Yes, this year is going to be the year when we all will lose weight, quit smoking and/or alcohol, meet the loves of our lives and, of course:

Find that perfect first “real job”.

These goals sound promising when we set them for ourselves…for about 5 seconds. After burning through that initial layer of motivation, we realise that we will have to stick with those resolutions for an excruciating long time until they might turn into reality. While it’s great to have long-term plans, they are usually very hard to stomach just a few moments into the New Year.

So, let’s ease into 2017 and chop up the seemingly insurmountable task of “finally growing up and getting a real job” into a couple of smaller resolutions that you can easily do. Within 1 hour. On your laptop or smartphone. Here we go:   

1. Update 1 section on your CV / online career profile

Instead of coming up with a catchy title for your CV / online profile

AND writing down the experience from your past 3 internships and student jobs

AND adding your last 5 student projects

AND your exchange semester in Spain…

...just take 1 section and make the update.

Our tip: We know from recruiters that they tend to look at the “Education” section first during the screening process, so if you’re at a loss where to start, there you go.

2. Find 1 recruitment event to sign up for

It can be a job fair, a round table, a company open house event, a workshop…

...especially in the beginning of the year, you can usually take your pick when you just go your university’s career service, visit the fair websites in your area, or look into the nearest startup community.

You will certainly find 1 event that sounds interesting and reachable… (and in any case, you can always sign up for the Graduateland Virtual Career Fair 2017 ;))   

3. Write down 1 skill you would like to learn or improve in 2017      

To get the ball rolling, you can look into transferable skills such as  

• communication skills
• public speaking skills
• problem-solving skills
• soft skills

...or you take the more concrete ones like language skills or even coding skills.

Once you have thought about this 1 skill, you can use it for guidance choosing a university elective, signing up for an online course or deciding for which internship to apply.

Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?

Good luck with your job hunting in 2017 - we from Graduateland will be by your side along the way. 

By the way...

The Graduateland Virtual Career Fair 2017 is now open for registration

Join us on February 8th and chat with recruiters and representatives from international companies across Europe - all you'll need is a working internet connection and a Graduateland user account.

 Click here to register for free