How-to-get-hired strategies you'll never learn in a college class

How-College-Grads-Get-Hired By David Cohen

Did you know that one of the biggest complaints from college grads is that they never had a professor help them learn what it takes to land a job in the real world?

Of all the wonderful benefits gained from earning a college degree, college students are graduating without learning how to develop the innate ability to outsmart the individuals they're competing with to get a job.

College grads face fierce competition

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the real unemployment rate in the US is around 17.1%, and job-seeking college grads continue to experience Great Depression-esque conditions in the jobs market.

Despite the overall dismal employment conditions, the opportunities for college grads to get jobs are improving, however, the competition can at times be cutthroat.

For example, in the year I’ve been the Director of Marketing at CollegePlus! I’ve quadrupled the size of my team of full-time salaried staff, interns, and freelancers.

The competition for those positions was fierce and the amount of resumes overwhelming, but this is indicative of what decision makers are experiencing as they slowly seek to hire new staff and refill their departments with key team members.

What professors and hiring managers never tell college grads

Having a degree from a name brand institution is no longer the golden ticket to getting a dream job. Even Ivy League grads from Harvard and Princeton are being forced to prove themselves by taking internships.

Not a single member of my staff has a bachelor’s degree from a name brand university. That didn’t matter to me and it no longer matters to most employers.

Academically, what mattered is that that their degree is fully accredited (like the degrees CollegePlus! students earn).

What college professors don't understand and what hiring managers won't tell you is that decision makers are looking for candidates who have invested the time and energy to develop their own personal brand.

Developing your personal brand

Personal branding is not a hard concept to grasp once you understand how to do it. We'll get into the core elements of personal branding, but first, lets define what personal branding is.

Personal branding is establishing easily identifiable characteristics and attributes that uniquely define who you are as a person and what you bring to the table.

Developing your own personal brand is probably one of the best things you can do right now to rise above your competition and get hired.

Personal branding strategies to get hired

So, here's the stuff your college professor never taught to help you get hired, which all directly tie in to developing your personal brand.

As you read through the elements of each strategy, consider how these elements can make or break your personal brand.

1. Social Media Suicide

I had this strategy towards the bottom of my list, but moved it to the top because it's almost guaranteed a hiring manager will find you on Facebook.

No matter how stellar your resume looks or how many skills you bring to the table, if a hiring manager see pictures on your Facebook from a recent trip you took to tour the "coffee shops" of Amsterdam, you just committed social media suicide.

It could even be more subtle things such as the music you listen to. For example, if I was looking at a candidate who loved Lady Gaga I might question their emotional state because in my opinion Lady Gaga puts out depressing music for depressed people.

Harsh? Yes. But, the new reality is that your Facebook will be dissected by hiring managers, so it's up to you to use social media to positively build your personal brand.

2. Create a wow factor

As hiring mangers get slammed with resumes and emails, it can take a wow factor to get their attention. A wow factor is something about your personality or something you do that almost no other candidate is willing to do because they're either too lazy, brain dead, or creatively dysfunctional.

Let me give you a real example of a CollegePlus! student who created a wow factor to get an accounting internship.

His name is Nate Desmond, he's a CollegePlus! student earning a bachelor's degree in Accounting, and he's also the owner of a site called Practical Manliness.

Nate created a wow factor to get hired as an accounting intern by making a website to literally sell himself on why he should be chosen over all the other candidates. It was personal branding in its most purest form. With that kind of creativity, Nate's got a bright future ahead of him.

Come up with ideas to create a wow factor because the chances are good that your competition won't be so smart and strategic.

3. Be maniacal

I don't care if your purpose in life is to be a Starbucks barista, a Wal-Mart greeter, or to create the next Facebook, whatever it is you set your heart to do, be maniacal about it.

Sure, you might be a little misunderstood by your comrades at work, but managers and executives want staff who put their heart into everything they do, are willing to take calculated and strategic risks, and refuse to settle for substandard results.

Take Apple's Steve Jobs for example. The man is maniacal about everything from his brand, to his products, to his PR, to his profits. I believe this is a major element to Apple's wild success.

Think about the Apostle Paul. This guy went from being a maniacal Christian-killer to a maniacal spreader of the Gospel and messages of grace, peace, hope, love, and healing. In fact, I think Paul may be the best example of what happens when a person is maniacal about what they do.

4. Join a debate club

I never cease to be impressed with students who participate in debate. The rigors of learning persuasive debating techniques can turn the most slow-witted student into a sharp, intelligent, and eloquent individual.

Part of building your personal brand to get hired is possessing the ability to think quick on your feet and to have finely tuned instincts to creatively come up with solutions to problems and challenges.

If I saw a resume come across my desk from a candidate who was a member of a debate club, you better believe they would shoot to the top of the pile.

Learning the art and science of debate will carry you far in life, both professionally and personally. And when you're sitting face-to-face with a hiring manager, having a foundation in debate will keep you poised, engaged, and on top of your game.

