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Recommended reading: Job Search Bloopers
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In a recent interview with Laura DeCarlo, co-author of “Job Search Bloopers…Every Mistake You Can Make on the Way to Career Suicide and How to Avoid Them,” she recommended the following “bloopers” recent graduates make when searching for a job – and how to avoid them.
1. Using a generic new graduate résumé. Just because you do not have related career experience does not mean you do not have something to sell on your résumé. Avoid the mistake of just listing your degrees, class names and work history, and hoping an employer will make the connection.
Instead, take a look at your course descriptions and syllabi, and use what you learned to create a list of knowledge, skills and abilities. Then, evaluate your jobs, internships, clubs, school class projects and volunteer experience to translate them into value for your target positions.
2. Expecting to learn about the company at the interview. By the time you arrive at your job interview, you need to have done your homework on the company and be familiar with their products, services, marketplace, and if possible, their challenges and goals. You can typically do this easily via the Internet. That way, you will be prepared to answer questions about why you want to work for the company and have a better understanding of how your education, experience and life have prepared you for the opportunity.
3. Texting, talking and multitasking in front of a prospective employer. In today’s fast-paced world it is probably pretty common that you are hooked into your MP3 player or your cell phone at all times. This might seem like a small blunder, but during the interview or job fair is never the time for taking the call, texting or listening to music - even when you are waiting to meet the interviewer. While you may very well be able to multi-task, an interviewer will not find it professional and will not be impressed.
4. Under- AND over-dressing for prospective employers. It can be just as possible to under-dress as it is to over-dress for interviews and job fairs. Job fairs are simple – dress to impress with professional attire. But, interviews are more tricky and fall into the ‘what is the company culture?’ However, if the culture is t-shirts and jeans, that’s still never correct attire for an interview, but neither is a decked-out professional suit.
It is always a good idea to see how they dress at the company and if it is casual or business casual, dress one level up. Additionally, remember that every view counts – when you have to pick up an application or drop something off, you are being evaluated, so never dress inappropriately.
5. Limiting your job search to applying to open positions found on the Internet. It might be easy, but it is rarely quick to find a job by just using job boards. Job boards are terrific resources for identifying companies in hiring mode and finding open positions. However, job boards are glutted with applicants from all over the world vying for the same jobs. An opportunity can garner hundreds and even thousands of responses from job applicants. That means that no matter how good a candidate you might be, if this is all you do to find a job, you could be waiting a really long time to get an interview.
Instead of waiting, expand your job search to include networking in local chapters of your career field’s professional association, using your career center for all the services they provide, attending college and community job fairs, pursuing informational interviews with companies and getting help from friends and family.
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