How to Market Yourself after College

By Amira Smith

In the job market of the 21st century, there’s no road map to guarantee success. The faceless nature of the recruitment system means that graduates are required to use all of their skills and cunning to build out their own route.

The hardest part of all of this is undoubtedly getting the ball rolling after graduation. It’s easy to become bogged down in self-pity and despair, but if you’re willing to make one or two small alterations to your routine, you might find the right opportunity is waiting for right around the corner.

In the face of some serious competition, turning ourselves into a self-sufficient digital PR agency is a must. With a little organization and by following the three steps below, it won’t be long before your career hits the freeway.

Find a Part-Time Job   

It’s natural after four years of studying a certain subject to want to find a job that relates to it in some way – after all, it’s why we spend thousands of dollars on tuition fees in the first place, right?

In a competitive job market, however, opportunities can sometimes be few and far between, leaving us stuck in a state of limbo that can actually damage our chances of finding full-time employment.

Times like these require us to put ourselves in an employer’s shoes. Between two college graduates with similar qualifications, would you rather employ someone that has shown that they’re used to the grind of nine to five, or someone that has sat at home waiting for an opportunity to fall into their lap?

From a personal point of view, it makes sense to earn some extra pocket money that will help us get used to the realities of working life. Living in the real world costs money and the sooner we get used to that after the college, the better.

Think About Your Brand

The notion of thinking about ourselves as a brand is an alien concept to a lot of us, but thanks to the invention of social media, the way that we present ourselves online can have both a positive and negative impact on us finding employment.

All that means is that it’s time to hide certain photos, delete any inappropriate content, and to make sure there’s some correlation to your online presence across different platforms.

Of course, the industry that you go into can have a big impact on the importance of all this, but a profile picture of you sitting in a shopping trolley will set the alarm bells ringing for any recruiter.

Use the Phone

If there’s one thing Millennials and Generation Z hate to do, it’s to speak to people directly. Growing up in a world of emojis and emails means we’re often much more comfortable making first contact with an employer over the web.

As you imagine, if everyone has this approach, it’s always going to be hard to stand out. That’s why sometimes it’s best to take a leaf out of Marty McFly’s book and to step back into the future. The good old fashioned telephone can help you get in contact directly with an employer, giving you the platform to sell yourself directly.

 

Bio: Amira Smith is a photographer and recent college graduate, who still cherishes her life in the college. She writes short novels and devotes her time to helping animal shelter in her hometown.

 

7 Useful iPhone apps for Students in Foreign Countries

7 Useful iPhone apps for foreign students

 

Being a student is hard, everybody knows it, but being a student in a foreign country is extra hard. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to make it easier for yourself including letting the technology to help you out. There are loads of apps that can make your stay in a foreign country a lot more comfortable.

 

1. Chored – If your University days are anything like mine, you will end up living with a load of people who have never had to wash a plate up in their lives. This can cause animosity that doesn’t need to happen. With this app chores and bills can be split between housemates to make sure everything is fair and equal.

 

2. Trello – You have enough to think about navigating a new country without having to stress out about organising your coursework and everyday tasks. Trello helps you create to do lists, forward plan and goal set so that nothing slips your mind.

 

3. RefMe – Referencing can be a nightmare, especially when you change educational establishments. Different establishments and countries accept a different system of referencing and you will be marked down if you get it wrong. With this app you can just scan the barcode of the book you want to reference, tell it what system and it will churn out the reference for you.

For further referencing guidelines try this.

 

4. MealBoard – Eating well is so important, especially for students. This app will help you plan and stick to a healthy diet to fuel your body and mind, which will ultimately help with your studies. For extra meal ideas for students try BBC GoodFood.

 

5. Spotify – If you need to study in the library but like to be in your own little bubble Spotify can help. For just £9.99 a month you can stream unlimited amounts of music to your phone. It also has loads of study friendly playlists ready to go so just stick your headphones in and block out the world.

 

6. Sleep if you can – This is great for those people who struggle to get up in the morning, which is basically every student that ever lived. Instead of setting an alarm and having it let you snooze over and over again until you have missed a whole morning of lectures, this app doesn’t let you switch the alarm off until you have completed a task. Usually it is to get up and take a photo of something. The reason it works is that most people once they have gotten up and done something are less likely to climb back into bed. It is the initial getting out of bed that’s the problem.

 

7. Moovit – If you are studying abroad it is unlikely that you will be buying a car in your new country. That means you will be using public transport. Now public transport is great but we all know it that it can also be awful because of the traffic and accidents. Moovit helps you track public transport and plan the fastest route as well alerting you to any issues.

 

One thing that is important to remember if you are moving abroad for more than very short while is you phone carrier. It may not be the best option to stay with your current provider unless they over excellent roaming deals. If you do need to change provider but you have an iPhone you may need to get it unlocked with  http://whytheluckystiff.net/iphone-8-unlock. This is because most networks lock their handset to their network.

 

Most importantly make sure you enjoy the experience, being in a foreign county might by daunting but it could also be the experience of a lifetime so embrace it.

 

Rachel is a mother of 2 beautiful boys. She loves to hike and write about travelling, education and business. She is a Content Manager at VPN Compass – a leading portal on VPN services and internet.