finding a grad job

photo credit: Flickr

As a college graduate, you’re going to be awfully excited to get into the working world.  You can finally kiss college goodbye and start to proceed to pay off your student loans.  Now, if you haven’t found a job yet, you’re going to want to start your search!

The first thing that you’re going to learn is that you want to keep a positive attitude.  If you’re going to think negative, you’re going to follow that path.  Keep your head up high and be prepared for rejection.  It’s going to happen!

#1 Start with your college – Your college is going to have some sort of career office.  What you’re going to want to do is set up an appointment with an adviser and ask him/her on what kind of openings that are out there.  A lot of the times you’re going to have to start out at an intern level to be considered.

#2 Try job search engines – There are a lot of great job search engines out there.  Two of my favorites include Indeed, as well as SimplyHired.  Both of these are going to spider 1000s of jobs out there and bring them to you under one search.

#3 Try CraigslistWhat you’re going to find is that a lot of Craiglist jobs won’t pop up on sites such as Indeed, etc.  Instead, try searching Craigslist in your area.  If the job is good, you’re going to find that it won’t last long, so you’re going to want to act fast!

#4 Try Fortune 500 companies - This is a good trick that many people don’t think about.  What you can do is get a list of the Fortune 500 companies.  Each of these companies are going to have career pages on there.  Since many of these companies are located nationwide, you can search for jobs right on their site.

#5 Try old school methods - Yes, people still use the newspaper, but a lot of people don’t really use the search anymore.  Try looking in the paper on a Sunday.  While some cities don’t have a big section, others may.  It doesn’t hurt to look!

#6 Attend a job fair - Job fairs are always happening.   What you can do is search for upcoming job fairs.  Even if you have to drive 400 miles, you may find it worth it.  All you’re going to do here is basically get your name out.

#7 Word of mouth - This is the best way to get a job.  Network with your friends on Facebook, or even the newer network social engine, LinkedIn.  These are both great ways to get into contact with those that are in your industry.

Finding a job is just like having a job.  You’re going to have to put in big hours each week searching and just don’t give up!  If you have an education, you’re already a step ahead of the guy that doesn’t have one.