This goes out to all rising seniors in the collegiate class of 2016 and beyond:
During senior year of college, a normal student tends to wane their extra-curricular involvements in favor of senior capstone projects and job hunting/grad school applications. I have no advice for those of you seeking grad school as I did not take that route right after college. However, this post shares some of my insights gained during my journey towards employment. I am happy to say that I am gainfully employed with Grinder, Taber, and Grinder as a project manager / estimator for their construction work.
Start at the Right Time
By May when I got hired, I was freaking out a little bit. For over 6 months I had been searching for the perfect job. That being said, I also applied to nearly 100 jobs that were less than perfect. I applied for a variety of different kinds of jobs, especially as my desperation grew (see Expand Your Reach below). However, I was really wasting my time. In retrospect, it was incredibly unrealistic for business owners to hire someone that can’t start until June for a posting in November or even February. I would recommend beginning your search in early February just so you start to get an idea of all the opportunities that are out there. When the jobs looking for college grads come around in March/April you’ll be well prepared to know exactly what you’re looking for. If there was any benefit to starting in November, it was that I could pick up on key words in a job listing pretty quickly.
Meet interesting people
The staying still holds, perhaps more than ever, that life is about “who you know.” This search really came down to that for me. Despite applying to so many random jobs on Indeed.com and other sites like that, especially in a town like Memphis or somewhere of similar or larger size, it takes an extra effort to get your foot in the door. I got some great advice from recent grads Demitri Jerow and Ian Turner to be intentional about networking. I hate those stand around and small talk “networking socials,” but some people may find those helpful. For me, I started with the few contacts I had through research and internships and involvements at the college to see if they knew other people in the field I could meet with. Those meetings would lead to 1 or 2 more meetings, and so and so forth. I came prepared to my informational interviews with resumes (see below), but just about every time I got “you’d be a strong candidate, but unfortunately we’re not hiring.” That was sometimes discouraging but then the person would usually offer to pass my resume along. I also emailed/LinkedIn messaged alumni from my college asking for their advice towards entering their field and if they knew about any job opportunities. Many were incredibly nice and helpful. You never know where a door will open and I highly suggest putting your time into meeting as many people as your can.
Get a second look at your resume and always have it on hand
A well polished resume goes a long way. Get a recent graduate or someone from your college to take another look at it (or two or 3). Ask them to help you ensure that every line makes sense with the skills and activities you are trying to get across. Also, make several different resumes depending on the types of jobs you are applying for. A resume will have “relevant” experiences near the top and other contributing involvements or experiences near the bottom. When you have a polished draft print out several copies and get a professional looking folder to bring to seminars/interviews/etc.
Be honest in your interviews
The interview process can be tricky. You obviously want to sell yourself as the best possible you. The key there is the best possible you. I feel like you’re setting yourself up for future conflicts if you overextend the truth about your talents, skills, and experiences just to get a job. If you lie to a future employer and to yourself during an interview, in 2 months time, both your employer and yourself will obviously be able to tell that you’re unfit for the job. It may have cost me a job or two along the way, but I always tried to be honest with a potential employer about my skills and weaknesses. Especially being honest about your weaknesses probably gives you extra credit for “self-reflective” and things like that.
Expand your reach
I applied for communications jobs, marketing jobs, GIS jobs (my hopeful path), non-profit jobs, and even some completely unrelated corporate jobs. At 22 years old, you have 40+ more years to find your niche job. As so many employers, friends, and mentors said a long the way, the biggest thing is getting your foot in the door. Don’t be afraid to start out in a job you may think you are unfit for. One, you may be surprised at an untapped talent. Two, you can always move laterally in a year or two. Three, a job is certainly better than no job. Here a few helpful sites I used readily instead of Indeed.com and monster.com that sift out some of the overwhelmingly vast list of jobs out there.
https://www.linkedin.com/job/home?trk=hb_tab_jobs_top You should have a LinkedIn anyway and it has strong searchability and sometimes the ability to apply with your profile.
https://aftercollege.com/ They sort out some of the jobs you will definitely not be qualified for (like Senior VP of Marketing) and also suggest jobs based on your major. This latter aid would probably be more helpful if your major was more populous than mine.
http://nacelinknetwork.jobs/ Incredibly helpful site compiled by Career Services offices at colleges around the country.
That should get you started! Congratulations on making it this far in college and I wish you the best of luck in your job search!
Reflections of an Urbanist 