1.Applying to positions you’re
not qualified for.
The fact is, all nailed interviews, glowing references, and over-the-top
GPA’s in the world are not going to land you jobs that require degrees
or experience you don’t have. “You may need to ask yourself, ‘Is this a
good time for graduate school?”’ says CollegeJournal.com’s Lee.
2.Expecting job opportunities
to come to you.
About 80% of available jobs go unadvertised, which means they wont be
posted on a job board or waiting for you to circle them in the classifieds.
It’s up to you to hunt them down.
3.Not taking your job search
seriously.
You should expect a significant amount of time on the process. “It’s
amazing how many students will study for 30 hours for a mid-term,
but wont spend more than three minutes posting their resume to a job board”,
says CollegeRecuiter.com’s Rothberg.
4.Not doing your homework.
According to an Accountemps survey off corporate executives, 44% say
most common mistake student make in an interview is the lack of knowledge
about the
company. At the very least, know the company’s product/services, its main
competitors, and the current issues it’s affected by.
5.Addressing items “To Whom
It May Concern.”
Before you mail a resume or cover letter, call the company and ask for the
name
of the hiring manager or division head of your area of interest. If you’re
answering
blind ad, at least address the cover letter to “Hiring Manager” or “Human
Resource
Staff Member.”
6.Being too modest.
If ever there was a time to toot your own horn, this is it. Don’t be afraid
to talk up
everything you’ve accomplished. “Students will feel like they’re bragging
or boasting,
but that’s the whole point of an interview-to explain why they should be
hired
over someone else,” says Brandi Baran, career services coordinator at Hobart
and
William Smith Colleges.
7.Being overconfident.
“Many students believe themselves to be pretty smart,” says Lee. “They’ll
walk into a
job interview and think they can handle anything; that if they’re witty,
they’ll
impress the interviewer.” That’s not the case. “If you’re not prepared, if
you haven’t
found out about the company,” Lee warns, “you’ll get blown out of the water.”
8.Not following up.
You certainly don’t want to bug a company on a daily basis. But a phone call
to find out the status of your application after sending a resume or interviewing
with an executive is perfectly acceptable.
9.Not presenting yourself professionally.
That’s true not only in a person, but on paper, too. An address of “Kappa
Kappa
Gamma House” may not connote professional job seeker. “And if your email
address
is something like superstud.com,” says Accurate Writing & More’s Horowitz,
“get a new one.”
10.Being unorganized
Keep a log with an entry for each potential employer showing information
on
the company, when you applied, what materials you sent, any follow-up calls
you made, and, if the company responded, when when you met with them.