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According to the MonsterTRAK 2007 Entry-Level Job Survey, members of the Class of 2007 like their chances of landing good jobs in fairly short order after graduation.
Indeed, 55 percent of the more than 2,000 grads-to-be surveyed said they’re confident (31 percent), very confident (17 percent) or extremely confident (7 percent) about the job market they’ll enter after they graduate. Moreover, nearly 75 percent of the grads-to-be said they expect to receive two or more offers during their job searches.
Meanwhile, 76 percent of the 900-plus employers surveyed say they’ll be hiring new college graduates this spring or summer, and 38 percent say their organizations will hire more new grads this year than last.
But rosy employment pictures can too easily lead to complacency, says Julie Goldthwait, vice president and general manager of MonsterTRAK. “You’re not entitled to anything,” Goldthwait says. “You still have to work hard and brand yourself professionally.”
Indeed, as the survey results show, employers won’t be giving jobs to just anyone who shows up with a resume and a pulse. They will be expecting a lot from you as a candidate.
So how do you make sure you’re a strong applicant for one of these positions? This advice will help guide your entry-level job search.
Experience Is Essential -- as Is Professionalism
One of the more intriguing findings of the employer study reveals that 60 percent of the employers surveyed have formal internship programs in their organizations, with 19 percent saying their current internship program is larger than it was in 2006.
From the employer’s perspective, experience is no longer optional for college students or recent grads; it’s essential. In fact, 30 percent of employers surveyed said experience is the number-one factor they consider when hiring new college grads.
“Employers are just more familiar with what to expect from someone who has experience versus someone who doesn’t,” says Goldthwait. So if you don’t have much experience, you may want to give serious thought to ways you can get some now, be it through a postgraduation internship, temping or volunteering.
Even more critical is the level of professionalism you demonstrate to employers, especially during job interviews. Forty percent of the employers surveyed pinpointed “personal characteristics” (e.g., demeanor, interviewing skills, preparation) as the top factor they look at when hiring new grads.
Unfortunately, participating employers noted, too many college students and recent grads are flunking the professionalism test. When the employers were asked, “What is the most common mistake that recent college graduates make during the first interview?” the top response -- cited by 30 percent of employers -- was “unprofessional behavior” like being late and, especially, dressing inappropriately.
Fairly or unfairly, even something as seemingly innocuous as wearing too many earrings or prominently displaying your large shoulder tattoo will unnecessarily hurt your chances, Goldthwait says.
“Who’s to say that the person who’s not well-groomed and professionally dressed isn’t the better candidate?” she says. “Unfortunately, the employer will go with first impressions before going further to understand where your skills lie. It’s almost like your looking unprofessional is a distraction -- if you have five earrings in your ear, you’re marketing and branding the wrong part of you, literally.”
The Wrong Message: ‘I Don’t Care’
The other way you’ll quickly eliminate yourself from consideration is to go into an entry-level job interview with little or no knowledge of the company/organization you’re interviewing with. In fact, the second-most-common interviewing mistake, which 27 percent of the employers mentioned, is “not doing enough research about the company/industry.”
“What it says to the employer is, ‘You don’t have enough interest to find out about my company and my position,’” says Goldthwait.
Instead, offer evidence of just the opposite by thoroughly studying the company/organization you’re pursuing. That means going beyond a quick Google search or a visit to the firm’s Web site and reading about the company in trade publications or even talking to its current employees.
You have every reason to be confident this year where your entry-level job search is concerned. Just make sure you give prospective employers every reason to be confident in you, too.
