Shoshana Feld-Sobol
Strategic and Corporate Communication (’17)

With just a few weeks left until graduation, the students in the Class of 2017 find themselves in one of two categories: employed or unemployed. While there are many good reasons for post-graduation unemployment such as grad school, gap year, personal reasons and the likes, many seniors are still looking for jobs.

Many of my friends are still going through the application and interview process for jobs, some have decided to start looking after graduation, and others are still figuring out where and how to apply.

If you’re a graduating senior seeking employment, or anyone seeking employment for that matter, here are some tips and tricks for getting the most out of your job search.

Utilize LinkedIn:
During my junior year, I took an inter term course where my class had the privilege of meeting key figures in venture capitalist firms. During that course, I got a piece of advice that stayed with me — have a great LinkedIn page. In fact, the venture capitalist who told this to our class informed us that if he didn’t feel confident about the LinkedIn page of someone he was potentially going to be funding, he didn’t even take a meeting with them. After hearing that, I beefed up my page, connecting with everyone I knew, and making sure to keep it up to date with my professional and extracurricular experiences. Having a great LinkedIn page not only sets you apart from others, but it is also a great way to get recruited, as it is used as a recruiters main platforms to seek new employees. Furthermore, LinkedIn has a great job section search area. Many employers seeking new hires will post updates on their LinkedIn page and update their company page informing their network of their open positions.

Use websites such as Monster and Glassdoor:
These websites are awesome for two reasons. The first is that they offer a service where you can actually upload your resume to their website and their team of resume experts will look at it and provide feedback at no cost. They also run it through the sale online pre-screen database that many companies are using today. These functions will search for key works and automatically summarize your resume for hiring managers. The other reason these sites are so great is that they, like LinkedIn, post jobs. You can utilize their filter section and get jobs in your field emailed directly to your inbox daily.

Reach out to everyone in your network:
This is a very important tip and shouldn’t be underestimated. A personal recommendation is often more valuable to an employer than what is on your resume. I know countless people who have secured jobs that they weren’t fully qualified for because they had a personal connection to someone and the employer knew that the person could grow into the roll. I have also had great experience using my network to connect me to companies that I believe my resume may have been overlooked if certain people at the company didn’t know me personally and my work ethic.

Reach out to your professors, peers and colleagues:
Similar to the last tip, these are the people that know you the best; they have seen how you work, know all that you’re involved in and want to see you succeed. Not everyone is constantly thinking about how they can help others find a job, however, if asked, people are more often than not happy to help. Your professor may not know your looking into a certain field, but by meeting with them, they may have some helpful tips for pursing that career path or better yet, know a colleague who is looking to hire.

Using these four tips above is a great way to get started, or supplement your job search. Also, don’t forget to check out the Career Center on campus. They offer great advice for resume and cover letter help and also can walk you through the steps of connecting to Handshake. Handshake is a website for Chapman students that lists jobs tailored especially to what you are looking for. This site is also a great way to connect with Chapman alumni who, in my experience, are always incredibly happy to help Chapman undergrads find a job as they enter into the workforce.

Good luck out there!