1. Don’t wait till you graduate to apply for jobs.
Don’t wait till you’re thrown out of your hostel room in school to start applying for a job. Start your job search early using your provisional results transcript.
Going by the Kenyan academic calendar, most students graduate starting the month of May onwards. If we use basic math rules here, we can say that the probability of getting your CV read by the human resource manager is higher during the months of February to April than from May to December.
Reason being, with more and more graduates joining the “job-search caravan”, it only means that more CVs are being sent out per job post. The more applicants there are per job post, the slimmer your chances of being noticed by the employers!
Don’t wait till you graduate to apply for jobs.
2. Take advantage of the power of Social Media
Twitter:
Follow businesses and individuals you are interested in, don’t be afraid to tag them in some of your tweets occasionally
Facebook:
Populate the “About” section with your skill and education portfolio to optimize your professional appeal. Like pages of your potential companys.
LinkedIn:
Connect to people who have careers you are interested in. Search who have a degree or diploma that is similar or related to what your pursued in school. Try to get recommendations and endorsements from friends.
3. Don’t be ashamed of telling people that you’re looking for a job
Gone are the days when you would rely on the newspaper to access job vacancy announcements. Nowadays, most companies prefer to hire on a referral basis. Some companies actually approach some of their best employees requesting them to refer the right people for various jobs.
4. Stop Expecting an insanely huge salary
Being a graduate and a person who doesn’t have lots of skills hands-on skills. It would be unrealistic to hope to find a job that pays you a 6 figure salary unless you’re very lucky! Most jobs that you’ll come across might be offering a median starting gross salary in the range of Ksh30,000 and Ksh50,000.
You could be expecting better pay for your skills, but be ready to start small. As the old saying goes “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.”
5. Stop using one CV to apply for multiple job openings
- Your CV (as a fresh graduate) should not exceed 1 page on an A4 sized piece of paper. At most, take it to 1 and a half pages.
- Don’t use one CV to apply for multiple job openings. Make a point of writing a unique resume for each and every application made.
- Research – Research about the employer (organization, company or individual) and use your CV to intelligently show that you are aware about the business of the company.
- Skills –Put the skills that matter to the potential employer first. For example if you are applying to work as a customer care rep in a telecommunication firm make sure you place special emphasis on your “Good communication skills”, “IT skills” etc. Provide links to some of your current/past work/achievements as well.
- Emphasis – Place minimal emphasis on: Your Gender, Religion, Village Background, KCPE grades and your many roles as a class prefect. Unless the employer insists on you providing such details, avoid..