research is the most fundamental step to be completed before applying for graduate jobs. As a fresher, good knowledge about your prospective employer can take you places. So, do your groundwork about a company before a sending out a job application. Only then your interview will seem easy.

Unfortunately, these days both freshers and experienced professionals apply to jobs and even walk into interviews without making an effort to know the company well. Kindly do not commit this mistake. For that matter, one sure shot interview question you are most likely face is “You must have gone through our web-site. Why don’t you tell me what you know about us?” or “Why do you want this job“ or “Why should we hire you?”

🚫 How not to answer “Why do you want this job?”

“I just browsed your company website casually. Besides, I thought I would find out during the interview anyway. Can you enlighten me?”

The last thing your interviewer would want to do in a graduate job interview is explain their business to every single interview candidate out there. Respect their time and yours. Do your research in advance. You cannot obviously memorize the quarterly report by-heart, but you can obviously avoid making superficial statements.

✓How to answer “Why do you want this job?”

‘Only yesterday I read about the latest product you have launched, and I’m keen on working hands on with the same team. I must say that the kind of work they are doing in the field of machine learning is highly commendable. Do pass on my compliments to them.’

Such a reply would immediately portray how aware you are of things. This will build a solid ground for a fruitful discussion to take place later. So, have some depth in all your answers, that’s all.

🔍How to research systematically about a firm for a graduate job offer
Here’s how you can actually go about the research bit.

## Visit the company website to note down their major businesses.
## Look on Google, Bing and YouTube simultaneously for information about company offices, products and services.
## Check out the company page on LinkedIn for further details on employee strength, recent updates, announcements, etc.
✓ Visit the CEO or MD’s profile and read up on other prominent people
✓ If it is a public company, know the current value of shares and annual turnover by heart.
✓ Do not forget to read employee reviews and ratings online.
✓ Check Google news for important updates like mergers, acquisitions, new hires or exits at top level, if any.
Lastly, of you have contacts from this company, get in touch for some insider news and probably a reference.

2.Create your resume

Once you are done with your research about the company, and you have prepared to answer all the initial questions well, it’s time to polish your resume. As a fresher, always remember you have close to zero actual work experience to show. In order to compensate for the same, you have to tailor your resume cleverly according to the job role.

Learn the critical differences between a CV and a resume here.

How to cleverly polish a resume for a graduate job?

✓ Here’s what you could do:
## Place only relevant information at the top.
## Add hyperlinks (like a link to the LinkedIn profile, online recommendation, portfolios or publication)
## Stick to one page only and follow one font throughout.
## Add data points like marks, GPAs, ranks, percentiles, sales numbers, figures etc

🚫 Here’s what you shouldn’t do:

✓ Do not clutter the resume with photos and logos.
✓ Do not commit grammatical mistakes. Do an F7 or run a spell check.
✓ Do not write an objective statement. It’s an outdated style.
✓ Do not write long paragraphs else your resume might seem boring or worse – unreadable!
✓ Do not blow things out of proportion in your graduate job resume.

Don’t worry if your CV looks shorter than your friends’. Just focus on highlighting all the skills that a recruiter most probably would like to see in you. Also, keep multiple versions of your resume ready and don’t forget to mention all your achievements. Apply only when you are 100% satisfied with your resume.

Ready to use college student resume writing examples.

💡 Expert Tip: Your resume is your pitching tool. Make it stand out from the rest.

3.Prepare and practice

The entire process of researching, preparing a resume and applying for jobs is a tedious one. It requires a lot of preparation and practice. In order to make sure your application went through, follow up every sent resume with a phone call or email to your TPO or the company directly, requesting for a job interview.

Now that you have the interview date all set, read up more about the industry, your job role and also about the company. In order to practice, ask a friend or family member to conduct a mock interview. Practice answers to tough questions and also prepare for some of the most commonly asked HR interview questions and answers. Repeat your answers so that you know them by heart. Only then in the actual interview, you will be able to confidently face the interviewer

💡 Expert Tip: Make a checklist of all the reasons why you think you are the best candidate for this position.

4.Ask for references

Networking works wonders these days and many jobs are offered exclusively through this tactic. It may seem unreal, but employers take background verification checks very seriously and in order to conduct the process they call or visit the references provided by entry level candidates like you. In such circumstances, having some reference will always give you an edge over others.

How to network with acquaintances?

## Keep in touch with professionals, preferably college seniors.
## Call your contacts within the company you are interviewing for and ask them to refer you for this particular fresher job opening.
## Get written recommendations from your teachers, mentors, seniors, friends and guides. Put them up on LinkedIn. The idea is to leverage the power of networking.

Whatever may be the scenario, do not stop polishing your resume and applying to jobs of your choice. Even if you receive a job offer, maintain your resume and connections. Continue networking, and keep these fruitful conversations going. These people will help you grow further. Keep visiting FirstNaukri.com and apply to scores of fresher jobs in 2020. Choose from a sea of jobs for graduates handpicked from various industries and companies of your choice.

All the best with your graduate job search in 2020!

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