The beginning of a new year tends to launch high school leavers and university graduates into a looming pit of cluelessness, as the inevitable reality of job hunting arrives. We’ve gone from hours of studying, part-time retail jobs and the yearly three-month break during summer to this life-altering moment. It hits all of us eventually – we knew it was coming, but it doesn’t make searching for a full-time job any easier.
Looking after your wellbeing while entering this stage of life is really important. It’s a little bit daunting when you’re new to the world of the dreaded 9-5, 40 hours a week. The shift from adolescence to adulthood can shake up what you’ve considered ‘reality’, and tackling this post-Covid is just another stressor that adds onto the job search. First, it’s the challenge of creating or updating a CV and trying to shove all of your value onto a couple sheets of paper. This task can be pretty hard, but there are loads of courses online, or even just tutorial videos that can help you address what to add in, and what to leave out. Confiding in family or other professionals around you can be a great start too – it can be scary asking for help, but so many people are happy to flick you a few tips or read over your resume when you're starting out.
Signing up to websites like Seek and Indeed was scary for me at first. I wasn’t sure which industry really fitted with my degree, and some of the terms included in the descriptions weren’t familiar so I just scrolled past them and felt a bit overwhelmed trying to navigate through hundreds of job listings. When I found something that seemed like it might suit me, I then read through requirements and found most of these jobs require at least a year of previous experience. For recent graduates, even with a couple internships under their belts, it can seem as if the industry is unreachable. When this obstacle hits, it’s best to try and ground yourself and make sure you’re not slipping into mindsets where you convince yourself you’ll never get anywhere. The trick is to remain positive and keep trying. Even if a job requires more experience than you think you have – apply for it anyway. The worst thing that will happen is you don’t get an interview.
Once you get past the applying and actually get the opportunity to be interviewed, it can be a bit daunting not knowing what questions will come up, and worrying that you’ll not have anything to say. Preparing for interviews can make you feel a lot more confident going into them, and having a good idea of common questions and how to approach them may leave you impressing interviewers. It’s a good idea to do some basic research on the company you’re applying for – finding out their values and looking at their website is a great start. Also, thoroughly read the job description and try to relate your own skills/experience to things the listing mentions. Even if it is a small connection, it’s best to have some ideas on what to say to prove you would be a good candidate. Taking note of your strengths and weaknesses and having them ready to explain is a good place to start too. Always make sure to prepare three to five good questions about the job to ask when the interview is over – that way if some of them are answered during the meeting, you’ll still have at least a couple good ones to go to.
If you don’t get a job straight away, don’t get too down about it. You can always call or email and ask for feedback after an interview doesn’t work out; it might help you do better when you next get an opportunity somewhere else!
Keep in mind that looking online for positions is not your only source of finding something that works for you. Look out for hiring flyers on small local business windows, and let people close to you know you are looking for a job – sometimes word of mouth is the best way to get your foot in the door. The biggest advice I can give to people in the same predicament as me right now is this: if you start to feel a bit overwhelmed, take some time out to breathe, rest, and practise some self care. Don’t give up either. Take everything one step at a time and consider all interviews that don’t work out as opportunities to gain more experience for the next one.
I’m definitely no expert. I am still deep in the search for a job myself, but hopefully by sharing the challenges and tips I’ve come across, I can help make some eager go-getters feel a bit less intimidated by the process.
