You’re in the real world now. School’s out and it’s time to find your first job. In today’s job market you may already be in for a challenge, so you don’t want to make things tougher on yourself by committing these common mistakes while you’re on the hunt for that job after college. That’s why we’re going to give you some helpful hints on how to avoid the pitfalls the other applicants are making and you can get a leg up over the competition. Don’t kid yourself, it’s out there and it’s fierce.

The Resume

So many ways to screw up here and it’s the first thing you need to prepare before you begin your job search in earnest. A few things to keep in mind, specifically length and information. Some grads feel like they need to overcompensate for a lack of experience with excessive insight into their course work at school. Hiring managers don’t want to know from your studies at Boston University, that’s only one component of their decision process. You may not have a lot of work experience to discuss, so you’re going to want to keep your resume short, nothing longer than a page. Otherwise, you could be making the wrong impression and even though you’re proud of your achievements in college, it could make you appear boastful and self-indulgent. Brevity is the best choice.

The Internet

It’s good for a lot of things, including finding a job. But only if you do it right, if not you could be putting yourself at a disadvantage. That means not relying on just the online tools that are available to you. By all means, seek out job boards, professional networking resources, and don’t expect Facebook and Twitter to be your only allies in finding the right job. Those are probably your least useful choices.

The Perfect Job

While you were taking those courses with UAB Online, you probably had a dream scenario for the perfect job made up in your head. Now that you’re on the job hunt, you’re going to make that dream a reality. Sorry, time to wake up. You likely don’t have the experience or qualifications yet to get that position and holding out hope while turning down other offers is no way to get started on your career. Waiting for the perfect situation to come along could mean you’re waiting for far longer than you’d hoped and that experience you desperately need is not going to be there for you to gain.

The Follow-Up

The resume is important but the follow-up may be even more critical to success. Following up shows you have initiative, you’re being proactive about finding a job, and more importantly, you’re actively engaged in getting hired by the organization to which you’ve sent your resume for review. Don’t sit by the phone waiting for it to ring, follow up.