Get placed Off-Campus

We live in the world of competition and uncertainties’.  Neither did we all attend the top institutes in the country for our studies, nor were we lucky enough to get through our favorite job profiles/ companies during our campus placements (if we got placed at all).

But this shouldn’t let any of you down. You should realize that there is whole new world of opportunities for you, waiting to be tapped and spotted right. Now that you are being given the opportunity to pick any pearl in the ocean, you must pick the best one. It just needs a little bit of your time and effort.

In today’s free world there’s rarely any job that doesn’t align with your qualification, unless (ofcourse) if you’re a design graduate and want to work in a genetics lab. So, minus these absurdities, and you can take up almost any role that matches your skills and resume a bit.

I know people working in Communications despite having studied Botany at college and those working in Operations despite having a B.Tech in Electrical and those working as Managers for Finance teams despite having studied Textile Engineering.

So, don’t think you got stuck with a degree and ‘No-Placement’.
Always believe that you are more privileged than those who got placed on-campus as they were given a limited domain of opportunities to choose from.

Step 1- Identify your skills (your real skills not the ones that need to be put on your resume):

Try finding if you are good at convincing people or you are good at organizing events or you are good at stats or software handling or writing or at procuring material.

Look back and try to see what you have done best at school. Could be anything (doesn’t really need to be on your resume), could even be things like talking your friends out of a silly relationship or could even include organizing informal cricket matches early morning at 5:30 a.m. or convincing your friends to spend the night before your exam, drinking. They all add up to your skills. They really do.
Yes, you gotta make a list of all the crazy things you have done and let it be defined by a skill.

Now make a list of those skills in turn.

Step 2- Identify the Job Role that most appropriately matches your skills:

For example if you are good with talking and convincing people, you can get into marketing.
If you are good with numbers, you can try analytics or banking.
If you are full of creative business ideas, you can be an entrepreneur or try working with a startup in a nascent stage.
If you are good at helping people, you can be a teacher or a trainer or a counselor or work with an NGO.

Now make a list of the possible jobs that you can apply to.

Step 3- Make a list of companies that offer these job roles and list them in the descending order of your priority, which could be money or work culture or both.

Step 4- Heavy Networking:

Now is the time when you must get down to heavy networking on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin etc. Try spotting the people in your nearest friend circle or friends of friends who are working in the same field that you wish to work in. Get their contacts, call them or just go for coffee with them. Tell them what you are interested in and try getting the insight of their job roles and try knowing if that fits you well or not. Don’t rush! Think it over wisely.
Try meeting lots of people working in the industries that you are interested in, and always know that you are the best judge.

Make a list of the people who can best help you by referring you to the job openings available in their industry. Request them to refer you for the X profile whenever there’s opening in the company they are working for. Show them how you are fit for the role by fixing your resume a bit as per the role demands.
(I will be talking about resume in the next post)

Make a list of people who seem even slightly inclined towards forwarding your resume and email your resume to them all.
Don't forget to follow-up!

Note: Always send your Resume as a PDF file.

Step 5- The Next Step of Selection- Aptitude test and Interview:

If the Company finds your profile to be matching their criteria, you can either be called for an interview directly or for an aptitude test prior to an interview. Try digging out what the test might include by talking to the people freshly recruited by the company and depending on what the test would include, you can pick up any general aptitude testing book and practice on it. The Interviews will mostly be a candid discussion since you are joining as a fresher/trainee, they don’t expect you to know everything, but still you must do your pre-interview research by talking with people who are already working there and went through the same process. 

Trust me the world is small, and it is very easy to reach out to anybody and everybody in the age that we live in. So, get out into the world and talk. And, this time talk with a purpose of learning and getting references.
You can turn things around for yourself, if only you play smart.

And if the odds are in your favor you'll be offered a joining letter today. If not today, it'll happen sooner or later. So, don't lose hope. Keep Trying! The process is difficult and a bit time consuming but never impossible.

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You gotta do what you love or die finding what you love. That's the only way you make the best of your time on this planet.