Study skills that will help you in your job search

July 22, 7:21 AMBoston Entry Level Careers ExaminerJanet Aronica

Will anything you learned in college help you with your job search?

My verdict is: yes and no.

You won’t do calculus on a job application, and you won’t be quizzed on the history of the Chinese dynasties during an interview. Nevertheless, think about the organization and time management it took to study those things and ace (or just barely pass – neither here nor there) the tests. It turns out, you’re a pretty disciplined little lady or lad, and you can apply those study skills to your job search.

1. Stop procrastinating: Carpe diem, kids

Maybe you’ve been job hunting for a while and you’re just a bit frustrated, annoyed, or anxious. In turn, you keep avoiding those feelings by doing something other than looking for a job. It’s kind of like that time you pushed that term paper off until the night before…or like that time you didn’t read for world lit so you printed off some Sparknotes the morning of the final and hoped for the best.

Allow this to be the proverbial light under you butt. Denial won’t get you hired. Think you need to procrastinate because you work well under pressure? Well, your student loan bills are coming. So stop laying around in your jammies watching Maury. Take a shower, spruce up your resume, and look for a job that exercises your unique talent.

2. Calm down: Stop applying around like a chicken with its head cut off

You know the procrastinators? Some people are just the opposite. In college, they were the study Nazis who brought pillows to the library and spent all day and night doing marathon flashcard sessions. They become immersed and drive themselves half crazy in the relentless pursuit of a goal.

That’s not always a good thing. Motivation is key. But if you sit there applying for job after job for hours on end, you’ll stop being efficient after a while. You’ll get sloppy and make mistakes – like sending a cover letter to the wrong company or making a typo in an email. You’ll waste your time applying for jobs you aren’t even qualified for. Then, when you aren’t hearing back from anyone, you’ll only feel more frustrated. It’s a hideous cycle, really.

Each day or week, set aside time for applying for jobs and networking. Outside of that, fill your schedule with other positive activities. Workout. Meet up with a friend. Snuggle a puppy. Prove everyone wrong about Gen Y – volunteer.

3. Bust out the to-do list

What applications have you sent out? Who needs a thank you note sent to them? Who needs a follow-up email? In uncertain times, for some people, organization can soothe the mind. And yes, even in this modern age of iPhone apps and fancy electronic ways to make to-do lists, isn’t there something so delightfully satisfying by kicking it old school and crossing tasks off a post-it with a pencil? Indulge your inner type-A.

4. Get a study buddy

Picture this: You’re unemployed, sitting alone in your bedroom at your parent’s house. There’s a Backstreet Boys and/or Avril Lavigne poster on the wall. You have a finance degree. Yet, after sifting through the infinite abyss of job postings on Career Builder for hours on end, you get delusional. Just before your midnight snack, you find yourself hitting the “send” button to email your resume for a customer service job for a source code analysis company in God Knows Where, USA. To you, Java means Starbucks.

Why is it that our sometimes exciting, sometimes frustrating, typically tedious job search is a battle we wage alone?

Why not get a fresh set of eyes on your resume? Maybe your friend will see a job posting that didn’t come up in your own search. Leverage your friends’ personal networks. Let’s work together and help each other succeed.

You’re smarter than you know. You did graduate, after all. This is the start of a journey of putting the pieces together and translating what you learned in the lecture hall into your life. It is a scary, challenging, long, and worthwhile adventure.