Essential Shortcuts To Finding a Graduate Job

1. Know what you're looking for

First off, stop looking for a job. Instead, consolidate all the information you need to discover what job you would be right for and within that, what industries/platforms need that aspect of work. For example, say you were interested in writing- there are a million things you could do career wise. Internet or print. Within the internet, blogs, online journalism or social media. In print you've got newspapers, magazines, genres specific articles, promotional copy- the list goes on. Pull together all your ideas to create a portfolio of the sorts of jobs you want. Knowing what you want may take a little time to pinpoint, but will save a lot of time in the long run; things will be a whole lot speedier if you have a clear focus.

2. Get your CV everywhere, not just when you apply

Having your CV widely visible is massively beneficial when it comes to finding a job. Instead of just sending a CV when you apply for a role, posting your CV on every major and even slightly relevant job website you will massively heighten the chances of someone approaching you with a potential role. Have it on every single job site under the sun. Think of the job market as literally a 'market' every service has something different to offer, take a look in every shop. If you are protective over access to your CV you'll only limit yourself.

3. Replicate your CV on LinkedIn, add new contacts everyday

Networking is the biggest tool at your disposal in today's job seeking world. It seems that if you don't have a LinkedIn profile then you don't exist as a valid candidate. So, make sure you are signed up, logged on and with a complete profile that mirrors your CV. Then all you have to do is search for relevant contacts in companies/industries you like and max out your LinkedIn requests every day. It's just 30 min every day, finding new people, sending requests. Every person you send a request to has a chance to see your CV in one click. You can't ask for much more than that!

4. Leverage your existing networks

'It's who you know, not what you know' is unfortunately still applicable to landing a job. There is no shame in utilising your existing contacts for experience, advice and opportunities. Find out who you know that works in relevant fields to you, drop them a line and see what happens. Audit absolutely every person you know- create a spreadsheet if you need to and figure out how they could potentially help your job search. When you meet people, always ask how they found and secured their job and approach people who have the job you want to find out common routes into that industry. Twitter and LinkedIn are fine for this kind of practice. See how we're just getting straight to the answers here rather than waiting for it to come to you? That's the key.

5. Organise your inbox

So much time is wasted due to an overflowing inbox. How are you supposed to find the important emails if they are buried under a mountain of junk mail? Set up rules on your account so certain emails go into certain folders. Schedule automatic clean up so newsletters or frivolous mail disappears if you don't need it or read it time. Make sure you have a diversion to your junk folder for relevant emails. Try and keep your main inbox empty so everything is archived and gets sent to the appropriate folder meaning you always know where to look for emails and don't waste time wading through thousands of unread, unimportant messages. This also means rare/unique emails hit the main inbox space so you won't miss them. Also, unsubscribe to anything you don't 100% need to be receiving mail from to minimise your daily influx of emails.