How do you land your first job as a young graduate?

Here are 5 keys to make you stand out on the job market today, but also tomorrow. 

1. Highlight your soft skills just as much (or more) as your qualifications 

Faced with the shortage of skilled labour, and rapidly changing job trends, accelerating the obsolescence of skills, recruiters are now giving just as much consideration to soft skills (behavioural skills) as to young people’s qualifications. According to our study entitled “What does the future of work hold? ” the soft skills that enable you to stand out today and grow in an ever-changing job market are: 

• Adaptability 
• Independence 
• Organisation 
• Positivity 
• Team spirit 

But careful, if you want to highlight your skills, putting them on your CV or mentioning them during your job interview is not enough. Give concrete examples using professional or personal-related experiences. Are you a volunteer for a charity? Are you a fan of chess or extreme sports? Your interests will also be great examples of your values and personality traits (e.g. empathy, creativity, patience, stress management, ability to work in a team, etc.). 

2. Apply for fewer jobs but make your application better! 

The main criticism levelled at young graduates looking for a job is that they apply for job offers without checking first whether their profile is in line with the position to be filled. That, of course, does not mean waiting for the "perfect match" to apply for an offer, but carefully analysing both your technical and behavioural skills and seeing how they are linked to the expectations of the position and to your own expectations.  

3. Personalise and choose the right keywords for your CV 

Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role, and the recruitment sector is no exception to the rule: 

In some large companies, the CV selection stage is carried out by sorting using algorithms. 

In practice, programmes then scan the CVs in search of keywords, which are matched with the keywords appearing in the job offers (e.g. the job title, skills, etc.). For each job offer you are applying for, it is therefore crucial to personalise your CV by including the keywords that reflect your skills, while mirroring those sought by the recruiting company. Use terms specific to your sector of activity or profession and do not use abbreviations that cannot be decoded by an algorithm to make your application stand out from other CVs received. But be careful not to be impersonal by including generic skills or to lie, because, at the end of the day, it is the recruiter you have to convince. 

4. Work on your personal branding on LinkedIn 

In the same way that companies need to work more and more on their employer branding to increase their chances of attracting talent, the young graduates must never fail to highlight their personal branding on LinkedIn. Especially since, as pointed out in the report, recruiters are head hunting online more and more rather than waiting for talent to come to them. That is why it is your job to invest carefully in your online presence: 

• Choose a professional profile picture 
• Include a "catchy" job title 
• Complete your profile summary (What is your current position? What are you looking for?) 
• Fill in your contact details 
• Select your skills 
• Give details of your experience and training 
• Ask your contacts for recommendations (former work placement or dissertation supervisors, former colleagues, etc.) 

Once your profile is optimised, post or comment regularly on content to increase your visibility and allow your skill to be seen by a potential recruiter. 

5. Find out what drives you with “slashing” 

While waiting to land their dream job or to find their way, some talented young people have become “slashers” (e.g. they have several jobs at the same time). They have a full-time job and carry out a freelance or self-employed activity at the same time or hold several part-time jobs. In a complex job market, this solution can also be a good opportunity to gain experience and develop new skills, both technical and behavioural (e.g. flexibility, independence, etc.), to prevent having a gap in your CV. Think about it! 

 
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