How to Make it in the Real World (Part 1)

So, you graduated, what now? Read on to find out.

You’re walking across the podium beaming, your eyes squinting in the bright light of the camera from the videographer your parents hired to record every minute of your big moment. It’s your graduation day. Yay you made it! Okay the dust has settled – now comes the part that is harder than that time you pulled two consecutive all-nighters and that is, finding your place in the workforce.

This blog is a series of my extensive experiences as a UAE girl returning home after University in Canada, looking for my dream job. I hope it helps all you bright eyed and bushy tailed young grads searching for your dream jobs.

As is usual, in these parts of the world, when you graduate you move back in with your parents and get settled back into the groove of things. You are probably thinking, “Oh I can start looking for a job in a month or two right? I mean, I just got home, I have to reconnect with old friends, go check out those concerts, I mean I just have to..” Wrong.

First rule: don’t procrastinate. If you think about it, there are thousands of students just like you, who have graduated at the same time. They are flooding the market with wonderfully overzealous keeners like you. You need to be applying for jobs in your home country as soon as you can to stay ahead of the competition.

Second rule: get started on perfecting your CV. You can find helpful hints online or your university might have a center that will help you do this. Start researching jobs by talking to old friends, find out what the hot new job sites are etc. I found out about Gradberry.com over coffee with an old buddy I reconnected with.

Third rule: Once you have those key ingredients you need to start looking for a job, like it’s your job. I mean no more waking up at 10:00 am because you decided you would rather have peace of mind than listen to another morning of your Mom’s keening wails about her unemployed daughter. You need to be up, coffee in hand ready to start applying at 8:00 am. Get your profile up on those job-hunting sites, networking sites etc.

This brings me to the fourth and final rule: Be sure to talk yourself up, this is not a time to be modest. I don’t advise anyone to lie on his or her CV or on their online profiles.

What I do tell people, is that embellishing the details never hurt anyone. You should tell the truth, but the way you word it can tailor people’s perception to suit the image you want to project, thus making it seem like you are the cats’ meow. I am in PR, so I suppose I am pretty good at making things sound better than they are.

Alright to end this first blog, let’s revise what we learned:

1. Do not be lazy.
2. Make sure your CV is as close to perfect as possible.
3. Plaster your CV and your bio in as many job sites as possible.
4. Do not be ashamed to talk yourself up, you have to build your brand.

Happy job-hunting, until next week young ‘uns!

Aida out.

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Undergrad Success would like to thank Gradberry and Aida Al Barwani for this post