Tips on How to Find a Job Out of College

Are you wondering when and how to apply to your first job out of college? If you’re a first-year student, it might seem like an entire lifetime away—but really, graduation and getting your first post-collegiate job is just around the corner. After that, there’s so much waiting for you just beyond that symbolic toss of the graduation cap into the air.

Or you might be on the cusp of graduation, seeking full-time employment for the first time and seeing commencement grow increasingly closer.

This brings to mind an important question: When should you start applying for your first job out of college…and how can you apply to your first job in a way that sets you up for success?

How to apply to your first job

1. Give yourself time to apply

Determining when you start applying will depend on your experience and career interests. The job search process can be lengthy. Here’s what to expect:

• Practice interviews
• Company research
• Informational interviews
• Examining your social media presence
• Writing and perfecting your resume
• Submitting your application

Of course, that’s not including the interview process, but that’s a whole other blog post altogether. So, when you’re wondering when and how to find a job out of college, give yourself enough time to do it right. Start several months ahead of graduation; by the time you graduate, you’ll either be ready to start your new job or ready to take on the interview process.

2. Apply early and keep checking in with prospective employers

Those who’ve had a position or an internship in specialized industries such as finance, marketing, or analytics, might receive a full-time offer upon completion of their degree and might have a different apply path that’s determined by the employer.

For others trying to break into these fields, remember that these industries tend to be more competitive, and firms will hire early to secure the best talent. Applying early for these types of positions might give you a leg up, but check back on their career websites frequently so you don’t miss out on open opportunities.

3. Seek out hiring classes

Be aware of the different ways of how you can apply to your first job! Not all employers use the same hiring techniques. Some larger companies have hiring classes, hiring many college grads at the same time so they can go through orientation and onboarding together.

Research in advance to find out the best time to submit your application for these companies. These opportunities can be a great way to kickstart your career, as they build-in professional development programs tailored to recent college grads in entry-level positions.

(Helpful sidebar: Avenica recruits for these kinds of classes frequently, so if you haven’t already joined our network, now’s a great time. By joining, you’re essentially applying to all the positions Avenica matches for in your area all at one time. The perfect time to apply for one of our opportunities? Right now. We’re always accepting candidates! If we don’t have something perfect for you right now, we’ll keep you in mind should the right opportunity come up.)

When is the best time to apply for a job out of college?

In general, the closer you get to graduation (and of course, just after) is best for applying to jobs. One month to three months out is plenty of time since you don’t usually get immediate results and not every opportunity pans out. But just think of it as learning opportunities for you to gain experience and confidence with each application and interview.

If you see an exciting opportunity but are still finishing up your last semester, go ahead and apply for it! Most companies will understand that you won’t be available until you graduate, but they might appreciate your hustle and think you’re worth the wait. However, applying too early in your final year, when you still have much of the school year left to go, might be a waste of time. Employers usually won’t want to wait quite that long.

Many companies hire on an as-needed basis, so their job postings may be sporadic. If you’re not seeing immediate matches for your skillset, don’t be deterred; job opportunities fluctuate just about as often as fashion trends.

And it’s Avenica’s job to keep you updated on these trends. If you need help finding or applying for your next career, join our network of job seekers and get help finding your first job out of college.

About Avenica

Through conversation, high-impact coaching, and best-in-class support, we translate and meet the needs of our client partners by identifying and transforming potential into high-performing professionals. At Avenica, we are working from the inside out to embrace diverse thought and perspectives while actively working to dismantle systems of oppression and implicit bias. With a deeply-held belief in human potential, we transform lives and enable organizations to achieve new heights.

If you’re interested in partnering with us to develop or hire your workforce, let’s talk. If you’re a job seeker, please apply now!

As a job seeker, you are currently experiencing one of the best entry-level hiring climates in more than a decade. That means opportunities abound for you. However, hiring managers are looking at more than just your qualifications and education; they’re looking at your professional etiquette and interview behavior as well.

In a recent CareerBuilder survey, hiring managers within the private sector reported that more than:

• 37 percent of college graduates did not send a thank-you note following an interview
• 35 percent of those interviewed did not know anything about the company
• 31 percent did not submit a cover letter
• 29 percent did not ask any questions during the interview
• 26 percent did not have professional references
• 26 percent had poor grammar on their résumés
• 21 percent had unprofessional pictures on their social media profiles
• 19 percent checked their mobile phones during the interview

While it may be easy to explain these behaviors as typical for inexperienced job-seekers, avoiding these pitfalls give you a much better chance of making a great first impression and getting hired.

Even though a wide majority (82 percent) of hiring managers agree that academic institutions are “adequately” preparing students for the roles needed in their organizations, the lack of basic etiquette during the interview process gives many of these same employers pause as they decide who to hire. Simply put, while you might be well-qualified and able to do the work of the position, you might never get your foot in the door if you’re not following these best practices.

