How to succeed at your first job search as a fresher

Table of Contents

• How to get a job
  • Reflect on your career aspirations
  • Research potential industries and job roles
  • Build the right skills for the job you want
  • Build your social media presence
  • Conduct informational interviews
  • Tailor your resume and cover letter
  • Prepare for your interview
  • Send a Thank You email
• Conclusion

This is the ground reality, folks. Nobody tells you how to get your first job. Not your classmates. Not your teachers. Definitely not parents. If you’re lucky and have a good Placement Cell, you can perhaps rely on their network to get placed in a good company. Otherwise, the road can get a little dark.

Luckily, we have put together this short, definitive guide on how to get a job for freshers.

How to get a job

There is no single best way to find a job. There are a series of steps you need to take to get that interview and the final congratulatory call. Now you can get just about any job without putting much thought into it. But if you want to get your dream job, then you have to go about it the right way.

So let’s look a little closer at the starting steps on how to apply for a job.

Step 1) Reflect on your career aspirations.

Trust us, we cannot emphasize enough on the importance of this step. You have to know what you want, right from the start.

So start right. List down answers to important questions:

• Why do you want to get into this line of work?
• What interests you the most about it?
• How do you wish to grow in this career path in the next 5 years?

Answering these questions will not only give you the much-needed clarity at the start of your career, but will also help you when you sit for those interviews.

Step 2) Research potential industries and job roles.

The next step is to understand which are the companies that will give you an opportunity and exposure to your career goals. Now, just because you want to get into Tech, doesn’t mean you have to join an IT company. You may benefit more from working in a product company that employs tech. So your list of organizations and industries will be varied. Even the job roles you’ll find in each industry might vary accordingly.

Step 3) Build the right skills for the job you want

This step is key to the ever-running question in your mind - “How can I get the job?” And the answer in a word is skills. You need to build the right skills for the job you want. The easiest way to do so is by signing up for an online course that gives you the skills you need. These days, it is very simple to find a course like this. But you may want to consider these aspects before signing up for one:

• Is the course in line with the industry trends?
• Does it provide enough hands-on experience?
• Will my doubts be cleared?
• Will I be able to finish the course?

If you’re looking at one of our job-ready certification programs, the answers to all the above questions is resounding YES!

Once you have acquired the skills, that is when to start applying for jobs.

Step 4) Build your Social Media presence

In today’s hyper-digital world, having an online presence is a must. It builds credibility with the employer and also gives them a peek into your work ethic, interests and values in general. So whether it is your first job search or a shift in your career, having an online presence is pretty smart. For most types of jobs, a Linkedin profile works. But depending on your specific industry, you may want to decide which platform works best for you. For example, if you’re a digital marketer, you must have a good online presence on social media channels. If you’re a developer, then you should have a Github profile.

Step 5) Conduct Informational Interviews

Informational interviews are something you conduct with the people of the company/field in which you are interested in getting a job. Remember our Step 1? With informational interviews, you can understand if your career goals are aligned with what the organization or the industry has to offer. You simply need to connect with an employee in the company/field via Linkedin and ask them a set of prepared questions.

If your informational interview is going satisfactorily, the employee can also give you tips from their experience on how to get a job in the company/field of your choosing.

Step 6) Tailor your resume and cover letter

Even if you’re a fresher, your resume for the first job plays a very important role. While there are many templates of resumes for freshers looking for their first job, we strongly recommend you to go through this Masterclass recording which shows step-by-step on what your resume and cover letter should look like.

Did we also mention that our Placement Plus program and Internship Plus program covers a course on crafting the perfect resume for your first job?

Step 7) Prepare for your interview

With your strong preparation and a stunning resume, we are sure you will get that interview call. But this is no time to slack off. You should practice for a set of standard questions that all interviews cover. You must do your research and due diligence on the employer. You have to dress well. And if the interview is a virtual one, make sure you have a steady net connection and are audible and visible at all times.

Step 8) Send a Thank You Email

If you think it’s done and dusted after the interview, you’re wrong. So what is the last step before getting a job? It is thanking the company. Irrespective of whether or not your interview went well, you must thank the employer for devoting their time to connect with you. Whether or not you get the opportunity, it makes a positive impression on your interviewer, and definitely boosts your chances of getting the job.

Conclusion

With these effective strategies, we are sure you now have a general idea of how to get a job. But like we said earlier, to get the right job you need to put concentrated efforts in many directions. For example, mock interview preparation, vocabulary building and other soft skills. These are available as a part of the upGrad Campus Placement Plus and upGrad Campus Internship Plus programs that guarantee you 3 job and internship opportunities, respectively. As per students, it is the best way to find a job.

If you need more information on the programs, let us know in the comments below.