5. Reveal your "right-brain"

The theory goes that the right side of your brain is where the creative and intuitive attributes are developed. The left-brain is where the logic, analysis, and critical thinking occurs.

In today's job market, no matter how left-brained the job is, managers and executives want to see some right-brain attributes bubble up through all that logical and critical thinking.

The challenges we face in the real world now require a mix of right and left brain solutions. The information we desire must be presented and communicated from both sides of the brain.

For example, when I task my Chief Marketing Analyst to give me a quarterly budget report, I don't want to see numbers, I want to visual representations of of how much money we've spent and how much money we have to spend.

6. In the land of Goliaths, be a David

From the biblical account of David and Goliath you can easily draw parallels to what a college grad faces trying to get hired.

The lesson here is how David came prepared to do battle. He refused the clunky armor and sword, and opted to be unhindered and unencumbered. I liken this to college grads who aren't weighed down by debt and can choose to pursue jobs for purposes other than a means to keep the debt collectors off their back.

When David went to the river, he didn't choose one stone to battle Goliath, he chose five smooth stones.

The fact that these were smooth stones indicates these "weapons of war" were developed over time in the riverbed, and the fact that David brought five stones indicates he was prepared to defeat Goliath through multiple means if necessary.

Put the type of care in that David did to prepare to defeat the man that gripped an entire nation with fear. Developing your personal brand over time and having multiple elements to your personal brand will serve you well as you face the corporate equivalent of Goliath.

You hold the power to develop your own personal brand and job creation strategies

I don't want to turn this blog post into a mini novel, so I trust these concepts and examples of personal branding will spark some creative genius as you prepare to dive headfirst into the jobs market.

Ultimately, developing your personal brand is about differentiating yourself, avoiding missteps and gaffes, creating a wow factor, and being able to boldly and passionately communicate why a hiring manager would be an idiot not to hire you.

Share this blog post over Facebook and so we can hear from others about strategies they've used to get hired or challenges they've faced in getting hired. We can all learn from each other.

Earning an accredited bachelor's degree can put you on the path to fulfilling your purpose in life. Find out how you can earn a debt-free degree in two years or less and for about the price of one semester at a traditional college.

David David loves world travel, the book of Genesis, Tekkamaki, the beach, and his wife Khristen. If you have a story to share about life, learning, or how you're being a disruptive college student, click here to send David an email, he's always on the hunt for a great story.

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10 comments so far - Leave a comment below

I haven't heard of this stuff before. It's eye opening. Can I have permission to post this to my blog?

— Jordan Monday, October 11, 2010 4:59 PM CDT

I appreciate the excellent info. Cheers!

— Reuben Monday, October 11, 2010 5:19 PM CDT

Thank you David :) I like your ideas :)

— Missy Monday, October 11, 2010 5:07 PM CDT

Good stuff! This gave me some ideas for my resume. Thank you!

— Jimmy J. Monday, October 11, 2010 5:22 PM CDT

Interesting advice. I like it alot. What would you say for somebody like me with no job experience at all? What should I do?

— Ryan Monday, October 11, 2010 5:13 PM CDT

This is definitely stuff I have not learned in college. I need to show this to my career counselor.

— Tristan Grant Tuesday, October 12, 2010 7:54 AM CDT

@Jordan. Yes, feel free to post this on your blog along with a link back. Thank you.

— David Tuesday, October 12, 2010 9:12 AM CDT

@Ryan. For a student who has no "exciting" work experience, or any work experience at all, there are several things you can do to your resume to make it stand out. Don't be discouraged about that at all. If you have some work experience, even if it's something in food service or retail, highlight the things you did that made you a unique employee.

Provide any kind of track record for things you did that made you stand above your co-workers. Highlight any awards or special recognition you were given.

If you have zero work experience you will want to communicate things about your character and personality. For example, highlight community service projects you've done, volunteer work, or internships/apprenticeships you've done. You'll also want to fill your resume with as many references as possible.

These won't be work references but character references. Although you may not have a lot of work experience, a great character reference could be the key to a hiring manager giving you a shot.

Hard work, good character, and passion go a long way. I'd much rather have a passionate team member than a talented robot.

— David Tuesday, October 12, 2010 9:23 AM CDT

Spot on. I'm a division manager at a mid sized company and I can tell you were looking at everybody's Facebook pages. Even after they are hired we're monitoring their Facebooks. I like the fresh ideas here, thank you.

— Griffin Tuesday, October 12, 2010 12:14 PM CDT

Good article. Also what I haven't been able to find anywhere is **ways to catch the attention of employers, 2) what you can do BESIDES applying online and how to go about doing it. The Generation Y has a lot of issues in today's economy. I'd also like to see an article maybe talking about the amount of people in their late twenties, how much they make, what kind of jobs they do and how they are coping with having to pay back student loans, feeling bad that they are at a dead end job with no prospects after filling out multiple resumes...Thx

— dayna Wednesday, June 1, 2011 11:14 PM CDT

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