How a candidate prepares for and behaves in an interview can tell hiring managers a lot about their drive, professionalism, and attitude. It also provides insight into the candidate’s ability to interact with customers and colleagues in a professional manner and a lens into the candidate’s work ethic. Did they care enough to put in the extra time and effort? Or are they doing the bare minimum required?

These matters of etiquette may seem a bit outdated as work environments continue to get more casual, but it’s important to keep in mind that these are the standards most hiring managers were held to early in their careers, and many will expect the same from today’s job seekers. Remember, simple—but thoughtful and respectful—things like punctuality, professional behavior and attire, and proper interview etiquette can mean the difference between a job offer and a “thanks, but no thanks” response.

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About Avenica

Through conversation, high-impact coaching, and best-in-class support, we translate and meet the needs of our client partners by identifying and transforming potential into high-performing professionals. At Avenica, we are working from the inside out to embrace diverse thought and perspectives while actively working to dismantle systems of oppression and implicit bias. With a deeply-held belief in human potential, we transform lives and enable organizations to achieve new heights.

If you’re interested in partnering with us to develop or hire your workforce, let’s talk. If you’re a job seeker, please apply now!

For job-seeking college graduates about to enter a competitive job market, every bit of experience can help pave the way to a future career. But while some of you may have entered the professional world upon graduation, others may be looking for work in the fall after seasonal employment ends.

You may not see much valuable work experience in typical summer jobs, such as child care, lifeguarding, serving/bartending, and other similar jobs, but these positions build valuable soft skills and emotional intelligence that transfer well to a professional environment. How you articulate what you’ve accomplished and learned on the job – in any job – can give hiring managers a good sense of your ability to learn and adapt on the job.

Here are some interview scenarios you can use to gauge how well you can promote your soft skills acquired as part of a summer job:

Child Care

Skills enhanced: Leadership, problem-solving, multi-tasking
Accomplishments to highlight:

• Talk about a time when you made a difficult decision on the job
• Discuss how you juggled priorities and made sure everything got accomplished
• Share how you’ve handled and resolved criticism from an employer

Ideal professional roles: Project management, human resources, office management/administration

Lifeguard

Skills enhanced: Responsibility, decision-making, accountability
Accomplishments to highlight:

• Talk about a time when you had to make split-second decisions while on the job
• Discuss how you helped your colleagues ensure a safe environment for guests
• Share an example of a mistake you made on the job. How did you resolve it?

Ideal professional roles: Administration, compliance, accounting

Restaurant Serving

Skills enhanced: Working in a fast-paced environment, customer service, conflict resolution
Accomplishments to highlight:

• Discuss how you’ve diffused a tense situation on the job
• Talk about how you’d respond to customer criticism directed at you personally
•  Share an example of how you’ve pushed back on a customer and said “no.”

Ideal professional roles: Customer service, sales, marketing, communications

Retail

Skills enhanced: Customer service, sales, multitasking
Accomplishments to highlight:

• Share how you helped your store exceed sales expectations
• Talk about how you learned to excel at the most difficult aspect of your role
• Describe how your work helped improve the customer experience at your store

Ideal professional roles: Sales, merchandising, marketing and communication

When it comes to entry-level positions, hiring managers are increasingly looking for skill versus experience. In such a competitive hiring market, it’s more essential than ever for employers to consider a diverse range of candidates. That’s why you should sell your own experiences as skill-building opportunities and demonstrate how those skills apply to the job being pursued. Whether you’ve honed your skills in an office, at the pool, or on the golf course, your ability to market these skills in lieu of professional experience will be a critical factor in your success on the path toward your future career.

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About Avenica

Through conversation, high-impact coaching, and best-in-class support, we translate and meet the needs of our client partners by identifying and transforming potential into high-performing professionals. At Avenica, we are working from the inside out to embrace diverse thought and perspectives while actively working to dismantle systems of oppression and implicit bias. With a deeply-held belief in human potential, we transform lives and enable organizations to achieve new heights.

If you’re interested in partnering with us to develop or hire your workforce, let’s talk. If you’re a job seeker, please apply now!

How well do you really know yourself? Do you understand your strengths and weaknesses, know what makes you tick, and recognize why you act the way you do? Even if you think you already know these things, there’s probably still a lot to uncover. One way to better get to know yourself is through personality tests. And there’s really no better time to do it than right now while you’re in college. Taking a personality test can help you navigate and determine your career options. Having an understanding of your future career goals now, can greatly help you in planning out the rest of your academics.

There are several widely used personality tests, many you’ve probably already heard of. Here are a few you can do online, and best of all, they’re free. Because college ain’t cheap, man.

