
XIC is always inteted to provide industry’s best job opportnuities to our studnets.
Recently we crossed 95% of placement for the students who finished their courses
in the last three 3 months. We conducted interviews exclusively for startups in
Coimbatore and 16 leading startup companies were participated. Around 300
applicants participated and many of them freshers looking for jobs with startups.
Startup companies had set up stall to meet and talk to aspirants. In addition, there
were over 12 early stage start-ups that were looking for employees or co-founders.
During the day, we saw over 300 participants walk in for discussions with
companies. Many of them were freshers. These were enthusiastic about landing a
job. But when it came to how to go about it, many just walked up to companies and
handed over their resumes.
During the day, XIC even held a session for freshers on the best way to approach
getting a job. We know that finding a job is tough when you don’t have experience.
That’s why you need to think different.
Here are some tips that you should adopt when job-hunting as a fresher.
Research the company
It always amazes us that people miss out this basic step. Not just freshers, but even
experienced folks walk into an interview without making an effort to read up on what
the company does.
In many interviews we have conducted, one of the first questions we ask is ‘You
must have gone through our web-site. Why don’t you tell me what you know about
us so that I can help fill the blanks?”
In many cases, the candidates make excuses – I just browsed the website casually. I
didn’t have time. I thought I would find out during the interview.
A typical interviewer goes through tens of interviews during a day. S/he has put
aside important work to conduct the interview. The last thing s/he wants is to explain
what the company is all about.
Imagine if you walk into the interview stating ‘I read about the latest product update
you had, and I’m keen on working with your company because I am keen on the
domain.’ That immediately tells the interviewer that you’re aware of the work the firm
does and they have something to start discussions on.
Get details about the company and products during the research. No one expects
that you know the latest quarterly reports in mind, but you should know enough for
the interviewer to feel you’ve not made a superficial statement.
Talk about projects you have done
As a fresher, you have no work experience that an interviewer can test you on.
Almost everyone’s resume claims that they know all major languages and platforms.
Most people think – I’ll write it to get the call. In the best case, they may never ask
me to write code in the language I don’t know (doesn’t this stem from all the optional
subjects we have in curriculum?)
For an interviewer, you’re just one of many candidates. They are looking for things
that will set you apart and make their job easy.
The best way to grab attention is to talk about projects you were involved in, if you
have been. If you’ve already worked on open source projects or contributed
something, that will set you apart. But please don’t embellish your contributions or
hype your college projects. The project you did to create a website for your college
canteen may seem like great work to you, but it doesn’t seem much if you’re a
company that’s building products for consumers across the world.
Do Additional courses
If interested to get in to IT companies you should have the basic knowledge in the
popular technologies. In the most recent times companies wont look out for a fresher
who doesn’t even have basic knowledge rather than will select trained people with
some better domain knowledge even if they don’t have experience. So it is always
easier and financially beneficial for the companies to take trained freshers in. So you
can choose your favourite technology and do some course and build a project in the
technology and then you can start your job search. Research shows that people who
did additional course has better chance of placements rather than others. Always be
specific to find a good company who provide the best training with project knowledge
than looking just for a certification.
Keep your resume crisp
Everyone’s fighting for time in today’s world. No one has time to go through
paragraphs to understand your potential. Make your resumes short and retain only
interesting stuff. As a fresher, you’ll be tempted to write long paras because your
resume looks shorter than your friends.
Highlight the skills that the job requires. If you’ve done your research, you will be
able to tailor your resume for the job on offer. If you’re wondering, the answer’s yes.
You should have multiple versions of your resume ready.
But please. Leave the long-winded essays for your college papers. Just be crisp
about your achievements.
Practice your introduction
Most people have short attention spans. You’re competing for attention with so many
others. Start your introduction strong so that you capture the listener’s attention.
Focus on points that are your strengths – if you’re not from a leading college, it
makes more sense to talk about relevant projects and why you’d like to work for the
company.
Do not start with statements like ‘If given a chance, I will do very well for the
company’. That’s understood. And do not make generic statements like ‘I’m very
passionate’.
Curate your online presence
One interview is usually never enough for the interviewer to figure out you’re perfect
for the job (though it’s much much easier to figure out you’re not the right fit). And
there’s usually a line of candidates who will also go through the process before/after
you.
Once the company decides that you make the shortlist, many also search for you
online to see if there’s anything else they find.
Maintain a LinkedIn profile, even if you don’t have work experience. LinkedIn has a
public part of the profile that shows up when someone searches your name.
LinkedIn recently
announced. CheckIn, an app that lets companies gather
information about aspirants and contact them post the event. That’s yet another
reason to maintain a good LinkedIn profile.
A quick note on recommendations: Stay away from too many recommendations from
your peers. They will definitely find you extremely talented and a future asset to any
team, and the interviewer will definitely discount their views. Try getting
recommendations from your professors, or from senior professionals that you do
your college internships with. That counts a lot more.
All the best with your job search!
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