Did you know private career colleges provide career services for their students? College career centres help students prepare to find work after graduation. They offer a variety of services to prepare students for their post-college job hunts. Students may not know about these services and consequently won’t take full advantage of them.
When you’re in college, it’s important to take advantage of the services your college offers. Don’t wait until you graduate to start worrying about how you’ll find a job. Here are some tips for taking full advantage of your private college’s career centre while you’re a student or alumni.
Get Help with Your Resume
One of the services college career centres offer is resume assistance. If you already have a resume, you can have it reviewed by the career centre’s counsellors. They can give you tips to make your resume stronger. If you haven’t written a resume before, they can help you write your first one.
It’s important to get help with your resume. Your resume is your first impression with potential employers, and if it doesn’t catch their eye, you could struggle to find work. Your career centre can ensure your resume has the right format and that the content puts you in the best light.
Counsellors can also check for issues you might have missed, like typos. They can also help you check for resume mistakes, like incorrect dates or contact information. Having another person take a look at your resume can help you discover errors like these.
Learn to Write a Cover Letter
For some hiring managers, cover letters are the most important part of job applications. Cover letters introduce you to hiring managers. They show who you are and why you should be hired instead of the other candidates.
Writing effective cover letters can be difficult, but your college’s career centre can help. Career centres hold workshops to teach students how to write better cover letters. At these workshops, you can learn what you should include in your cover letter. You can also learn how to format your cover letter properly. If you’ve already written a cover letter, you can get it reviewed.
Build Your Interviewing Skills
To get hired, you need to do well in job interviews. That’s not as easy as it sounds. During interviews, stress and anxiety can hold you back. Difficult questions could catch you off guard. Or, your communication skills may not be quite as good as you’d like them to be. These problems can stand between you and your dream job.
Career centres help students prepare for interviews. At your career centre, you can participate in in-person mock interviews. A career counsellor will pretend to be a hiring manager, and you’ll practise answering questions. These interviews are often recorded, so you can watch your performance afterwards to see what you can improve.
Learn Networking Strategies
Finding a good job isn’t just about what you know. It’s also about who you know. But, how can you meet the right people? Your private career college’s career services department can help you learn effective networking strategies.
For example, counsellors could recommend professional organizations in your field. Through these organizations, you can meet other professionals in your field. They could also suggest relevant volunteering opportunities. Volunteering can help you meet people in your field and help you get your foot in the door for jobs.
These days, social media is an important part of networking. If you don’t have any professional social media profiles, career services can help you set them up. If you already have a presence on LinkedIn or other sites, a counsellor can look over your profile and help you make the most of the sites.