Getting Your First Job For Dummies
Overview
Find—and land—your first job!
Finding a job can seem daunting, especially when it's a brand new experience. There's a lot to know, and often a lot of pressure. Written by the founder of AfterCollege.com, Getting Your First Job For Dummies is designed to take the stress out of the job search process and help you get an offer.
In this book, you'll discover how to identify your talents and strengths, use your network to your advantage, interview with confidence, and evaluate an offer. Written in plain English and packed with step-by-step instructions, it'll
have you writing customized resumes, conducting company research, and utilizing online job search sites, faster than you can say 'I got the job!'
- Determine what kind of job suits your interests and skills
- Write a compelling cover letter
- Know what to expect in an interview
- Effectively negotiate an offer
Whether you're still in school or navigating the world as a recent graduate, Getting Your First Job For Dummies arms you with the skills and confidence to make getting your first job an exciting and enjoyable process.
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About The Author
Roberto Angulo cofounded AfterCollege, the largest online marketplace in the U.S. where college students and employers can connect. He collaborated with the Obama Administration on the launch of Summer Jobs+, which successfully created more summer opportunities for youth ages 16–24. He is also cofounder of US2020.org, a STEM mentorship program.
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getting your first job for dummies
CHEAT SHEET
When you're applying for a job, you need to stay organized! Keep track of the jobs you've applied and when you applied. When you get your first job offer, you may be tempted to grab it! But first, you need to evaluate the offer and make sure it's a good one. Finally, job hunters are targets of online scammers, so you need to know what to look for to avoid getting taken.
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Job Searches
Your salary is only a part of your compensation. Many employers offer other ways for you to earn money or to save it. You also can avoid paying taxes on these savings, increasing the money you set aside. This is because when you save money to a pre-tax account, you aren’t paying taxes on that amount of money; instead, you’re using that money you would have paid in taxes for medical, commuter, or childcare expenses.
Job Searches
Never stop learning. The more skills you have, the higher your chances of getting the job you want. Luckily, you have dozens of resources at your disposal to learn new skills. Some of these tools are free, and others are not. But the great thing about all of them is that you can access most of them easily online.
Searching for a job is easy. Finding the one that’s right for you can be hard. Fortunately, you have access to dozens of tools and job boards where you can look for jobs and internships. Even better, you can have sites recommend jobs to you and email you as they find new ones.Here, you learn about some of the best sites to help you find your first job.
Job Searches
Your first job will most likely be a part-time one, as is the case for the majority of people. Part-time jobs abound. They can be in an office setting, in a retail location such as Walmart or Macy’s, or in the food service industry at locations such as Starbucks, In-N-Out, Panda Express, and other similar businesses.
Job Searches
You can normally count on your friends and family to be honest with you. Just as they will tell you about your great qualities, they will also tell you about your flaws. Make note of the feedback not only to identify areas where you need to improve but also to note which of these areas you’ll tell employers about when asked.
Job Searches
When you're applying for a job, you need to stay organized! Keep track of the jobs you've applied and when you applied. When you get your first job offer, you may be tempted to grab it! But first, you need to evaluate the offer and make sure it's a good one. Finally, job hunters are targets of online scammers, so you need to know what to look for to avoid getting taken.
Job Searches
Your family and friends are most likely the people who know you the best. They have a good idea of what you’re good at doing and your top qualities. They also know where you need to improve. This makes them good at judging what jobs may be relevant and interesting to you. Ask them for help in keeping an eye open for jobs that could be a good fit for you.
Job Searches
Professors and teachers are among the most influential people who can help you in your career. Professors are obviously knowledgeable in the subject matter they teach. They know their field and they also tend to know people working in their field. Because of this, they’re in a good position to help you with leads and introductions.
Job Searches
A number of large employers rely heavily on new college graduates and entry-level talent to staff their businesses. As a result, they offer new-grad programs that teach new hires about the company culture, arm them with skills that are relevant to the job, and provide experience. These programs are ideal if you’re looking for a structured environment that will give you solid guidance as you embark on your career.
Job Searches
One of the advantages of being a first-time job seeker is that employers most likely won’t ask you for references. This is because they know you haven’t had any previous employment. Nonetheless, some employers may ask you for some references.To paraphrase a popular saying, it’s better to have the references and not need them than to need them and not have them.
Glassdoor is a large Internet job board that is best known for its reviews on companies conducted by current and past employees. These reviews rate aspects of an employer including the workplace, fellow team members, and the CEO of the organization. You can scroll through the review section for a specific employers and read detailed accounts from current and former employees.
LinkedIn is a great resource for getting good insights about a particular employer. For instance, you can see who works there and whom you may know, whether it’s directly or via a friend or colleague. Note that this only works if you’re connected to other people on LinkedIn and if any of them work at the employer of interest.
Job Searches
Employers will ask you about your skills and how they pertain to the job to which you’re applying. Knowing your skills helps you prepare your responses and it also allows you to better identify jobs where you can do well, based on those skills.There are two kinds of skills:
Hard skills: These are ones you learn, like programming, doing financial accounting, or sorting mail accurately and quickly.
Job Searches
Use Facebook in the same way as LinkedIn to let your friends know that you’re looking for a job. You can do this easily by creating a status update and making it public, as shown here. Letting your friends on Facebook know you’re looking for a job.
