How to Get a Job After College: General Guidelines
Getting a job after college can be a frustrating experience smashing you between moving back home with your parents and picking a job you do not really want. Here are some general guidelines that will help you in your quest:
Location, Location, Location
Where to move to after college can be a big factor in whether you get a job or not. You may want to consider moving to Milwaukee [estimated unemployment rate: 5.7%] or Oklahoma City [estimated unemployment rate: 5.0%] for some of the lowest unemployment rates in the U.S.
On the opposite end of the stool, you may also want to stay clear of Providence, Riverside, L.A., Memphis, and Chicago due to the higher unemployment rates.
Picking a Company
In order to be happy, you need to chose the right company. If you hate the Internet and go work for Google, that would be a bad choice. If you hate Microsoft and go work for Google, that might be a good one.
The main part is to never settle like you did last weekend with that ugly girl you met at the bar named Cherry. Who names their child Cherry anyway? Be picky like you are with which professor you take, not like you are with cheap vodka.
A good staring point in choosing the right company to work for is Business Week’s list of Best Places to Launch a Career. Here are the top three companies (the rest can be found at the previous link):
- Walt Disney
Evil multinational or cute princess machine? - Lockheed Martin
Averaging 4,000 people starting at $50,000 to $54,999 per year, not bad… - Deloitte & Touche USA LLP
They do something with accounting.
The Internet
The Internet does not have to be just a place you Facebook your friends or read useless blog articles (not like this one of course). You can do something constructive here too! Start by searching the following sites for job openings around the time you graduate:
cybercoders.com
monster.com
dice.com
careerbuilder.com
If you do not have any luck at the above sites, you can go back to your initial uses of the Internet and just “poke” your friends until they send your resume to their bosses. Seriously however, Facebook and other social websites are a great way to network and find jobs as well. LinkedIn.com tends to be one of the most popular of those type of sites.
If All Else Fails
If all the above tips and hints fail you, you can always try calling local head hunters, going to your university’s career office, bugging some of your professors, or just asking your friends and family. You would be surprised how often who you know really matters. Good luck and feel free to leave a comment or ask a question below.
[Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Forbes]
Great article, but wish you went more info with the head hunter stuff.
Never heard of dice.com, but monster.com kind of sucks. I tried them before and all you get is head hunters pretending to be real companies.
How is Disney the best company to work for? I thought that was Google?
Another great job search engine to help job seekers look for jobs: http://www.careerjet.com
Definitely worth looking at!
Network while you are in school!!
After the customers have done their shopping, they can be questioned whether they like the deals and what all they await, this will accord confer them a thermal melting that the retailers are concerned about the customers and commendations their view and will also help to meliorate deals for attracting more of the website trade.