It's a tooth-and-nail battle in global job markets today. Students tend to have it the hardest just by virtue of being new to the game. As a student, a lack of experience can actually be both a blessing and a curse. If you know what you're doing, you can use your inexperience to your advantage by presenting as a trainable candidate.
Everyone, but especially students, needs to put their best foot forward. In this piece, we'll highlight exactly how you can do that to help you boost your employability.
1. Design a unique portfolio for yourself
Even if your field doesn't require applicants to submit portfolios, submitting one will help you stand out from the crowd. Create an appealing, well-designed portfolio that brands you as a person they want to hire by including relevant projects, using a logo maker to make it look professional and structuring it so it's easy to follow.
The purpose of a portfolio is to showcase your achievements and range of works so far - this can include university projects and mock-up case studies. Where resumes give a background list of your experiences, a portfolio goes into detail about some of the relevant projects. You can even include more than the most impressive accomplishments - awards, big projects, school work - like passion projects and experiments that show your interest in the subject.
2. Broaden Your Knowledge
Of course, you'll want to focus on skills and knowledge in your field, but don't be afraid to branch out while researching for an upcoming interview. The seemingly unrelated news article you read in your research might tie into one of the employer's client stories or their own services, or might just make for good rapport building. Not to mention, every field is moving so quickly these days that there's something new to learn every day, so you could even impress your interviewers with a few things they haven't even heard about yet. Going above and beyond shows your motivation, and devotion to the work.
3. Get More Experience in Your Industry
The more experience you have, the more enticing you are to employers - that way they will spend fewer resources on training and can get value from you faster. Even if you're in an industry where more experience seems impossible - like getting medical experience without a license - there are likely to be volunteer organisations adjacent to your work and eager to accept you. And if you're having trouble finding them, reach out to local companies and ask if they want an intern or volunteer. You can even try to visit and check organisations out - chances are you will learn something and you might find someone who wants you to help them without them having realised it.
Besides, if you're not sure which experience could be useful, the internet has endless lists and suggestions for you. For example, small engineering companies love taking on interns, and legal services check for school debate teams and club committee memberships on resumes.
4. Network and Make Connections
As they say, it's not what you know, but who you know - the more people you start meeting at networking events and opportunities, the more chances of landing a job you have. Every industry and sector has networking events, you just need to find them and go along. If you're new to networking, don't be intimidated; it's a skill like any other and you'll become more comfortable in these spaces as you practise. And once you've been to one, you might realise how much fun they can be, and maybe even make some great friends.
But besides in-person events, don't forget to make yourself known online too. LinkedIn is a social media platform built for making connections, but your sector may prefer another platform, so look around.
5. Develop your soft skills
Soft skills don't always appear on your resume, but they can in your interviews. Soft skills relate to your personality and interpersonal skills and are less about the role itself and more about how you solve problems and work with people. Soft skills are more natural to develop than the other things on this list. Try new things, join clubs, present in your university classes, get into personal fashion, self-care or just read some books. If you want more specific skills you can tackle, have a look at Harvard's top skills for professionals. This will work as a guide for your efforts - for example, to improve analytical thinking, you can learn literary analysis or join a debate club.
When shooting your shot in a competitive job market, you need to give yourself the best chance of success through the best preparation possible. Ideally, you should take a holistic approach to learning, as everything from personal development, and creating a winning portfolio to visiting some local organisations can help you stay a step ahead of the game. Companies have different tastes in recruits and look for different skill sets, so don't be disheartened if you're turned away during your applications, it's all part of the process, but keep trying. Soon you will land your first job, and it'll all be worth it.
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