How to get ready for your first ”grown-up” job

By September 8, 2017For Talent

Freshers week is on the horizon and before you know it, you’ll be at your graduation trying not to fall as you walk across the stage to collect your degree.

It might be hard to believe but in just a few short months you’ll be leaving your college days behind you to join the real working world…

Don’t panic! You still have lots of time. We’ve put together a handy guide to help you to get ready for your first real ”grown-up” job.

We promise it’s not as scary as it sounds.

1. Take your CV online

Paper resumes are completely dead so you can ditch that nifty little template your careers teacher helped you to put together in secondary school. To get a job today you need to have a strong online presence.

Set up a Jobbio profile and update it regularly. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have much work experience just yet, put all your skills, modules and any extra curricular activities that you think will be relevant on there. All these things could help you to catch an employer’s eye.

Once you have your profile set up, start to look around. See what kind of jobs appeal to you. Do you have all the mandatory requirements for them or are there areas that you need to work on? Now is a great time to fill in any gaps in your skill set.

It’s also a good idea to reach out to the companies that interest you. Read their bio pages, watch their videos, and get a sense of what it would be like to work there. If you find an interesting brand make sure that you follow them. You should also follow any channels that may be relevant to the field that you want to work in.

2. Network your ass off

College campuses are tight-knit communities, which is annoying when you make a drunken mistake and everyone knows about it the next day, but also a great thing when you’re trying to grow your network. In your final year, you should take advantage of this and try to meet as many people as possible.

Attend college career events and get involved with different societies on campus. Connecting with your Alumni group will also help to open up lots of doors. You never know, they might be able to help you find a job after graduation.

3. Work on your personal brand

Most of us cringe at the thought of a personal brand but the truth is, to get ahead in today’s workplace you need to have one. As we mentioned before, your Jobbio profile needs to be on point. That means having a professional photo and punchy intro that tells potential employers what kind of person you are.

If you work in an industry that needs an online portfolio now is the time to start working on one. You might even be able to polish an existing one. A good portfolio could be key to landing a decent graduate job, especially when you do not have any previous job experience to fall back on.

You’ll also need to clean up your social media. No hiring manager wants to see pictures of you during freshers week when you’re applying to a graduate scheme. Make sure your social media pages are on private. Ditch any cringe-worthy emails such as xLiTlE-DaRLiNzx@hotmail.com and make sure that your voicemail isn’t your favourite tune. Now is not the time to blast Beyouncé.


Find your perfect graduate job at Jobbio HIGHER on September 28th. Sign up for free now.


Author Alice Murray

Alice Murray is a Content Creator at Jobbio with a passion for Employer Branding and Graduate Culture. She's a keen traveller and a self-proclaimed lazy runner.

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