Attracting Top Graduate Employers | What the Job?

When asked about their ideal job, the vast majority of college students will cite a specific company in their industry, even before commenting on a specific position or location. This is by design. The top graduate employers are very aware of the college student psyche, and they work very hard to establish themselves as the ideal employer. This works out well in the end, because they get what they want, recent college graduates willing to work hard for less money, and college students get all of the prestige, experience, and enjoyment of starting out with a top graduate employer. The problem with this, though, is that with great demand comes great competition. Even though top graduate employers hire many graduates, the amount of students applying per position is much higher than smaller, more local companies.

So how are you supposed to distinguish yourself among all of these candidates with similar qualifications. The answer is the biggest secret that everyone has always told you about but you have never bothered to believe: Networking. Networking alone will almost certainly cut the time you must invest in your college job search in half, if not more. Believe it or not, it is very likely that you already know several people with the authority and the desire to hire you into a position that you love, but they don't know you are looking. During your college job search, you need to talk with every single person that you can about how your college job search is going, why you would be a good candidate, and any other thing you can think of that might make your contacts want to pass on your information. This is especially true if you are seeking employment with a top graduate employer.  These companies get thousands of applications from students who all have similar education and experience. This is not to say that you can't wade your way through the process, but your chances are much more likely if you have someone on the inside pushing you along.

As an example, I will cite my own experience. My target employer was the number one top graduate employer at my school, and incurred heavy competition among my classmates. During the beginning of my college job search, I applied to more than 20 jobs through their system with no luck in securing even a phone interview, despite my stellar GPA, two internships, glowing letters of recommendation, and highly relevant extra-curricular activities. Then one day, I attended a networking event where a representative of the company was speaking with students. Note that this was not a company executive, nor was it the person who hired me. It was a twenty-something cubicle worker who I struck up a conversation with. Within around 15 minutes of pitching myself and letting him know about my interest, I had a business card and instructions to send in my resume. This turned out to be my golden ticket. Within a month I was flown to an interview, where I was told that I was hired before even conducting the interview, and soon after I had accepted the offer. This is the power of networking, especially when dealing with top graduate employers.

This is a step you can start right now. Talk to anyone and everyone you can about your upcoming job search. You would be surprised at who has a friend, uncle, sister, or sister-in-law's cousin who could help you out. Let me know all about your networking efforts in the comments.