How to land your first job out of college

Landing your first job out of college can be quite nerve-wracking. It can be daunting interviewing for roles when you have little or no experience. Now throw in a pandemic and you’ve got a major uphill battle to landing a job. But it can be done, and I’m going to show you how.

In my career I’ve hire hundreds of new college grads into entry level roles.

I’ve been in charge of company university relations programs, attended job fairs as an employer, hosted information sessions, and staffed my programs. In that time, I’ve seen my fair share of candidates. Some were excellent and I knew they would be future leaders. Others were quite average. Which one are you?

The biggest advantage you have as an entry-level candidate is a chance to essentially start with a blank slate. By careful planning and career management, you can get to your goals much easier than someone who made career mistakes and only realized it 10 years later. So get started off on the right foot out of the gate is super important. Don’t let the opportunity go to waste.

You’re also going to be competing against not only your classmates in your own school. Employers will be looking at several schools at the same time – so you’ll be competing against every other school too! Not to worry though, you can stand out and land a great first role if you know what you’re doing.

Here’s how you land your first job out of college or university.

So let’s talk about how you land your first job out of college.

Set yourself up for success.

To start with, you’ll need to have a marketable degree. By marketable, I mean that there should be a reasonable amount of employers looking to hire this particular role. Education, business, accounting, computer technology, logistics, medical and engineering students shouldn’t be lacking opportunities.

If you studied something more obscure, or something with a more niche focus, you’re going to need to get a bit more creative with your search.

And just because you decided to pursue a particular degree, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re locked into that career path. I’ve seen plenty of mid-career candidates with successful careers in industries completely unrelated to what they studied.

But it does help to have a major that’s going to be in demand. If you’re not sure what the market is, look at your school’s job posting system and see how many roles have been listed there in the past couple of semesters.

If your program graduates 500 students each semester yet there are only 20 jobs, do the math. You’re going to need to really stand out.

Know your market and industry

Make a list of the major players in the market you want to enter into. Who are the most prestigious companies? For example, if you’re in accounting, knowing who the major accounting firms are will help prepare you for what requirements they have.

Taking it a step further, what about in the geographic region you want to live in? If you’re interested in a particular role, but live in a remote area that hardly has any roles, you better be open to relocation.

Know what areas tend to have the best jobs. If you’re a tech person, you likely want to consider the Bay Area and Seattle. If you’re into finance, Charlotte is a hub. Nashville has medical opportunities. Oil and Gas? Look to Texas. Know where the top employers are located in your industry.

Next decide if you’re open to relocation.

If so your opportunities will open up. If you’re set on moving back to your hometown, you’re going to be limited to those local opportunities. I’ve found the best candidates and the ones that have moved up the quickest in their career are geographically mobile. They usually have 2-3 relocations before settling down.

My suggestion, especially early on in your career, is to try to be as flexible as you can to gain experience. A few years into your career, you can be more selective with the location. Focus on the quality of the role vs the location and you’ll thank yourself 10 years down the road.

So knowing where to focus and what the market for your role is will help define a plan.

What’s your 10 year plan?

Okay, now you know what and where the market is, the next thing to figure out is what you want to do. Think about what you want the next 10 years of your career to look like. Do you want to be a technical expert? Lead a team? Run a department? Get tenure at a university? Run your own business?

I’ll certainly ask you this question in an interview, so put thought into it now.

Do not answer the question with a “I dunno”. You’ll never get hired.

As you decide what career path you want, use that to narrow down the list of opportunities you’d like to focus on. Look at companies that are both a geographic and industry fit. Those are the companies you’re going to target.

Where to find entry-level jobs.

So where do you find these roles? You’re going to be looking in several places all at the same time.

Employer Relations Department

This one is obvious, but you should start your search with your school’s employer relations department. Companies that actively target your school will have their jobs listed there. I’d suggest visiting at a very minimum weekly during your job hunt, but even daily during prime job hunting times. Keep in mind most companies recruit early in the semester to gain access to the best candidates. So make sure you’re on there early and often.

You’ll also get connected with companies who’ve approved your school as a target. You see, many major university relations programs hire only from select programs, usually based on rankings. So it may be harder to get into a large company if you’re not from one of those target schools (or majors).

