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3 Golden Keys for Recent College Grads on the Job Hunt

2. Focus

What is the particular job position you are looking for? What industry? Fresh graduates have a lot of trouble with this one, partly because many are not even 100% sure what job they want. Once again, coming out of college, you have experience with this: you spent 4 years trying to figure out what you want to do with your life, what to major in, so this is just another thing you have to figure out.

Two things College grads should focus on:

1. What is the job position you really want?

2. What industry do you want to work in? What companies do you find attractive?

We are in a recession and you’ll be told not to be picky, but believe it or not, sending out 50 resumes every day to 50 different jobs at 50 different companies in totally different industries will not yield the best results for your job search.

So what happens if you focus on a job and industry?

Job position: Take a look over at your resume, what duties have you performed that could be applicable to an entry-level job that you like? Fast-forward to an HR manager reading your resume, they’ll see your job duties are similar to the ones advertised in this new job opening, and you look like a promising candidate now. Match your skills and strengths to particular job types as well.

Industry/Company: Get involved in an industry you’re passionate about. Join clubs and organizations and read their newsletters, magazines, and books. Most importantly keep up with the trends in the industry. Why? Let’s say you are networking with a particular person who works for a company in the entertainment industry and you can bring up in the conversation some trends you noticed or predictions you have. What will happen immediately is that person will be impressed that not only have you done your research as a college graduate, but you have a strong passion for that industry and it shows! Passion truly does give you motivation, and motivation is a recipe for success when you are working so remember that.

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