3 Things Not To Forget When Job Hunting

By Danielle Wirsansky on October 28, 2018

Job hunting is a part of everyone’s life, no matter what age they are. But for college students, job hunting can be incredibly important because many need it in order to stay afloat and survive their first foray into adulthood and because it sets the precedent and helps shape what career path they choose for their future.

Jobs while in college are often a lot more fleeting. It can be hard to find a job that is flexible enough to accommodate your class schedule and class load. Especially since your class schedule changes from semester to semester. And many college students do not stay in their college town year-round—they go home for the summer. Most jobs will not allow you to just go on a two- or three-month hiatus. And then once you go home, you often cannot just sit and do nothing for those months. You need another job!

This can add up to working a couple of different jobs every year, which is a lot. And these jobs did not just fall into your lap—you had to go out and hunt them down, which is also a lot of work. Since as a college student, you are bound to do a lot of job hunting, here are some things you should try not to forget as you search, find, interview, and nail those new jobs!

Photo by mentatdgt from Pexels

Cover Letters

A lot of college students applying to jobs are new to the process. You have just been introduced to the job hunt, after all. And what you might not know is how important the cover letter is (hopefully you know what a cover letter is at all!). Of course, your resume is very important, but your cover letter is the opportunity to give more detail and point out your most relevant experiences that make you not only qualified but the right person for the job.

They can see job listings on your resume, but what do they know of what you actually did, of the skills you gained from the experience? Your cover letter lets them hear your voice too and get to know you a little bit to see if you might be the right fit for the job not only in term of experience but in personality as well. Make an already awesome resume really shine.

Do not forget to write a cover letter and send it in, even if the job posting does not require one. Do not just send in an application. Show them that you care and that the job is important to you.

Modify Details Between Applications

You often have to apply to many jobs before finally landing one. This is not unique to college students but is something that everyone job hunting usually has to go through. As you are churning out application after application, cover letter after cover letter, just make sure of one thing: that you are modifying the details between your materials.

What does this mean? If you write a cover letter addressed to Ms. Smith, the hiring manager at the first job you applied for, you should check and make sure that you did not leave “Dear Ms. Smith” at the top of your cover letter that you sent off to each and every job posting.

You want to make sure that you modified that job title between cover letters (and even email headings!) so that you did not say that you were applying to a Front Desk Receptionist position, when only one out of three job posting you just applied for were looking for Front Desk Receptionists when instead they were looking for an Administrative Assistant.

Just be vigilant of little details like that so you do not shoot yourself in the foot before they have even really looked over your material.

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Neutral Surroundings

A lot of jobs, rather than have you come in person for a job interview, are now doing skype interviews instead! They are a lot more serious than a simple phone interview and can better help an employer know if you are the right fit. This is especially important if you are interviewing for a job when you are not quite back in town yet (whether it I s for a job back in your hometown or a job back in your college town for when you return to school).

To help make the best impression possible, make sure you are dressed professionally (the whole outfit, not just your shirt in case you have to get up for any reason). And most importantly, have a neutral background that is not distracting. How professional will it look if you’re sitting in your bedroom with doll wallpaper up? Make sure you have a nice neutral background to better showcase just how professional you are and can be.

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