Job Fairs

Plan to attend job fairs – as many as you can. And actively engage with employers there. Don’t just target the Google’s of the world. Major companies will get swamped with candidates, leaving under the radar companies with little to no line of people. You’re more likely to talk to someone who makes hiring decisions at these events, especially those smaller companies. And make sure you ask to speak with the lead recruiter for the role you’re interested in.

Employer Sponsored Events

Keep your eyes peeled for employer-sponsored events. During peak hiring season, employers look for creative ways to attract top talent so they’ll often host hiring events. I’ve heard them sponsoring pizza parties, lunch and learn, or even just information sessions and more.

Check with your university relations program coordinator or your department lead to see when these events are coming up. If you’re able to stick around after the event and talk to the hosts, you may even find yourself with an interview scheduled before you leave!

Class Professors

This was a favorite strategy of ours when I led university relations for a few companies. We would contact the department heads with the majors we were interested in and asked them who the best and brightest were. We’d get hand-picked resumes from college professors and they often led to hires. So make sure you’re well known and networked in your major – this is likely your first real experience with networking.

Target Company Websites

This one requires a bit more work. Go to your target company’s hiring site, and create an account. In most ATS systems (applicant tracking systems), you are able to set up notifications or alerts for certain keywords. Set one up for your role, using the appropriate titles and experience level. When a new role gets posted, you’ll get an alert sent to your inbox to apply. The more companies you set this up for, the more opportunities you’ll have.

Job boards

And of course, you shouldn’t neglect things like Linkedin and the various job boards. Make sure you’ve got an optimized profile and are active on the platforms. You can also set up alerts on there too.

How to stand out from the crowd

So you know how to find those jobs and you have a good idea of the type of role you want. But how do you stand out from the competition? You’re going to need to use every advantage you can to get a leg up. Here’s a hint – classes aren’t going to help you much. You see, every other candidate has the same classwork as you do. So it’s not enough to rely on your class schedule alone.

Internships and Coops

Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to do at least one. These really help you not only gain real-life experience but also helps you determine what you don’t like. If you’re an engineer and think you might want to work in a plant, try it first. Decide if you like it. I’d also suggest trying other options like working in a design firm, just to make sure you know what you like.

Internships will help give you things to talk about in an interview as well. Projects you were involved with, results you achieved. Lessons you learned. Those are all things you can easily turn into an interview answer.

If you’re reading this as an underclassman, try getting multiple internships under your belt. Not only can you use it as a summer job, but you’ll also get a loaded resume prior to graduating. And you’ll be much more in demand.

What if you didn’t have an internship?

If you haven’t done an internship, and feel like you’re struggling to get interviews it’s not too late. Try applying for some too. Work a semester at an internship after graduating to get that experience. It’s going to help you get noticed. I almost always hired the candidate with internship experience over someone who didn’t.

Interests

We also looked at interests as a leading indicator of success. If you were going into a technical role, we liked people who built computers and tinker with things. And kids who grew up on farms tended to make the best plant engineers. If you have a creative hobby, employers like candidates who think outside of the box. So list out your interests, it will help a hiring manager get a sense of who you really are.

Leadership traits in projects/work

Employers almost universally prefer candidates who have leadership qualities. As an entry-level job seeker, you can show leadership by project work that you’ve taken a lead role in, extracurricular activities, and even part-time jobs where you were in a team lead role.

Skills

Know what employers need and learn them. (computer programs your industry uses, certifications that will be necessary, etc..) And if your school didn’t offer them during in class, find a way to get trained on your own. It will help if you show initiative to fill in some technical gaps, (software, etc)

Don’t take just any job

While I know it’s tempting to take the first job that comes your way, keep it in mind that a slow start to your career could set you back years.

Now of course you’ll still need to write your killer resume and sell yourself in an interview once you get one, but that’s a different topic for another day.

Remember, as you start into your career, do so with a sense of purpose. Most average candidates are not doing this. You’ll give yourself a massive leg up and start your career after college with the best possible momentum.

Apply these things and you’ll land your first job out of college in no time.

If you need help with your career switch, I’d encourage you to visit the rest of my site www.alifeafterlayoff.com. I’ve got tons of free resources there. Also, join my Facebook community and get questions answered by a community of people just like you.

And be sure to grab a free copy of my guide: 6 Ways To Get Noticed By Recruiters.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think about this!

Till next time,