6 Personalities
This test breaks people into four categories called roles; analysts, diplomats, sentinels, and explorers, with four sub-categories for each called strategies that identify preferred ways of achieving goals. Taking this test helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses and understand how you interact with and engage in the world around you. You can also learn about other, more well-known people with your same personality type. Are you a Diplomat, Protagonist like Oprah Winfrey or an Analyst, Logician like Bill Gates? I’m positive that I’ll be Sentinel, Defender, because I’m obviously a Beyonce.

Sakanu Career Assessment
We’re all probably good at things we don’t necessarily like, and conversely, there are things we like but just aren’t that good at. Like, I love crafting, but my creations always look more like Pinterest fails, and I’m actually pretty good with numbers, but thought of doing anything in finance, accounting, or math is my nightmare. The Sakanu Career Assessment evaluates your aptitude and interests to help guide and provide options for your career discovery.

Emotional Intelligence Quiz
The concept of emotional intelligence has been a buzz-worthy topic for quite some time now and has become pretty ubiquitous in the professional/business world. In this assessment, you can learn about your EQ and how it affects your interpersonal relationships and interactions. The more you know about your EQ and EQ in general, the better you can get at recognizing and understanding your own emotions, as well as, having a better understanding other people’s feelings and motivations. Overall, it helps you build relationships, handle and resolve conflicts, and perform better in group and team settings. So, it’s basically like magic.

While none of these assessments are perfectly accurate, they provide a lot of good insight into the kind of person you are and provide some general guidance and direction for helping you plan your career and professional development goals. If anything, it’s a great distraction from the grind of classes, homework, and studying.

And just for fun, and because you’re dying to know…

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About Avenica

Through conversation, high-impact coaching, and best-in-class support, we translate and meet the needs of our client partners by identifying and transforming potential into high-performing professionals. At Avenica, we are working from the inside out to embrace diverse thought and perspectives while actively working to dismantle systems of oppression and implicit bias. With a deeply-held belief in human potential, we transform lives and enable organizations to achieve new heights.

If you’re interested in partnering with us to develop or hire your workforce, let’s talk. If you’re a job seeker, please apply now.

These days, it seems everyone’s got a side hustle. Maybe it’s a freelance gig, contract work or the ever-popular Uber, Lyft or BiteSquad driving opportunities. It seems the gig economy is here to stay.

With millions of Americans (more than 150 million by 2020, according to Intuit) working as private contractors in a variety of fields, it can be an attractive proposition for entry-level college graduates seeking a paycheck while on the job hunt. However, there are a few important considerations that will help young job seekers balance the need to make a buck with their long-term career ambitions.

Here are a few tips for entry-level college graduates to contemplate before jumping head-first into the gig economy:

Stay focused on your future career

With cash in hand and a flexible schedule, it may be tempting for job seekers to slow their career search momentum. Creating and maintaining a solid job search strategy is essential for making the most of gig economy work while still keeping a future career top-of-mind. A smart approach would be to devote a specific amount of time each day or week – in proportion to the time spent working – to job hunting, résumé polishing, networking and interview practice.

Choose gig work that fits your career ambitions

In addition to income, an added benefit of gig work for entry-level job seekers is the potential to build work skills, which can then be marketed in pursuit of a long-term career. Consider taking on gigs that will be most useful for specific career paths. For example, someone seeking an account management position would do well to choose a gig that builds customer service skills. A job seeker trying to break into an entry-level creative position, such as graphic design or copywriting, should sign up for contractor “matching” services like Fiverr and Upwork.

Be ready to transition to full-time work

Don’t get stuck in a rut when it comes to gig work. Underemployment – college graduates working in positions that don’t require a degree – is at an all-time high, largely because graduates are simply happy to be getting paid. But it’s not a sustainable path for future career achievement, and entry-level job seekers working gig positions should always be ready to ditch “easy money” for more lucrative long-term opportunities.

Contract gigs can be very useful for job-seeking college graduates by providing valuable work experience while generating income. As long as the gig economy remains a means to an end, not an end in itself, an entry-level career will still be attainable. In fact, working a steady gig can be a great way to demonstrate dedication, self-direction and resourcefulness to prospective employers.

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About Avenica

Through conversation, high-impact coaching, and best-in-class support, we translate and meet the needs of our client partners by identifying and transforming potential into high-performing professionals. At Avenica, we are working from the inside out to embrace diverse thought and perspectives while actively working to dismantle systems of oppression and implicit bias. With a deeply-held belief in human potential, we transform lives and enable organizations to achieve new heights.

If you’re interested in partnering with us to develop or hire your workforce, let’s talk. If you’re a job seeker, please apply now!