A struggle I’ve had with so many of my peers is they complain about not finding great jobs after graduation.
“The job market is so bad.”
“Nobody is hiring right now.”
The truth is, you don’t want a job bad enough to really invest in applying for one. How many times have you called the place where you want to work? How many times have you emailed them, and persevered?
I wouldn’t encourage you to bug recruiters, as they are very busy people. But if you apply once on Monster or some other recruiting site, do you think you stand out from the other 500 people who are applying for the same job?
Once while talking to a well-established consultant, I asked him how he sorted through the stack of applications on his desk. He told me that on occasion one person would reach out to him substantially more than the others. Obviously, experience plays a key role. But his philosophy is that if you want it (the job) more than others who apply then when you’re hired you most likely will do a better job.
If you want to stand out from the rest, don’t do what everyone else does. Call the company you want to work for, don’t email. Go turn your resume in, in person. Take a risk in being creative, so they know just how badly you want it.
And when the situation calls for it, make a Whataresume.
I graduated from college last May. I had a few different options of places to go work. The most intriguing, was a fast food chain you may have heard of called Whataburger.
I’ve partaken in Whataburger’s delicious meals since I was a young tot. After my baseball games we would drive through and I’d get a number one with meat, cheese, and ketchup only. It was fantastic and win-or-lose, Whataburger always made the nights end on a fantastic note.
Whataburger is one of the few fast food companies who do social media really well. They have a full team of folks who sit around all day and respond to customers who reach out to them, it’s pretty awesome.
I think any 22 year olds’ dream job is to sit at a desk all day and run social media for a company they think is cool. During the time I was job hunting after graduation they had posted an opening in their social media/communications department, I applied.
I wanted to make sure I stood out among the applicants, so one afternoon I spent four hours going through my social media profiles. I went as far back as 3 years ago and then created my Whataresume.
My Whataresume is just a small example of how you can try your best to stand out among the hundreds of people you’re going up against. I ended up not getting the job, but that’s not the point.
If you really want something bad enough, be willing to take bold risks. Even if an employer decides not to hire you, they may refer you to someone else. If you didn’t work hard to get something, you won’t appreciate it when it comes.
By Heath Padgett: I used to play baseball, now I’m part of an awesome start up in Austin called YouEarnedIt. My goal is to learn as much as possible at this stage of my career. The hope would be to eventually launch a company of my own, with a product that makes people’s lives better.
