Job search advice for university students and recent graduates

If you know someone who is currently attending college or university or who has recently graduated, please pass on a link to this post. Thank you.

The best thing you can do is start a blog (or video series or wiki or some other online channel).

Start marketing yourself right away so that when you graduate, you have years of content on your blog.

Having a well-done blog is much more important than a resume to get that first job.

I am on several company advisory boards and when asked how to hire communicators at any level, my answer is: "See how they communicate themselves. If they can't do that well, don't hire them."

It's never too late to start.

If you're a recent graduate, start today (not tomorrow). Create some brand journalism that positions your personal brand as the one to hire when the time comes.

I reached out to some University professors to point us to some students who have done this really well. While these are people who are communications majors, the idea works for any field of study.

"We require PR students at Kent to do a blog as part of a senior-level class," Bill Sledzik, Associate Professor, School of Journalism & Mass Communication at Kent State University told me. Here is Bill's post explaining the philosophy: Should PR students be forced to blog? We think so Note that there are more than 50 comments on Bill's blog post as of this writing.

"For the 'required' blogs, our students write on PR-related topics that interest them most," Bill says. "Thought is, the PR-focused blog gives [students] a leg up in the job market, showing off their abilities as writers and researchers as it relates to the business."

Bill gave us some great student blogs to take a look at. I also got student blog links from Karen Miller Russell, associate professor, who teaches public relations and media history at the University of Georgia.

Here are some excellent student blogs to check out:

Aaron Kaufmann is spending the summer as an intern with the Washington office of Fleishman-Hillard. His blog is The Beltway PeRspective

May 2010 grads Rebecca O’Dell and Shantae Rollins created Sassy & Classy PR to share their experiences as they prepare for the job search.

Marissa Mendel used her blog An Appetite for PR to focus on PR in the food business, an interest of hers.

Katherine Strait is an '09 alum who blogged as a student at Dawg Food and it helped her get a job. She now blogs at Dawg Food: Small-town foodie hits the big city

Courtney Garmhaus, a member of the national champion PRSSA Bateman Competition team, blogs at GirliePR

Rachel Esterline, recently graduated from Central Michigan University, blogs at ExPRessions. To prove the point, she is happily employed as an account executive and social media specialist at AGP & Associates. And she "loves it.”

Hire them!

Congratulations to these students who are writing such passionate blogs. And kudos to Professors like Karen and Bill who promote these ideas to students.

If you are a student or recent graduate, forget about the resume for now and start blogging.

If you are looking to hire an entry-level PR person, ask about their blog.

Image: pistolseven / Shutterstock

Comments

[DaveMurr]

Solid advice David. There are some great examples you share that other students should pay attention to. It would be interesting to see how many Universities are providing these types of suggestions when it comes to the job hunt.

I was happy to see you include Rachel Esterline. She is a young champion of Michigan and this area. She works hard, too the time to spread the word about our conference (FutureMidwest) in April, and from what I understand will soon be starting another Social Media Club here in Michigan - that will make three chapters here.

[Valentina]

Actually I followed these tips and I created a blog relating to the horse industry. I perform video interviews and write articles about the latest in the horse industry. I was flown to various cities for 5 major interviews with animal health companies because of my website/blog, they said. They thought I had several years of experience with horses b/c they were judging me by my blog.

I didn't get any job offers because I only have 2 years of professional sales experience but it has inspired me to go back to school and get my MBA in Marketing. When I finish my degree I will have replaced those years by polishing up on my business skills. I still enjoy doing my blog and still use your tips on social media networking.

Thanks a million!!!

[Rachel Esterline]

This is great advice for young professionals. My blog is what led me to my interview and internship with Fahlgren Mortine last summer. It also is what made me a valuable new hire at AGP.

Although I think starting a blog can be instrumental in your job search, I always advise people to only start one if they will be serious about it. A blog also can work against you if there are multiple errors or if you post irregularly.

Also, Dave is correct in his comment above. I have recently started a Social Media Club chapter in mid-Michigan.

Thank you for including me!

[Greg de Lima]

David,
Would you say that ALL students should have a blog? I agree that students in a marketing/PR/Comms. field should. However, I don't think you can generalize and say you *need* a blog or an online presence. LinkedIn would suffice for many students.
Just to be clear, I do recommend that students and recent grads to maintain some sort of online presence but not necessarily, blogging or a full on interactive face online.

[Tim Washer]

I shared this same advice to a college student last week. Even if folks are uncomfortable with blogging, they can set up a blog and keep it private, and go public when they're ready. It's a great way to hone your craft, discover your voice and build a writing sample. I have several friends who have blogged their way into a job or a book deal.

[DanSchawbel]

I'm jealous of college freshman who can start building their brand (and network) for four years before graduating. I would bet that they wouldn't need to even look for a job. It would fall directly in their lap!

