So you've just graduated and want to know the winning strategies of getting that job. Read up on how to write a winning resume, how to score points during the interviews, what questions to expect, what answers to prepare and practise, practise, practise!
If you want tips that could help you tip the scales when it comes to scoring that job (not just the interview), read on.
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Here are some tips of what you should keep an eye out for and what you can do on your part to minimize negative impacts to a good start in your career.
From hero to zero
From the pinnacle of the academic world to the grassroots of the working world, the transition of a university graduate to 'fresh' graduate is a highly demoralizing rite of passage for any professional and would-be professionals. Everyone has to start from the bottom up and unless you are taking over the family business, chances are you have to jump through all the hoops and hurdles like everybody else.
The good news is everyone starts from a level playing field. Sure, you may have a 3.0 CGPA and that is a far cry from the straight-A, 4-pointer candidate sitting two seats away from you in the interview waiting room but here's the thing: employers want a wholesome candidate, not just 'students' who can study well.
What employers (really) want in a candidate:
Once you become a 'candidate', that means that the 'graduate' label has been taken out of the equation, which translates to this: everything else that you did not think mattered before, matters now. Here are some traits (in no particular order) employers want in you, that you may have already been brainwashed to think was not essential in securing that job offer:
(a) An eagerness to learn
(b) A proactive attitude
(c) The patience to listen
(d) Knowing next-to-nothing and not ashamed to say it
(e) Hardworking
(f) Has a passion for something other than the monetary gain
(g) Knows what the job requires - like the back of your hand
(h) Knows how to communicate effectively
The fact that these are things employers look for in you, but you have not been told in university to polish the hell out of is the main disconnect between the products of tertiary institutions, and the options for filling the vacancies in industries. Ironically, I'm referring to you here.
Here is a breakdown of the traits listed above and examples to help carry the point home.
(a) An eagerness to learn
Employers do not want candidates to come in and teach them what to do. They also do not want candidates to come in and just sit there waiting for 'someone senior' to teach them what to do. What they want is someone who is eager to learn and who will go forth and learn. They want individuals who study the literature, theories, practical results, experiments, feedback and more; they connect with people who can help them with their questions; they read the manuals, the reports; and most importantly, they ask the right questions.
In short, they are proactive.
(b) A proactive attitude
Many people do not understand proactive-ness, and strangely enough fresh graduates are extreme antonyms to the word 'proactive'. Being proactive means to go the extra mile to finish the job; to go beyond the call of duty; to give the person who asked you to do the initial job a compelling reason to come back to you and give you more jobs (that is how you get paid actually, so if 'more' work scares you, just quit and go herd goats somewhere. Everyone will be a lot happier).
So when someone asks you to deliver a report on office punctuality, Monday afternoon by 12pm, don't just hand in the report on time, and wait to receive the next task. In the report, you should have given the full analysis, cite your references, anticipate and answer the next task in line that is influenced by the delivery of your report. You should be the master of that topic and the person who initially handed you the task should be asking you questions that only you can answer because you have done so much research on that topic you alone control the outflow of that universe of knowledge.
However, as all office environments are different, there is a chance that the report is totally useless to the supervisor you gave it to you. Double however, it is usually something that has to be done and you should use it as a way to leave a good impression with your superiors. That's when they will be eager to reciprocate and talk to you, to deem you worth teaching and helping, or better yet, to teach like a jedi master would his apprentice. When that happens, listen.
(c) The patience to listen
Many fresh graduates think that because they have a university degree, they are in the perfect position to be telling people how things should have worked. Newsflash: in the working world, things work according to what the boss thinks will work. Never mind if your boss is loony, misinformed, calculative or just downright ignorant, he pays your salary and because of that he has the right to govern the way his company is run. The same goes to female bosses, most of the time, under tighter and stricter regimes.
Be prepared to have your world turned upside down, shut the hell up and listen to your colleagues. And when something does not make sense to you, admit you don't understand it and people will come running to explain to you.
(d) Knowing next-to-nothing and not ashamed to say it
The worst thing a fresh graduate can do is say "I know". I know, you have to tell them that you know the latest statistical methods to deliver the results of this project or you know how to run the spectrometer or else you won't be getting the job, but that is about as far as you should go when it comes to telling people the depths of your knowledge.
Truth is, as a fresh graduate, all you know are the theories behind how things work. People in the working world have tried and tested most methods and have the results to prove why each method fails or succeeds, regardless of what the textbook says.
If you say "I know" to these people, they'd think you have all the answers, and will be unwilling to share the latest news and/or updates in their field with you. You will have more to lose and will have to work harder to gain the same insights that you could have easily gotten from speaking to an engineer with 20 years of experience under his belt, and who is willing to spill his guts to you over a cup of coffee.
(e) Hardworking
But this is not to say that hard work should not be involved. Many multinational corporations expect their fresh graduate employees to work twice as hard as their seniors, spend more time at their desks and more weekends in the office than anybody else. How else can you keep up with the rest of your colleagues? How do you get out of doing that? What? You have a social life to keep up? If you have to choose between spending time at your job and spending your time in a club drinking your brain cells away then perhaps that passion for your job is missing from your life. Being miserable in a job you do not like, will, kill, you.
(f) Has the passion for the job
Of course, I was speaking figuratively when I say that you will die from your job but how many times have you seen on facebook statuses from friends who are already working, that they are 'miserable' at their job, that they are staying in the office during the weekends, that they haven't seen the latest 3D movie because they didn't realize that the movie had been out for weeks which was as long as they had been away from any source of entertainment.
It sounds sad but the truth is some people relish at the idea of getting to stay back at the office to get their work done, having the opportunity to lunch and dinner with senior executives who have plenty of great advice to share with them, and to know not of any other happiness other than to finish their project well within the budget and deadline given. These people have the passion to flourish in their chosen field and it is this innate characteristic in them that pushes them to learn everything from scratch about their job and what entails.
(g) Knows what the job requires - like the back of your hand
Unlike the neutral emotion of finding that mole at the back of your hand, passionate workers have a great affinity to discovering new things about their work. The feeling is almost euphoric, splashed with splotches of marvel -- and humility at the thought of still finding things that they did not know.
Not everyone has this.
In fact, most graduates make the mistake of thinking that they moment they get their degrees, they can stop learning. These are the kinds of employees that stop growing the moment they start working. And they are the hardest to communicate with since everything they know is 'correct' and does not need any more improvements.
(h) Knows how to communicate effectively
You can only improve if you know how to communicate effectively and appropriately. Using the right words via the right means (no text speak in emails please) and speaking with humility to co-workers, superiors, bosses, executives, clients and subordinates (eventually) can get you far.
Being bilingual (or trilingual) is a great advantage but try to at least master one language, and it doesn't even have to be English. China is set to be a great economic leader in the next decade or so, and they have their own version of the English language that a native English speaker can't make heads or tails of. Lingua francas change all the time, who can predict the next biggest language out there?
And to gauge how well you need to know a language: try to finish a novel in that language. If you can, you are set for gold. Bear in mind that programming languages do not count in this context.
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Take every piece of advice thrown your way with a pinch of salt (including what you are reading here). It may or may not apply to you and your work place, and along your career you will meet people who will directly or indirectly teach you the ways of the world. Best of luck and always stay positive.
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