Times are tough. Many students are finding it difficult to land the perfect internship or the post-graduation job that will launch their career. When a student or new graduate is sending out resume after resume, it can be very discouraging when the response rate is low. Even if your resume is excellent by anyone's standard, the competition is still fierce and it's easy to get down on yourself. So here I am with a few tips to make your resume stand out, gain some experience when the job market is slow, and best of all you can feel good about yourself at the end of the day, knowing that you are making a difference in your community.
1) Go paperless.
You might have an uncle or someone else in your network that suggests snail mailing a paper copy of your resume and cover letter to potential employers. Unless a job posting specifically requests applicants to mail their resume, I would strongly discourage this approach. There are several reasons for this. One is the environmental aspect: don't print any more paper than you really need to. If you are asked to an interview, bring hard copies of your resume and references at this point, but don't send hard copies with every application. The other side to not sending hard copy resumes is that even small companies are receiving literally hundreds of unique applications for every job opening. Each application needs to make it into a software application that allows for sorting and tracking the applicants. This is difficult to do with hard copy resumes- no software will scan and import the text quite right, and you may not show up in candidate searches for this reason. In addition, the person who receives a hard copy resume is probably not the recruiter or hiring manager, but rather an assistant or admin. Your best bet to reach the people who have a say in hiring is to follow the posted instructions for applying to a job online. 99.999% of the time, applicants are asked to apply online directly through the company website or to send a soft copy resume and cover letter to an email alias. Follow the directions posted on the job description to ensure that your resume makes it to the right people.
2) Volunteer at local nonprofits.
Having a hard time landing a paying internship or job? These are not the only positive things you can list on your resume. While you search for a job, volunteer at local nonprofits. This is a great way to serve your community and gain some practical skills employers are looking for. Are you studying computer science? See if any thrift stores need help setting up their computer networks. Software development? Offer to write a new database for a food donation charity to keep track of incoming donations. Even if it is difficult to find a volunteer opportunity that matches your career goals, look for aspects of the tasks that are transferable to what you want to do or that give you a chance to practice what you spent so much time studying at school. Be sure to list it in your resume, and rest easy knowing that you are making a difference.
3) Get involved in online communities.
Online communities are an amazing way to learn from people all over the world and to network with people locally and globally. Get involved in some forums and blogs that are dedicated to your area of interest and expertise. Help people with problems, enter contests that require you to demonstrate skills, ask questions when you need help, and share your knowledge. You might be surprised to learn that gremlin32214 lives up the street from you and has an open position for someone with just your knowledge. Also, many forums hire their moderators from frequent and knowledgeable posters, which is another way to beef up your resume and maybe even make a little cash.
4) Network 'till you drop.
I'm sure many students are tired of hearing the word "network". I'm sorry, but I'm going to bring it up again. Perhaps though, I might be viewing networking in a different way than many people. Most people think of networking as showing up to some stuffy event in a suit and wandering around, schmoozing with a bunch of people you don't really care to know except that it is important to you to find a job, so you do it because someone told you it was important. Well, that someone was right- it is important, but if networking events aren't really your thing (and if they aren't your thing, you probably haven't been to Sun's student networking events)then there are a few other ways you can network. Volunteer at the local senior citizen's center to help seniors learn to use computers, teach a children's class at the local library, whatever sounds interesting to you. (Again, you can put these on a resume and you are still helping out the community.)Even just chat with the people in line with you at the grocery store. Be sure you let it drop in conversation that you are looking for work and what you want to do. You might find that a senior citizen has a daughter or grandson looking to hire someone just like you, and dear grandma spoke so highly of you that they are asking you to apply and interview. Or a child's parent from the library is impressed with your interpersonal skills and refers you to a colleague who has been searching for you for months. Think of creative ways to demonstrate your skill while meeting new people who share some similar interests.
5) Pass on your experiences and knowledge to younger siblings or classmates.
This may seem like a silly way to find a job, but think of this both as being an in-the-moment technique as well as "networking into the future". Any kid or younger college classmate that you tutor or help now will eventually be in the position to hire you or refer you to a colleague, so any sort of positive connection you can make with people that are not only hiring today, but that will be hiring in the next 5, 10, or 20 years, will go a long way towards making an impression that will not be forgotten. It is amazing how many people you might meet in 10 years that you thought you would never see again. Make a good impression now and perhaps you can reap some reward from it later.