Almost Had a College Degree, What Job Shall I Aim for?

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Almost Had a College Degree, What Job Shall I Aim for?

There's the rub. You nearly got to the platform of glory, but for some unfortunate reason, you have to stop pursuing your bachelor's and look for a job. Of course, you can't expect to win in a competition of a pool of a hundred college graduates, but you don't want to end up low in a blue collar job along with the high school graduates either. So what do you do?

#1 Research and learn from others

And congratulations, you've already done the first step! Fooling aside, it's really smart of you to refer to the great World Wide Web to know what to expect from your current situation. If you could get even luckier, ask some friends and relatives who are also undergraduates. Chances are, once you've got the idea of a fitting work for you, you can narrow your job search to more realistic positions.

#2 Stand along with Associate Graduates

You can't deliver a decent application if you don't classify yourself. In your case, the safest is to level yourself along with the associate's title holders. Though you have longer years of study than they do, both of you are in between the bums and the buffs, idiomatically speaking of course. Aim for secretarial, clerical, and assistant posts, they are the most attainable choice for you. However still, secure your edge over the others. Almost a college degree is still better than not a college degree. Assert your advantage by showing that you have some stock knowledge in what the professionals are doing just in case it comes in handy for your work.

#3 Don't lie

You've been applying to various employers for two reasons: first, because they are looking for ideal associate grads or college undergrads to fit in the post; second, because you match their qualifications. So why will you bother altering facts about your academic background? And even if you're applying for a post that requires college degree, you still don't need to utter a fib if you really believe that you have what it takes to do the task except for a wretched piece of paper they call diploma. No, lying is not useless - it is harmful to your career.

#4 Put emphasis on specific knowledge about the field

Here's one good thing about entering college (even if you have gone off too soon) - you've got more than the required knowledge in the company's processes. Say, you're applying as a clerk in an accounting firm? Let them see that you also have the technical knowledge aside from the ability to organize files and answer clients' calls.

Not having to attain your degree does not mean that you can't have a decent professional niche. Sometimes all it takes is cunning and some confidence. Imagine, there are a lot worse situations out there. If you almost finished a college degree, it doesn't just mean that you lack some semester over the college grads; it also means that you got some extra years of learning over the associate grads.

Relax, not being able to attain the bachelor's is better than not taking it at all. Case in point you forget that you're luckier than the others. Heck, remember kick-outs, and felons, and the disabled persons before thinking that there's not much job in store for you.

Kate Ross-Myers works for a New-York based human resources magazine. She has a broad experience in preparing resource materials on hiring, recruitment, and training. Kate also speaks on forums and conventions on employee wellness and growth.

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Ask And Ye Shall Receive Job Leads

If you seeking a job and you have friends and family, or both, you surely have access to all of employment tips and tricks. All you have to do is ask.

This is because, your friends and family who is working must have done or said something right, or else they would not be working. So you can stop trying to reinvent the wheel and start imitating what has already worked for others.

Here, are suggestions of four questions that you can ask your friends, family, or neighbors, to shorten the job search process.

Question #1: From where did you find about the job you have now?

I can bet that at least six out of every ten people you ask this question will say that they have heard about this job from someone they knew. In other words, they got their job through networking. Then, you can go on about asking if you can be introduces to the same networking contact.

It doesn't matter what reply you get back, you are doing two smart things by asking this question.

Firstly, in this way you are letting people know that you are available in the job market, which can itself lead to many employment leads.

Secondly, you are flattering a person by asking anyone for an advice like this. This can make them more likely to return the favor by perhaps sending you job leads later.

Question #2: Can you show me the resume and cover letter you used to apply for the job you have now?

A lot can be learnt from a job winning resume and cover letter. For instance, you can get ideas of new layouts, choices of words, what to include, what not to include, and a lot more.

However, there is a word of caution here for this. You should remember that just because your friend got an interview and job offer from the resume and cover letter, does not mean that you should 100% imitate their resume

If you are in doubt of the new resume formats or cover letter phrases, it is better to just leave them out. Or you can test the new resume and cover letter by applying to jobs that you are not really interested in.

Question #3: What are the steps you took to prepare yourself for the job interview?

The chances are that people who you will be asking this question didn't do much at all. Or, in case they did prepare, then it was not more than ten minutes of Googling spree.

Therefore, take note of how your friends have prepared for the last job interview, and then decide to do more than that before your next interview.

This implies that you will be required to research about the company you will be interviewing at, learn about the company's products, problems, competitors, customers, and opportunities. You should arrive at your job interview ready to make a contribution immediately, and prove you can do the job right then and there. If you are able to do this, you will always get more job offers.

Question #4: What is the one thing you would now want to do differently in your next job search?

An honest person who you ask this question to will have at least one regret, such as proofreading errors on their resumes, or answering more questions in their interview.

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