As I sit back to reassess the past few years of my professional career, I came to realize that I’ve come a long way since my undergraduate degree at the school of University of California Irvine. Going into college I had this naïve thought where I was going to get hired by some hot shot company and get paid big bucks. I thought that because I went to a top 50 university, I would be in hot demand, and getting a job would be easy with little to no work.

Oh boy, was I wrong…

I was rejected to over 250 accounting jobs. I was rejected from start ups to fortune 500 companies, retail industries to financial industries, I was rejected to them all. I spent 3 months frantically applying to ANY job postings I saw, and yet no luck. Looking back at it today, I wish someone would have guided me through my job search after college and offered some advice.

Here are five things I think I would have benefited from doing on my job search.

1) Fixing and updating your resume: This is an essential piece of the overall job search, and people often overlook the importance.

When you fix and update your resume you are actually doing several things at once. It’s a good way to write down and identify the tasks that you’ve completed and the skills that you developed. Often, recruiters spend seconds to review your resume for the initial look. Sometimes recruiters can get hundreds of applications for 1 job posting. If they see any blatant issues or grammatical/spelling/formatting errors they would toss these resumes in seconds. Recruiters focus on the most recent role, company recognition, overall experience, keyword search, gaps, personal web presence, general logistics, and overall organization. Focus on these important areas while updating your resume.

2) Reaching out to fellow contacts: Referrals are 5 time more likely to be hired. Here are some more statistics.

Reach out to fellow friends, acquaintances, family members, or professors and create a network with them. Having them refer you or introduce you to new networks can dramatically increase your chances of getting hired.

3) Utilizing resources: Use online tools and network connections to complete job applications.

Use sources like, linkedin, indeed, monster, craiglist, and other job search engines to quickly find different job postings. Save references in a Word Document with their phone, work, work title, and email address. Also find different companies and your area and directly apply through their website.

4) Brushing up on interviewing skills: Practice your interviewing skills whenever you aren’t applying. Practice makes perfect. Or in this case, as perfect as you can get when you can no predict everything that will happen. Practicing interviewing skills helps you identify and correct any annoying habits that may distract in the interviewer.

STAR: Situation or task, Action you took, Result you achieved method. Use this method to answer your interview questions. Since this would most likely be an entry level, most questions would be behavioral. (Examples) Try to practice answering these questions as often as you can.

5) NEVER STOP APPLYING: At the end of the day, never stop applying. I made this mistake one too many times. Example: One time I made 2 final round interviews, and during this time I chose not to apply to any more jobs. Unfortunately, 2 weeks later I found out that I was rejected to both jobs. I ended up back at square 1, with no jobs and no new prospects. Finding employment is a full time job in itself, and it’s a never ending process. Do not stop applying and continue on networking with others.

Conclusion:

It may seem daunting if your graduating this year with no full time offer yet. First, focus on what kind of career you want to pursue, then update your resume according to the career you want to be in. As you begin your search, just remember not to give up and continue applying!

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask!