Tips to Score a Job After Graduation

If you are graduating soon, you might be dreading the post-graduation job hunt since finding a job in the midst of a pandemic is not the most ideal for fresh graduates looking to enter the workforce in Singapore. In fact, salaries hit a low in 2020 and many have lost hope that employees will increase salaries in 2021. 

With such a bleak outlook for graduates-to-be, how can you beat the odds and land a full-time position soon after graduating? 

1. Focus On Up and Coming Sectors

One of the most effective ways to find a job would be to look for one in an industry that is aggressively hiring or have the most available vacancies, even for fresh graduates. Do your research and look out for reports of up and coming industries that are looking to expand and are providing more incentives and better employment packages to fill positions quickly. 

Some of the sectors that have been looking for fresh hires even during the pandemic include the healthcare industry, Infocomm and technology industry and engineering industry. Since it has already been reported that these industries need manpower fast, start your search from there. This will increase the chances of you finding a job, especially if you have taken courses in school that can be applied in these sectors.

2. Practice Working From Home

Working from home has become a routine for most Singaporeans during the past year since the government mandated that employees should work remotely as much as possible. Despite the recent removal of these restrictions, companies seem to be open to the idea of hybrid working arrangements where employees are not required to report to the office daily and it has become apparent that working remotely might just be here to stay. 

Impress your future employers by familiarising yourself with the ins and outs of Zoom or other video conferencing software, and learn the vital skill of networking, maintaining relationships and building rapport through a screen. Win them over by convincing them that you can work independently without close supervision and proving to them that you are an individual that can adapt quickly to changes, which is a valued trait in this economical climate. 

3. Add an Extra Oomph to Your Resume or Portfolio

Bachelor’s degree graduates are aplenty in Singapore, what makes you an outstanding candidate for a job? If you wish to stand out from the crowd, you will need more than just a Bachelor’s degree or a 4.0 GPA when hunting for a job. 

A good way to have a head-turning resume would be to accentuate it with courses that are not typically taught in schools. This way, you will have more skills than a regular fresh graduate. Make good use of the downtime after graduation to gain more knowledge by taking up short upskilling courses to make yourself a better applicant and a more valuable hire for your future employers. Ideal courses to take would be those that are related to the industries of the jobs that intend to apply for, or ones that interest you. Some useful certifications that you should add to your resume include accounting, cybersecurity and coding. 

If you need help doing up your resume, you can always take advantage of our resume editing service!

4. Start Job-hunting Early

How soon is too soon when it comes to job hunting? The ideal time to start looking for jobs would be 1 to 3 months before your graduation. However, you can start to look around for positions that interest you and taking a look at the average salary for fresh graduates in Singapore to give yourself a better gauge when you negotiate your starting salary with your future employer. 

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