An Nguyen

A tweet from @CareerBuilder inspires me to write this. I have included a screenshot of the tweet below.

From my experience, I so agree that one needs lots of hard work and a touch of luck to land a job in this current environment. I graduated in December and started to actively look for a job in the end of January. I just got a job offer on March 15 — about six weeks after I started actively looking. 

Prior to the end of January, I was looking for jobs, but not actively. I was just kind of on the look out for jobs and occasionally applied to jobs in my interests that I stumble upon. I was being overly confident. I thought I would surely get a call back from the few jobs that I applied for. I am so wrong. 

By the end of January, I had only applied for about eight jobs. No call backs of any kind! That was when I approached job searching differently. I was no longer just on the look out. I actively searched for jobs in my interests EVERY DAY. I no longer just went on one job Web site. Every day, I checked sites such as  Linked In, Indeed, Monster, my school’s career portal and Web sites of companies that I want to work for. I even reached out directly to companies to ask if they had any openings. 

I also worked hard to make sure that each application counts. Before, I used one generic resume and cover letter for almost every job that I applied for. Now, I catered my cover letter specifically to the job that I was applying for. I also checked my resume over and over to make sure that it is the best that it can be. Each job application took about an hour and half to two hours, not including the time for filling out personal data such as name, address, education, etc … I called and emailed employers about my application status. 

By the beginning of March, I had applied for about 35 jobs. I also got my first call back. I am lucky to say that I got the job. First, it is the first job that I got called back for. Second, everything went through in about two weeks. I did my first initial screening interview on a Wednesday, phone interview on Friday, in-person interview the next Friday (scored my next interview on the spot), three evaluations that very weekend, final interview on Monday. I received the job offer on Tuesday. I am very happy about the job that I got. :-) 

From my experience, I have a few tips to share with other recent college grads who are job searching. 

• Make every application counts. Spend time on your application to cater your resume and cover letter specifically to the job. 
• Reach out to the employer about your application status. It shows initiative and your interest in the job. 
• PREPARE, PREPARE, and PREPARE. You don’t know when an employer is going to call you, so be prepared to have answers ready, especially answers about yourself and your experiences. (You can ask to call the employer back if you are not prepared, but it just looks better if you can give the best answers on the first call.)
• RESEARCH about the company and the industry. I was grilled on what I know about the company and the industry. 
• PREPARE and PRACTICE your answers to interviewing questions. I spent about five days writing and practicing my answers to potential questions. Takes notes during your phone interview. I picked up what the employer is really looking for and what kinds of questions will be asked at the in-person interview from the phone interview. 
• Be prepared for off-the-wall questions. I was asked: “How many sheets of paper do you need to cover an entire tennis court?” Luckily, I knew how to do that problem. *phew*
• FOLLOW-UP/THANK YOU emails are extremely important. I sent a thank you/follow-up email to every person whom I interviewed with. I used these emails to bring up things that I forgot to touch upon or to reiterate things that I feel I didn’t explain to my best ability in the interview. I worked EXTRA hard on these because they can’t be long. The CEO who interviewed me sent me an email saying he is impressed by my follow-up skills. I would like to think that helped me to get the job. 
• Don’t lie about your interests. Out of the three evaluations that I took, two grilled me on my personality, attitude, personal motivators and interests in life. They are those psychological-analysis tests. The tests give really accurate results as to who and how I am as a person. If I had lied about my personality, personal interests or life goals to the employer, the tests would have proved it. 

I know job searching in the current economic situation could be dry, drawn-out and discouraging; but don’t let it affect your psyche. During my job searching process, I definitely felt despair a few times. When that happened, I took a day or two off from job searching. That usually helped me to come back renewed and re-energized. I also kept in mind that it took some of the people I personally know months, hundreds of applications and tens of interviews before they got anything. Sometimes, things do really come down to just luck. 

With that said, luck doesn’t always come or come when you want it to. So to make sure you will get that job, keep working hard. When that sprinkled bit of luck land on you, things will unfold the way you have been working hard for them to.