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Landing a Job

Start looking for a job right away. Some experts recommend looking for a job six to nine months before you want the job. But, in reality, you should never stop looking. Constantly keep your eyes open for new opportunities. Keep networking and building your list of contacts. You may decide not to work immediately upon graduation. But it sure would be nice to have the opportunity if you change your mind.

The Resume
The first thing you need is a resume. Absolutely everyone who may hire you will ask for a resume first. It will let potential employers know quickly if you have the experience and qualifications for the position they want to fill. Include your education, your work experience, other applicable experience outside of work and any awards you may have received that attest to skills applicable to the job you are seeking.

The wording of your resume is also very important. Make the resume dynamic. Use action verbs. "Managed all inventory," sounds more active than "in charge of all inventory." Keep in mind who will be reading this. Employers receive many resumes. They want a resume that speaks to them. But they're also very busy. So be concise. They would much rather read one well-written sentence than four describing the same thing in more detail.

Beyond the contents of your resume, its appearance is just as important. Your resume is all an employer knows about you. It represents you. So if your resume is unorganized, the employer will assume that you are unorganized. If your resume is well-thought out, organized, and pleasing to the eye, the employer will assume you have strong organizational skills and attention to detail.

The Interview
If your resume is well done and your experience matches what the employer is looking for, you have a good chance of making it to the next step of the process - the interview.

The key to success in an interview is to be prepared. Research the company as well as you can. Know what they do and how they do it. Be prepared to share some of what you've learned about the company in your interview. Also, take your knowledge of the company and determine how you fit in. How can your skills help the company? That is likely to be one of the questions asked in your interview.

Also research the standard interview questions and be prepared to answer them. What is your biggest weakness? Where do you see yourself in five years? There will be questions you don't expect. But at least you can be prepared for some of them.

Decide what you want to know about the company. Have questions prepared to ask at your interview. You want to give the impression that not only are they interviewing you, you are interviewing them.

If you come into the interview prepared not only to answer questions but to ask questions, you will appear more interested and confident - two very important qualities in the workplace.