CATEGORY:Choosing correctly

Your First Job

Two weeks ago, I published, “How To Ensure Your Dream Job”. In the days that followed, I received close to 200 comments and private messages. The bulk of the messages said, “I am a fresher. Can you tell me how I can land my first job?”

It is more than 35 years since I was a fresher out of college, and the world was different then. Rather than excavate the past, I decided to speak to those of my mentees who had clinched their first jobs in the last 3-5 years. What, I asked them, is the most important step you took to lock in your first job?

Their responses amazed me. And when I compiled them, they came together beautifully, forming a winning approach that freshers will find easy to understand and execute.

7 Simple Steps

1. Vijay (Senior Sales Executive in an Industrial Products Group) :

“The most important step I took was to be clear about my career goal. It was not easy, but I took the time to think about the various options I had, and what resonated with me, and what I really wanted to do and become. Once I was able to narrow this down, I knew what companies I wanted to work in and what jobs I needed to apply for.”

“Unlike many of my friends, I applied to only 4 companies, which seemed the right fit for what I wanted to do. I received two interview calls and amazingly, both companies offered me a job.”

2. Monica (Customer Service Manager in an FMCG Company) :

“The smartest thing I did was to have the right internships. Over my four years at college, I did three summer internships and two winter internships. In total, I was part of eight projects – in marketing, operations, sales and customer service. Also, I received four letters of appreciation. I benefited in two ways – one, I learnt that I really enjoyed customer service and after-sales jobs (and decided that that is where I wanted to be); and two, the companies I applied to placed a lot of value on these internships and my learnings during them.”

“During placement, two of my target companies offered me jobs. And, in both cases, I was hired at one level above other freshers because of my ‘experience’!”

3. Emily (Operations Manager in an Engineering Services Company) :

“I believe what led me to success is my research on the companies I applied to. In almost every interview I attended, one of the first questions was, ‘Why do you want to join our company? What do you know about us?” In each case, I was able to immediately talk about the company, their products and services, their culture and vision, and why I thought I was a good fit.”

“I could see that the interviewers were impressed, and the discussions that followed became so much more friendly and warm. In one case, the Vice President on the interview panel shook my hand as I was preparing to leave and said, ’The job is yours, come over to the office on Monday, and we’ll start the paperwork.’”

4. Chetan (Marketing Executive in a Consumer Goods Group) :

“I made sure that I had a customized resume. Many of my batchmates were just submitting the exact same copy of their resume which was based on a standard internet template. I knew I had to stand apart. So, I made sure that each resume and cover letter I submitted was designed for that particular company and the job role, so that it matched what the recruiter was looking for.”

“I owe this to my advisor. He advised me that my resume was the window between the recruiter and me, and that I had to ensure that the recruiter has the best possible view of me. I am still very chuffed that, while my grades were not the best, I got more interviews than any of my batchmates!”

5. Ethan (Data Analytics Engineer in a Fintech Company) :

“I attribute my first job to the two recommendation letters I received. The first one was from my data science professor who guided me on my final project. The other was from my mentor at the company I did an unpaid internship with in my junior year. Both the letters were very detailed and described what they thought of me, my strengths and capabilities, my character and my knowledge and skills. The interviewers spent a lot of time discussing these letters and seemed very impressed with them.”

“Actually, when I first received these recommendation letters, I just filed them away – I didn’t think they would be of any use. How wrong I was!”

6. Dana (Cost Accountant in a Payroll Services Company) :

“I used my network. One of my father’s close friends worked at an payroll accounting firm. I asked for a meeting with him in my junior year, and asked him if he could recommend me for an internship. He graciously agreed to do so, and I spent my summer working in his team. When I was in the closing stages of my final year, we met at a party. He asked me whether I enjoyed working with his company, and I said yes, of course. He then asked whether I would like to work full time with them. I was thrilled!”

“The very next day, he connected me to HR and within 3 weeks I had my first job offer. I did not need to apply anywhere else!”

7. George (Digital Marketing Executive in a Pharma Group) :

“I owe my success to social media. I was always fond of digital platforms and had over the years, built a substantive presence on quite a few of them – LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Medium, and so on. In all the interviews I had, the panels seemed to have looked me up on socal media and were impressed with my profiles. One interviewer actually asked me to help her in marketing her e-book!”

“I realized early on that I would be one of hundreds of freshers seeking jobs. So, I had to find a way to differentiate myself. I chose social media because it is fun, I am quite good at it, and I heard that more and more companies look at candidates’ online presence.”

Easy!

As I compiled these 7 responses, and as I pondered over them, two things crossed my mind.

The first : “I wish I had been this smart when I was completing college!”

The second was an old adage : “There are no limits to what you can accomplish, except the limits you place on yourself!”

Epilogue

And so, collating these amazing inputs lays out the 7 simple steps to your first job :

1. Have a clear and focused career goal (you may want to refer to my article on goal setting).
2. Seek relevant internships. Build knowledge, experience and recognition.
3. Identify the companies where you want to see yourself grow; research everything about them before the interview.
4. Create a custom resume for each company. Give the prospective employer the best possible view of yourself.
5. Get written recommendations from senior people who can vouch for your capabilities.
6. Approach prospective employers through the right channels and networks (you may want to read my article on networking)
7. Create an impressive online profile and build a personal brand.

What do you think? What worked for you? Can you add to the 7 steps? If so, please share your approach in the comments; it will add value to young freshers starting their careers.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this installment of CEO Chronicles. If “your desire for success is greater than your fear of failure”, send me a message or write to me.

Cheers,

Shesh.

(Singapore / 17 December 2019)

Post Script :

1. For other interesting CEO Chronicles click here.
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