You have just attended your graduation ceremony and received your certificate. You have just snapped an elegant picture of yours in that gown and showed them to your family and friends. You feel at the height of your achievement. And then you start thinking: “What jobs are out there for graduates like me?” and “How do I go about looking for them?”.
All too often people come up to me saying they have a degree but cannot find a job. This ironic situation is all more relevant today when competition is tough and people are constantly on the lookout for opportunities. The reality is that these jobs are out there, but it takes a lot of effort to convince an employer to make a satisfactory offer.
Consider yourself lucky if you’re gunning towards work in the IT industry: there’s never-ending demand for so-called “developers” and “software engineers” in the field. That is, if you have done your homework and shaped up your technical skills in your uni days. Nonetheless, for some recent IT graduates, applying for jobs have always been a painful experience. I have heard countless stories of candidates going through endless successions of dropping in CVs and getting back rejection letters—if at all—despite the amount of work they have put into polishing their knowledge and writing up their CVs.
The problem with this approach is that there is little room to show off your skills to your employers. How do they know you’re a good web developer when your CV only says “3 years of experience with PHP”? It is difficult to judge a candidate’s capabilities based solely on the number of years they have worked with a particular technology. Furthermore, applicants tend to exaggerate themselves on paper and while that may not necessarily be a bad thing, it doesn’t make your job application any easier. There’s always a possibility that someone with experience comes in with a well-crafted CV and bumps you down the employer’s wanted list.
I share my insight on how you can gain competitive advantage when applying for jobs. These are all based on my experience in technical IT but you may extract the points most relevant to you and use them as a guideline when applying for jobs in your chosen field.
Call. Don’t email.
This is especially true if you’re looking for roles posted on jobs sites. A common mistake that candidates do is to send a cover letter with CV attached when a phone number is given for them to call.
Employers often look for “soft skills” especially within IT graduates. They look for people with the right set of skills and experience, but are more keen to know that you have the right chemistry to fit into the work culture. By giving a call and engaging them in a conversation, you’re opening yourself up for your potential employer to know more about you. You should expect them to ask about your background, team/work experience and interests. Treat this as a phone interview and use the opportunity to showcase your passion, attitude, and professionalism. First impression lasts, and the candidate who plays this card best is usually the one who scores the face-to-face interview.
Note that this does not apply when a job ad does not supply a phone number. In this case, you should spend more time polishing your résumé and cover letter to look as professional as possible.
Follow up.
If you get to talk to your employer, be it via phone or in person, always ask when you will be expecting to hear back from them at the end of the session. This provides you with a timeframe to wait for an answer. Should you not receive any news, be sure to give a call back to enquire about the outcome. This gives a positive impression that you are keen about the role they’re offering.
If you happen to apply by dropping in your CV, be sure to follow up with another email if you do not receive a reply after some time. Employers are busy people; they tend to skip emails and pay attention to the most recent ones in their list.
Have your portfolio ready.
Are you a software or web developer? If so, provide a link to your portfolio in your CV so that employers may look it up. This can range from your Github repository to your own website. Make sure they’re well-maintained; employers don’t like having to browse around to look for what they want.
Think about how you can contribute.
If you are invited to an interview, chances are they will ask you the ultimate rhetorical question: “Why do you want to work with us?”. This may catch you as a surprise if you’re not used to it. Employers often use this question to find out about a candidate’s passion and team spirit. You need to reflect on your abilities and convince your employer that you are not only able to undertake the job, but also willing to learn and improve with the team.
Identify your strong and weak points.
Nobody is perfect, and most employers do not expect you to know it all on your first day of work. In an interview, they sometimes ask about a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, but it is partly meant to extract the personality of the candidate. Talk about what your superior abilities and (if any) your achievements that are relevant to those abilities (e.g. C++ programming and a self-made chess program). However, the most important things are to not boast about your achievements and not reveal your personal weaknesses that may affect your performance in the role (e.g. you should never say you like to work individually when you’re going to work in a software development team!).
Ask questions.
Try to extract as much information as you can about your potential employer. In particular, pay more attention to how the business operates. These are all valid questions: “What will the role involve?”, “What types of training will be provided?”, “What kind of work environment will it be?”, “Who do I report to?”, “Which software development methodology do you use?”, “How does information pass around within the company?”.
Try, try and try again.
All of the above might seem straightforward, but in practice they tend to take a while to get used to. Don’t fret if you get rejection letter; it may just be that you do not have the right mix of personalities. There’s no reason to work in a team where you won’t fit in; it will only upset you in the long term. As long as you are constantly on the lookout, the right role will come up eventually.
If you do get a rejection letter after an interview, be sure to follow up with the employer and ask for feedback. A good employer should point out what is turning them away from hiring you and what you could have done better in the interview. The feedback will help you gain an understanding of what employers expect from their candidates and will prove an invaluable asset to bring to your next interview.
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