Eight Things College Graduates Can Do To Land A Dream Job

–Douglass McIyntre, Jonathan Berr


1. Don’t make salary the determining factor. 
A person who wants to be in the PR business and sets a minimum starting salary of $45,000 may never get a job. And, being unemployed doesn’t pay very well. A $35,000 job at a PR firm of in the PR department of a corporation could be available. Most young people believe that if they start at a low salary, they will never make much more money.  That’s not true.  Salary advancement has as much to do with talent as it does with preset pay scales. The best people, over time, will always be paid well.

2. Learn a Foreign Language.  
Knowing a second or even third language can help land a job as a translator, a field where good-paying jobs go begging.  For instance, Arabic translators with security clearances can command starting salaries of $125,000, Kevin Hendzel of the American Translators Association.  Translators with specialized technical knowledge in sciences or computers can earn big bucks too.  “No one knows these jobs are out there,” he says.   The picture is less certain for people wanting to work in the private sector.   Though Fortune 500 companies are expanding rapidly overseas, many prefer to hire local people for these jobs, according to Edwin Koc, NACE’s director of research.  Having these skills, however, certainly doesn’t hurt.

3. Work for the Peace Corps.This is only one example of dozens of government programs that send people into areas of the country or the world to provide local help. People who work for organization like the Peace Corps can often show a strong work ethic. Jobs in organizations like the Peace Corps can teach a range of skills from construction to office administration–graduate school without the costs.  Among the former volunteers who have parlayed their Peace Corps experience into career success are MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX).

4. Understand Social Media.
A graduate can start a blog for free on a blog platform like Google Blogger. It is hard to get a thesis published, at least in a journal that matters. It is not hard to put a thesis online and expand on what else the author knows about the subjects related to a career goal. A blog has to be well-written, and well–researched or it can hurt someone’s job prospects. Few things impress a potential employer as much as expertise demonstrated online, particularly if the blog has any following.  It helps to understand Twitter too. Companies are using the site to directly communicate with students.   One recent University of Kentucky graduate landed a job at a Fortune 100 companies because he followed it on  the Twitter, says Lenroy Jones,  Associate Director for Employer Relations at University of Kentucky.

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