[Rob Symes]

Hey david, I couldn't agree more. Sending CV's is totally overrated!This is a cool example of how someone didn't send a resume but got innovative howhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FRwCs99DWg

[David Meerman Scott]

Thanks, all, for your great comments.

Greg - I'd say that everyone should be publishing content online. It doesn't have to be a blog. It could be videos, or a research report, or a twitter feed. But I do think that it will greatly increase the chances of finding a job quickly in any industry.

David

[Aaronkaufmanprkent.wordpress.com]

Hi David,

Bill's advice to be your own best advocate is so valuable, and I'm glad to see that you share his sentiments. Blogging is a terrific medium that allows your personality to jump off the page in a way that it never could on a traditional resume. I've loved my time as a blogger. It's especially rewarding when people who I look up to in the industry(like yourself)take notice. Your post offers some wonderful advice to professionals young and old.

[Bill Sledzik]

David,

We promote student blogs because they work. Students like Aaron, and others who stick with it, will continue to see dividends. Our best student bloggers are the first to land great jobs, and that's no coincidence.

It takes a motivated person and a dedicated writer to press on with blogging after the semester ends. But then, motivation and good writing are precisely what PR employers seek!

Thanks for the shout out.

[Bruno Rodriguez]

This is a great article David - blogging really is the new frontier for graduates looking to break into any industry.

By 'showing off' your knowledge on a particular subject, you are far more likely to impress potential employers than with a standard CV.

And as Bill points out, it takes dedication and commitment to continue with a blog in your own time.

[David Meerman Scott]

Bill, thanks for jumping in.

I am so impressed with these "student" blogs. (I put student in quotes because the blogs are really so well done that the word student does the blog a disservice).

It makes total sense that the first students to be hired are those with blogs. That's an important takeaway - if you are looking for a job, do you want to be one of thousands of resumes? Or one of a handful of people creating valuable information on the web?

Kudos to Aaron, Rachel, and the others.

David

[Karen Russell]

David, thanks for mentioning a couple of UGA alums in your post.

I don't think everyone's cut out to blog, but those who are surely put themselves a step in front of the rest when a future employer goes to Google.

[David Meerman Scott]

Thanks Karen. Keep up your great work - you and Bill are both changing lives!

David

[Sheldrake]

Nice post as always :-)

Presenting at the CIPR's Digital Impact conference last week, I encouraged everyone to think about the most important brand they'll ever work with... their own.

Here's a post I wrote a couple of years ago when I started to get frustrated with the paucity of preparation of candidates:

Your first job in PR... questions you should prepare for and questions you should ask in the job interview...

http://www.marcomprofessional.com/posts/philip.sheldrake/your-first-job-in-pr...-questions-you-should-prepare-for-and-questions-you-should-ask-in-the-jo

[Srinivas Rao]

David,

I'm not a student, but a recent graduate of an MBA program. In the year after I graduated, it took me 8 months to find a job. But during that time I started my blog and the amount of doors it has continued to open has really been mind blowing. I'm actually going to post a link to your article on the student google group for the current students at Pepperdine because I think that they could really benefit from this.

[Fred Kapoor]

I will recommend this post to all the young people I know that have recently graduated and that are looking for a job related to their interests. In my opinion, this is the kind of help and encouraging activity we should do in order to help the future professionals, the future entrepreneurs to start building their success from an early stage in their lives. Besides, to gain the experience they don't have, they ought to be given the chance to make mistakes, but also to make great things.

[Andreea Townsend]

My blog helped me land my job as an SEO Copywriter. Couldn't agree more! Great post!

[Andy Cook]

I posted this to my Facebook wall for my friends to see. I just graduated from UMass - Amherst and I totally agree with this! I even wrote a proposal last semester for the University to create a mandatory class teaching seniors why they should blog, use social media, and create a personal brand. The stalwarts at the School of Management just dismissed my ideas though...Their loss! Thanks for the article.

[Ed H]

Our oldest child is 15 so in about 7-8 years, I hope the market opens up. I do think it will be rough sailing for graduates in the next few years. (At least here in the US where the govt. can't stop spending!)

[Nic]

My best graduate careers advice came from myself. The careers advice I got from Uni was laughable and my sister wasn't too enamoured with the service she received either. I asked myself what I was good at, what it was that I loved, whether those two were the same thing and what graduate careers were open to me based within those parameters. And that worked just fine for me.

[Adam Avory]

Wow..its really great advice,i think really helps the graduate people better to prompt yourself with blog,even i would also like to try out these strategy.

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[nicole]

Cool new book out. Anyone had a chance to catch this one yet. One book to help all the struggling graduates out there. I’m only on chapter two, but so far so good. “You Have A College Degree, Now What?” http://www.MantraHospitality.com

[Sarah]

I started my own book review blog a few years back. While it was mainly for fun and the possibility of free books, it helped me to hone my networking skills. Invaluable to me today. University bound high school students should definitely think about this blogging advice. Thanks!

http://www.university-bound.com/