Career Advice From a Student

So, after countless revisions of your resume, optimizing your LinkedIn profile, and submitting numerous applications to recruiters, you’ve finally secured an interview with the recruitment team of an organization. Naturally, you’re ecstatic that the effort you’ve invested has eventually paid off. However, now you have to start preparing for the final step of the application process, the interview. So, let’s talk about how we can prepare for that interview Now, Contrary to belief, although there are no “one-size-fits-all” answers to any interview question, there are structural formats one can learn to form stronger responses that are universally applicable to the common questions asked by interviewers So, let's go through some of these questions and how we can structure a strong response to better impress interviewers. 1. “Tell me about yourself” This question is commonly used to ask applicants to provide a detailed profile of themselves. However, we must remember to remain professi...

So, let’s assume that you’ve got a resume now. It's organized, concise, and detailed, and you’ve even included a LinkedIn profile. Brimming with confidence, you fervently begin applying for internships or Jobs, confident that you’re new and improved resume will get you to the next step of your career. However, a few months have passed, and you’ve only received 1-2 replies from recruiters. Some have rejected your applications, and some haven’t even replied yet. Now, you're thinking to yourself why aren’t things working out. Now, for clarification, that short example was based on my personal experience. At the time, my resume scored an average of 85% across multiple resume-scoring platforms and was even complimented by my tutors and peers. Yet, there I was, still struggling to get more than a quarter of replies to the applications I sent out. So, what was the problem now? Let's look at an example resume, shall we? It’s got a lot of background information about the individual...

What can you do in 10 seconds to leave an impression of yourself on an individual? Understandably, asking one to leave an impression of themselves on an individual in 10 seconds is a difficult task, more so a strong impression. However, in the context of the average time spent on a resume review, a study published by the Ladders (2018) reported that the average time spent on a CV review was only 7.4 seconds. So, the question now is how we leave a strong impression on recruiters within those 7.4 seconds. Well, here is some general advice when constructing a resume: 1. Include a LinkedIn Profile: A study conducted by Austin Belcak (2021) found that the inclusion of a LinkedIn Profile in a CV increased recruiter callback rates by 71%, however only 48% of CVs included one. Tip:  Start building a LinkedIn Profile and include it in the resume 2. Match Keywords and Skills to the Job: Matching relevant keywords and skills are a primary factor of success especially when it comes to online j...

Chances are that you’re a student such as myself. With numerous lectures, class tutorials, and assignment deadlines, few can blame students for feeling stressed and anxious. After all, the years spent in university are capable of determining the trajectory and direction of one’s life in the future. Thus, entirely investing one’s time and effort in pursuit of academic excellence is undoubtedly the right choice, correct? Let’s pause for a minute and ask ourselves a few questions. 1. What are your goals after graduating? 2. How are you going to achieve such goals? 3. What makes you stand out from others? So, how many were you able to confidently answer? If you were not able to answer all three questions, then there is unfortunately a lack of investment in your career. As a student, it is important to consider not only one’s academic performance but also how much one invests in their career. After all, one cannot simply expect to receive a job after graduation, instead one ...