How To Land Your Dream Job As A Student Or A Fresh Graduate?
“Job seeking is a similar process to prospecting leads”
Students and fresh graduates often struggle to get their first opportunities and most importantly, the ones they would love to get the most.
What if we tell you that the key tip is using your sales skills?
In this article, we will show you how to leverage these skills to nail your dream job as explained by our expert Marouane Ouadah, a B2B outbound sales automation expert at Lemlist:
1- Make thorough research:
Google is your friend in this journey. Multiple job search websites can help you; use them wisely. For example, LinkedIn, Welcome to the jungle (to look for opportunities in startups)…
You can create a scoring sheet according to the characteristics you’re looking for in a job to help you assess each opportunity. Criteria might include salary, work mode (remotely, from office, or hybrid), country of the opportunity, values of the entity…etc. This technique saves you time and energy and helps you qualify opportunities and take them through your pipeline. If you’re not familiar with this term, check our sales process article.
2- Don’t apply through job offers, prospect your recruiter:
If you apply through job offers, you’ll get lost in a bunch of CVs, and your chance to stand out will decrease. Instead, know who your recruiters are and reach out to them directly to create a relationship and ensure that you get the job. Start by identifying the decision-maker. Is it the human resources manager, the talent acquisition specialist, or even the CEO if it’s a small startup. Then, prepare your approach: how will you contact them? What’s your icebreaker?
Here are some icebreaker ideas:
- Enterprise news shared on LinkedIn or the website blog…
- Recruiter’s news
- Complimenting the recruiter on something he/she have accomplished, a post he/she shared, or an article he/she wrote
- A common interest or point you share with the recruiter
Cold emailing and copywriting techniques can be helpful for you at this stage.
PS: You can apply for more than a company at once, but don’t overdo it. And you can surely contact more than one decision-maker in the company.
3- Stand out with your CV:
A winning CV is key to stand out. It can shape the first impression of your recruiter and determine if you’ll get to the next step and be considered for an interview or not. You can check this article for insights on CV writing.
4- Create and develop your personal brand:
Your personal brand is how you represent yourself to the world. It shows your unique set of skills and attributes. Focus on this question: how do you want your recruiters to know you, and for what?
For them to know you, you need to first connect with them, for example on LinkedIn, and then be present through your posts, content, and engagement.
Now you’re ready to go and start hunting for your dream job. During this process, keep these tips in your mind:
- Focus on the entity’s values. If it doesn’t align with yours, then it’s not worth the shot.
- Don’t underestimate your skills, neither overestimate them.
- If you resonate with an entity’s values and aspire to work in it, you can apply even if there is no job offer out there.
Finally, if you aspire to join fast-growing startups in Tunisia, consider applying to our upcoming Bootcamps. You can find all the information needed on our website. If you need more details, don’t hesitate to contact us.
This article was written by Ghaya khamassi — Skills21 alumna.