Complete your Facebook profile by adding your school, major, and any previous internship experience you’ve had.
Career Insights by LinkedIn is a great career discovery tool. It takes a different approach than AfterCollege's Explore, revealing some very useful information. The tool gives you a good idea of the various career paths that alumni from your school take. LinkedIn takes the millions of profiles it has on its network and allows you to see trends.
Alumni are an effective channel that can help you get a job, especially that first job. But how do you connect with them? You can do it online via LinkedIn, but you can also do it with a more personal touch like the following:
Alumni events: Annual reunions tend to bring alumni back to campus. Check with your alumni association or career center about any upcoming mixers for students and alumni.
LinkedIn makes it easy for you to ask for recommendations. When someone recommends you, her endorsement appears as part of your profile. Recruiters who look at your profile will usually look to see if you have any recommendations. Not having them doesn’t hurt you, but having them definitely adds to the appeal of your profile and makes you stand out.
AfterCollege’s Explore is one of these career discovery tools that uses big data to help you discover relevant jobs you may not have known about. One of the most common frustrations for college students and recent grads is not knowing what jobs to search for or apply to. This is why the team at AfterCollege created Explore, with new job seekers in mind.
Job Searches
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Labor, measures labor market activity in the U.S. economy. It has a lot of current and historical data on the job market, which it makes accessible through its Occupational Outlook Handbook.The handbook is online and gives you unparalleled access to job descriptions and trends on each occupation.
Job Searches
Nonprofits are another way to go when considering where to look for your first job. Teach for America and the Peace Corps are examples of great organizations where you can make a positive impact while also gaining experience. Nonprofits abound, and they include large organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which works to improve healthcare and to eliminate extreme poverty.
Startups are good examples of small organizations. However, you can also find large startups like Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb. These companies started small but because of their success or large amount of investment they’ve received, they’ve experienced hyper-growth. Regardless of their size, work at these startups often has the following benefits.
Job Searches
LinkedIn is as effective as the number of contacts you have. The larger your number of online connections, the louder your megaphone for letting people know about career and educational updates.When you’ve established a LinkedIn profile, LinkedIn can help you in two simple ways:
Be found. By having a profile with some basic information such as your school and major, you’re likely to be found by recruiters who are looking for entry-level candidates.
Job Searches
Looking for a job is not complicated, it’s just tedious. The more jobs you apply to, the better your chances of getting one. But this also means that you have more steps to consider and more deadlines to track. You can take the stress out of the job search and avoid mistakes by using some of these applications.
It can take months or even over a year to find your first job, depending on what you’re looking for. Setting goals helps people complete a certain task or challenge faster than they would if they didn’t have any milestones at all.Here are some ways to use goals in order to find your first job faster:
Set an overall goal.
Job Searches
Your unique life circumstances can help you tell your story to an employer. The head of university recruiting for a major global technology company, said that she wouldn’t put too much emphasis on a student’s GPA when making hiring decisions. This is because not all students are able to focus on academics. Some students are luckier than others and can focus entirely on school without needing to work.
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Sports and hobbies are also important to show on your résumé and profile. In fact, many employers look to hire athletes for sales-related roles because some of the traits that athletes have are the same ones that make salespeople successful.This table illustrates some of activities that can give employers a hint of your qualities and attributes.
If this is your first job, you need something to show an employer that you have some history where you’ve performed work or collaborated with others on completing a task or achieving a goal. Ultimately, this is what experience is meant to show. School projects can count as relevant experience, especially if you worked with a group or achieved something that was challenging.
Job Searches
The benefits that come with working for a large employer are many, and they vary in importance. Here are some of the pros of working for a large company.
Teams
More employees means more teams. As part of a team, you get to interact with others who will help you gain knowledge. At the same time, you get to interact with other teams.
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Working for a small employer can have its advantages. It all depends on what you’re looking for in your job. Here are some of the perks that come with being part of a smaller team.
More freedom
This means having the flexibility to stray from your daily job routine and explore new tasks and projects. At a larger company, roles are typically well defined.
Having at least one internship under your belt will greatly improve your chances of getting a good job when you graduate from college. According to AfterCollege, doing at least one internship while in college means you’re six times more likely to have a job lined up by graduation compared to those who didn’t have any internships.
Your first job, whether it’s an internship or a full-time one, is important for many reasons. It determines your career trajectory. It can set you up for success if everything aligns or it can give you a slow start if for some reason it doesn’t work out as expected. Knowing the different aspects to consider in your first job allows you to make a better decision on which opportunities to pursue.
Job Searches
Employers looking for entry-level candidates often want to see some kind of experience on your résumé. Volunteer work counts as experience. The only difference is that you aren’t paid for this work — but it’s still work. It also shows that you’re a caring and involved individual who takes an active role in the community.
Mercer Match, powered by Pymetrics, is an impressive tool that lets you learn more about yourself through games. You can play these games for free on your laptop or on your smartphone through an app you can download. Underlying these games is decades-long neuroscience research that helps you identify top skills and traits as you complete the various games.
Paddle is a great tool that helps you figure out what you like and gives you insight into what career sectors may be of interest to you. It’s also free to take the assessment and to get a basic report. Instead of using games, like Mercer Match does, Paddle takes you through a series of A versus B type questions — about 45 of them — so that it can learn about you.
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