A Step-By-Step Guide to Landing Your First Job

Keep that confidence post-uni.

This post is presented in partnership with Monash Business School.

When your final year at uni rolls around, it’s time for you to start putting in the hard yards and get your foot in the door. But how exactly do you get started?

Well, there are a few steps you can take to make the whole ‘applying for jobs’ rigmarole smoother, and you can start most of them while you’re still studying.

To spill the hot tea on landing your first job, we spoke to Manager of Graduate Development at Monash Business School Chris Keynes, for a step-by-step guide.

1. Get involved in extracurriculars.

From day one, do what you can to get involved in university extracurricular activities. From clubs to programs, there are heaps of ways to develop your skills and network.

“[This] can include student career development programs, student leadership programs, they’re all fantastic ways to build your experience and employability skills as are student mentoring programs,” says Chris.

“Participating in student clubs and societies is a great way to make friends, build your professional network, and develop your skills along the way”

Not only will getting involved up your employability, but it can do wonders for your overall skillset in your preferred career.

2. Develop your transferable skills.

I’m sure we’ve all heard the term ‘transferable skills’ before, and for good reason, they’re super important!

Whether you’ve worked a job at Macca’s, in retail or have volunteered doing general admin, whatever it is, it surely gave you some awesome skills like communication, teamwork or critical thinking.

As Chris illustrates, these are key skills that employers are looking for.

“We consistently hear from the industry that students don't always see just how valuable this experience is to their overall employability,” explains Chris.

3. Build your network.

Who knew your friends, teachers, workmates and mentors could help you get your name out there? Well, unis know.

When it comes to finding a job, it’s often not just about what you know, but who you know, which is why networking is so crucial.

“We often speak to students about how powerful professional networks are and even if it is an eight or 12-week internship that’s still eight or 12 weeks that they have to develop or build the amount of professional connections they have that will benefit them moving into the future,” says Chris.

“There’s a statistic that most jobs aren’t advertised, so students find those jobs through their network and meeting people, so we put a lot of time and attention into giving students the skills to access these opportunities”

The stat Chris is referring to actually states that 85 per cent of all jobs are filled via networking, which is a huge chunk of the hidden job market.

4. Try your hand at volunteering.

An underrated option when it comes to obtaining experience and building your network is volunteering.

Whether it’s volunteering for a role in your preferred industry or a role at a not-for-profit, you can pick up heaps of transferable skills as well as show employers that you’re committed to getting the job done.

There are heaps of places to find volunteering roles too, try your local charity, radio station or even community centre for opportunities.

“As far as volunteering options go, lots of excellent opportunities can be sourced via online volunteering sites. SEEK Volunteer, Go Volunteer, to name a few of them,” suggests Chris.

“While it may not necessarily be career-aligned, volunteering at a soup kitchen or community centre for instance is helping you develop transferable skills such as teamwork, communication and problem-solving that you would need to go on and be a banker or an accountant."

5. Do an internship.

Internships are one of the best ways to develop experience in your preferred field. Having that kind of experience on your resume can really set you apart.

“When it comes time for students to find a job after their time at university, industry experience on your resume is a powerful thing to put in front of a graduate recruiter,” explains Chris.

“Monash offers work-integrated learning, which is a structured opportunity for students to get an internship. You actually do it as part of your course, so not only do you go out there in industry and get the experience, but you also get the credit points to put towards your degree as well.”

6. View any experience as an opportunity.

Even if your first part-time job was in fast food and your internship was slightly outside of your ideal career path, both experiences are excellent opportunities to build on your network and skills.

As Chris explains,  it’s easy for a student to feel like they need to be in the perfect job from day one, when in reality, the best way is to build a solid foundation of experience and work your way from there.

“Students from day one should be investing time in exploring potential career options and not really ruling anything out,” says Chris.

“Most students will kind of have an inkling towards the work that they would prefer, but we recommend students should explore and consider a range of career options throughout their time at university because graduation date will be on them before they know it.

"There's never been so many professional opportunities students can pursue after university"

7. Apply

Finally, once you’ve built up your network, skills and experience, it’s time to apply.

There are heaps of avenues you can take to do this too. You can try out your network, apply via job boards like LinkedIn, SEEK, Jora or Indeed and even try out graduate job boards like GradConnection or Grad Australia.

While all of these are great options, Chris explains that they can often be competitive markets, so hold tight, you’ll eventually get the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

"Most universities offer a range of in-house job sites specifically for their students to access graduate opportunities. We also have job fairs [and] internship fairs,” says Chris.

Once you’ve completed all these steps, you’ll be on track to secure your first post-grad job in no time.

If you’re looking to build on your skills and try out a career in business, check out the courses at Monash Business School or if you’re a current student, here’s where you can learn more about their work-integrated learning programs.

Header Image: Mimi Thian via Unsplash