Congratulations graduates!!! You have worked so hard to see this day and make yourself, your family and friends proud. Hooray ….You have made it and big congratulations! As much you are so excited about the ending of one chapter of your life, you are probably anxious about the beginning of another chapter, a start of your career.  I am sure in the back your head, you are certainly   thinking, WHAT’S NEXT? How do I find my dream job or just a job? How do I start and go about navigating the world of job searching and start off my career?  Everyone goes through the exact same feeling when starting their career

Your new journey has just began and how do you stand out and be a competent job seeker.

1. DECIDE TO STAY POSITIVE

Wake up every morning, dress up right, and plan your day to effectively use your time wisely.  It is important to stay positive when searching for a job. We have observed that there are job seekers who are just waiting for that dream job to show up online or wait for a position to open. Then passively apply to that job without carefully analyzing the job description. Then complain about not getting a response from employers.  Choose to treat your job searching like a full time job and surround yourself with people (both your online community and offline) that help you succeed in your job search.

2. USE YOUR TIME WISELY

We all have 24hours a day and make sure you are spending every minute or hour of your day on something meaningful that is aligned with your goal and dream. And always evaluate and reflect about your day and ask yourself: ‘What have I done today that will help me or enhance my activities in my goal of finding that dream job? Was I just wasting my time sitting in a café talking trash or was my conversation or meetings today add value to my career/life? ‘

3. ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE WORK EXPERIENCE

You do have work experience. It is a different type of experience, perhaps. We believe here at iCAN, there is no doubt that, there are  amazingly talented , motivated, confident young graduates, who have been working so hard during their time in college/university, by involving themselves  in various extracurricular activities, volunteer , internship  and other opportunities . Their involvement has helped them develop their leadership skills, communications, team work, technological skills, and many more. We consider those fresh graduates as fresh graduates with experience. They have experience leading clubs, bringing teams together, teaching /tutoring their young followers, managing social media, building websites, making presentations in front of a crowd,   learning new technology and sharing that with their networks etc. So never tell yourself that you do not have experience at all.

4. BE ACTIVE AND PROACTIVE ABOUT YOUR JOB SEARCHING

Be intentional and take ownership of your job search. Never passively wait for that job to open.  You should expect to go above and beyond the typical job search, do your research and always make a tailored applications.

Before rushing to apply or use that CV/Resume template from the internet or internet café, have a notebook, ask yourself, make a list and write down your response to the following questions:

1. What do I want to do? What type of jobs am I looking for or able to do? be realistic 
2. What are my strengths?
3. What are the possible positions or areas that I can do with my major/ degree?
4. Who are the potential companies/sectors/ that need my education or that I can add value to? 

Write down the extracurricular activities you were/are  part of ,  clubs you participated, volunteer work you  participated  , internship  and so on (what is/was my role, what is/was my task, what skills did I  gain out of that experience, what was my  contribution  and  what have learned . Write down the extracurricular activities you were/are  part of ,  clubs you participated, volunteer work you  participated  , internship  and so on (what is/was my role, what is/was my task, what skills did I  gain out of that experience, what was my  contribution  and  what have learned .

Your response and reflections of these questions will guide you to identify your transferrable skills and best way to start building your CV/resume. Going though that process, will definitely help you become the best candidate to brand yourself and position yourself in the market very well.What are you currently doing that is helping you in your job search? If you are working now, what have you done that actually helped you land your dream job? Please share your thoughts Icanjobs3@gmail.com or on our telegram channel https://t.me/iCANJOB