Things you do to find a job online is actually more interesting than spending time on Facebook or Instagram. Preparing a resume, and revising it, can help you know what you need to learn, unlearn and relearn almost instantly. It makes you realize everything you need to know about you – how you started your life, how you realized who you are, what are you capable of, what you need to change, how you changed so far, where are you going with all your life experiences, and what you want to become. Everything.

It is possible to find the right opportunity even when the colleges don't teach you what it takes to be the right candidate and when the market condition is tough. This post is aimed to help the recent graduates. It will help you highlight the knowledge, skills, and experiences which gains employers attention. So, here are few things that you can do to find a suitable job:

1.      Search the industries and the opportunities from the top 3 job portals of your country, based on your educational qualification.

o  Search using the key terminologies in your area of expertise and job titles. If you are a graduate in Metallurgy, search using terms like heat treatment, steel/iron making, metallurgical testing, material science, mineral beneficiation, etc. If you are a graduate in Law, search using job titles like Legal Executive, Legal Assistant, Legal Associate, Legal Consultant, etc. 

2.      List the details of the identified opportunities in a spreadsheet. Create columns that are titled – Industry Type, Company Name, Job Titles or Designations, Job Level or Grade, Job Description, Skills / Competencies Needed, Work Location, Salary Range, Recruiter Name, Contact Details, Date of Application and Date of Follow-Up.

3.      Understand the roles and responsibilities of the opportunities identified. You may talk to your college seniors, professors, employees and others in your network to know more about what people do in these roles, why they do it and how it helps the company.

4.      Check and enroll for training or certifications or internships (with or without pay) or complete a self-study to learn more about the role. Training or certifications are easier, quicker, costly and involve theoretical learning mostly. Finding internships is difficult, time-consuming, costs less or nothing and involves practical learning mostly. As a matter of fact, you may even get a stipend for internships.

5.      From the job descriptions, find out the roles and responsibilities that you think you can perform well. Rewrite these points in your own words depending on your level of knowledge, skills and learning experience. The lines re-written could well become a Unique Selling Point (USP) in your resume.

For example, let’s say a job description for a Graduate Engineer Trainee states ‘Responsible for production planning for an Elevator Door Manufacturing unit’. You happened to observe the elevator door manufacturing during an industrial training/internship or learned production planning through an online course. You may write something like “Gained theoretical knowledge of Elevator Door Manufacturing in an industrial training conducted by ABC Elevators between Oct-17 and Jan-18” or “Completed an online course on Production Planning for a manufacturing plant in learnxyz.com”. Write the statements only if you have the necessary learning experience for the job opportunity.

6.      Based on your research from the points above, prepare a resume that very specifically highlights the industry you want to work for, the roles you are targeting, the relevant learning experiences and the knowledge/skills you gained to perform the role. The best of the resume samples for entry-, mid- and senior-level positions can be found in most of the top job sites such as naukri.com: Here’s the link: https://resume.naukri.com/resume-samples?fftid=101004

7.      Create your job profiles in the top job sites and the social media sites for professional networking. In India, you may create the profiles in Naukri.com, Monsterindia.com, and Timesjobs.com. In UAE, create profiles in Bayut.com, Monstergulf.com, and Naukrigulf.com. In both the countries, create a profile in LinkedIn.com to build your professional network.

8.      Use key terminologies, skills, and competencies of the targeted industry or role in your resumes and online profiles strategically. Remember, recruiters search for the candidates using these terminologies.

9.      You may maintain multiple profiles for multiple interests in the job sites. Edit your profiles and apply for jobs regularly (almost every day). You may not get calls from the companies you have applied for; however, you will get calls from other companies because you update your profile regularly – which makes you an active job seeker.

10.  Use multiple channels to communicate with the recruitment team. Finding and applying for jobs online has its own pros and cons. It is true that applying jobs has become easier; however, it has also become highly competitive and difficult to be noticed by the recruiters. There are job posts online that are viewed by 20000 people - in which 5000 candidates could have applied at least. Below are few things you can do to highlight your profile to beat the heavy competition.

o  Opt for the paid services provided by the job sites to highlight your profile to the employers.

o  Find the recruiter’s contact details in the job post. If the job post only has the name of the recruiter, find and connect with the person through LinkedIn. If the recruiter accepts your LinkedIn request, you may also get his/her contacts details.

o  Build a strong professional network. Send LinkedIn requests to the recruiters and the employees who work in the targeted companies. If you are unable to find the recruiter who posted a job online, you may send messages to these contacts and request them to refer you to the right person. Make sure you do this only after you apply for the job online.

o  Make a phone call or write an email or send a message through LinkedIn to the recruiter with a brief description of who you are, the job ad you noticed, and what makes you a suitable candidate for the role. If possible, include your Application ID and a copy of resume in the messages.

11.  Prepare and practice (1000 times if needed) a brief introduction that you will use for the phone calls. This introduction should not exceed more than 30 seconds. The introduction should briefly tell them about the opportunity you noticed on the job site and how the knowledge, skills, and experience you have which makes you a perfect fit.

12.  Know when you need to follow-up and prepare a ‘follow-up conversation’ for phone calls and emails. You will find a lot of email samples online.

13.  Prepare for the interview – prepare for the questions related to the core competencies, roles, and responsibilities mentioned in the job descriptions. The recruiters will also ask questions based on your answers in the interview. So, keep your answers simple and concise.

14.  Know the roles and responsibilities of the job you are applying for, what the department does for the company and what the company does for its customers. If you don’t know the answer for at least two of these, it’s best not to attend the interview.

15.  If you are nervous about attending an interview or making a phone call, that’s perfectly fine. It is a job interview and that’s how it is supposed to be. Your nervousness only means that the opportunity is important to you. The more interviews you attend, the more confident you become. The more you fail, the better you learn.

Sometimes, it could become frustrating if you aren’t getting through any of the interviews. However, find the job openings, submit applications and attend interviews like it’s your duty. Nevertheless, an honest preparation, targeted approach, effective planning and strategic execution are essential to find the right opportunity.