When it comes to college, people have different experiences. Some have a whirlwind of fun and parties with classes mixed in, while others take jobs in between classes. But the majority of students all have the same issue after the commencement ceremonies have concluded — finding a job.
Are you in this situation? Here are some tips on how to land employment in Florida.
Don’t Rely on Online Job Listing Sites
It can become a ritual — you get up in the morning and go to job sites, like Indeed, and find listings. While some people have success this way, the numbers aren’t in your favor. For every listing, they receive thousands of applicants. Also, 80% of job openings aren’t posted online, so you’re missing out on a lot.
You can use these sites but don’t make them your only strategy. There are plenty of other resources out there, and you can get better results and wind up working for companies that value your rights and will protect you while you’re on the job. There are 36 states, along with Washington D.C. that require a business with one or more employees to have workers’ compensation coverage.
Network
Don’t hesitate to delve deeper into job search sites. Many of them have areas where people who work in the same field can post about their interests. It’s in these parts of the sites that you might have more luck. Also, instead of looking at job listings, you could look up the profiles of hiring managers at the sites and contact them directly.
Another thing you might want to do is see where alumni at your school are employed. There’s always a chance that someone who went there in the past might have school spirit and be willing to give a helping hand to those who are just graduating. It’s worth reaching out to them and seeing what they have to say.
Have a Plan
Take a look at yourself, and think about what your strengths and weaknesses are — it’s a good idea to do this around the time you’re hitting your junior year. You don’t necessarily have to look at these things in the light of your college major — many people wind up working in a completely different field than their field of study.
Then, you can look at businesses that would benefit from those strengths and create a narrative about how the two of you would be a perfect match. If you can get internships in those fields, you can bolster your chances with recommendations. See if you can find mobile apps for small businesses — 32% of them have a mobile app and 42% are going to build one in the future, so you can get another way to communicate with them.
Be Determined
The current job search market is very different from the one that your parents were in. A lot of the opportunities are online, including possible side hustles that you can do to supplement your income while you search for the job you really want. The main thing is to keep a sense of determination — always keep your primary goal of being hired in mind.
Create individual cover letters and tweak them around the particulars of the job. Hiring managers don’t like getting emails that seem to have been crafted from the same template. Make yourself stand out.
If there’s one central point here when it comes to job searching, it’s this: believe in yourself. You know what you’re capable of doing, and you need to be able to show that to businesses. Even if it takes a while, you should be polite and steadfast in all of your correspondence and in-person interviews. It’ll all pay off at some point.
You can use the above as a blueprint to get yourself hired. Then it’s on to the next step: making yourself stand out at your job. Good luck!
