As a college student attending school full time and working part
time I expect to one day have a rewarding financial career. However, something
tells me I’m not the only college student with this perception of having a career
in their study. Surely were not all going to be content with the jobs we
receive after college. The sooner we understand the competitiveness of getting
the jobs worth going through college, the sooner we can help better position
ourselves now. The NY
York Times stated, “According to an Associated Press analysis
of data from 2011, 53.6 percent of college graduates under the age of 25 were
unemployed or, if they were lucky, merely underemployed, which means they were
in jobs for which their degrees weren’t necessary.” The question I’m left
repeating over and over in my head is how can I be part of the other 46.3% with
a satisfying job? After doing some research on the web I found some tips that
can help college students studying finance stand out to employers.
Discovering
What They’re Expecting
Before we earn our bachelor degree in Finance, it’s
important to make sure we are ready for what is expected of us in our career
field. Check out Careers-in-Finance,
this site asks you personal questions that can help discover if a finance
career is right for you. This site mentions qualities that are important in
this career. “The number one attribute most corporate
employers are looking for is initiative. If you can give examples in interviews
of situations where you did something plain useful even though no one asked you
to, you will be a hot commodity.” Therefore, getting your desired job after college
involves demonstrating your ambition to the interviewer. So take some time and
organize your accomplishments that are worth mentioning in an interview, to show the
employer your initiative. If you find yourself without many achievements that
correlate to impressing an employer start planning tasks that will! For
example, finance careers are highly connected with the current state of the
economy, so being currently aware of what is happening could be something to
become more knowledgeable about. Even
just reading daily financial articles, like CNN
Money can help gain current knowledge and show an employer your desire to
learn.
Networking
According to Classes
and Careers there are 1.75 million college graduates per year. Networking just
might be the key to standing a part from that number. I hear people always say “Sometimes
is all about who you know,” so spreading the word about yourself is important.
With the internet people can network like never before. Sites like LinkedIn allow
you to present yourself professionally in front of millions of people and companies.
Establishing relationships through networking can help open job opportunities for yourself.
Joining a networking site like LinkedIn helps you establish these relationships
within you’re interested field. It also allows you to learn about different companies
as there are more than 2.6 million company pages subscribed to LinkedIn. This
is the time to start networking! For most of us that are still in college,
staying in touch with classmates after we graduate is a great way to create job
opportunities for us in the future. For example, in one year from now when I will
be looking for a finance job I might know a fellow classmate working for a
financial company that can help me get an interview.
Experience
You don’t become a great basketball player by reading a
bunch of books on basketball. You become a great basketball player by actually
playing the sport (athletic ability helps too). A college degree is
a great tool for companies to evaluate a possible employee. However, having
actual experience in the field is a better tool to measure how good someone
actually is in the field. Studying finance in college is helping me understand what
the field is all about, yet there’s a definite line between studying and
actually working in finance. Knowing that I needed to obtain some hands on experience,
three months ago I started investing in the stock market. Ever since then I am
constantly checking my stocks everyday and have become a lot more enthusiastic
about finance. I encourage everyone who’s studying finance to start investing
in the market. Even if all you can afford is one share of stock, it will
encourage you to be more involved. This hand’s on experience can also impress
an employer on your initiative during an interview.
Even though my career field is completely different from yours, getting into Optometry school or even working at an optometric office requires most of the same things. However when applying for Optometry, they look for experience so that they know for sure they are not wasting their time accepting someone that doesn't know one thing about the Optometry field. I also looked up other factors that employers may be looking at besides experience and degree and Forbes magazine talks about confidence, high-energy and professionalism are 3 things that are major when applying for a job (http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/10/04/top-five-personality-traits-employers-hire-most/ ). It makes sense because someone can have a degree and be really smart but those factors also play a big role and that is what Optometry schools look for as well.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that Internet has changed the approach that people took in order to get a job, I cannot imagine how it is to get a job nowadays by searching it through from a newspaper or magazine. These days we have LinkedIn, Facebook, or even craiglist that will help you to find a job you desired. Furthermore, I also agree with you about how experience is equally important as a college degree because I do believe that the courses that we took in our college years would not help much without a real-life experience and development.
ReplyDeleteRebecca, the Forbes article is great. It mentions, "New research shows that the vast majority of employers (88%) are looking for a “cultural fit” over skills in their next hire as more and more companies focus on attrition rates." This might seem harsh at first glance, but knowing what employers are looking for we can spin this to an advantage. Researching the company before your interview can help you find out what the employer is looking for. For example, say after visiting the company's website your about to interview for you realize they donate a lot of there profits to animal shelters. Therefore, I wouldn't suggest showing up in a leopard fur coat. Instead I would suggest mentioning something in the interview about your compassion for animals. Play the game.
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