Starting Your Post-Graduation Job Search? Here’s What a Whitman Career Expert Advises
With summer and graduation season in the rearview, a new class of seniors is thinking ahead to life after Syracuse.
To help, Syracuse University Today asked Kara Primrose, executive director of career services and employer relations in the Whitman School of Management, for some straight talk on how to approach a job search today.
Primrose, who has shaped career development efforts for Whitman students since 2008, offered advice on how to build a resume and how to approach networking. Whether you’re a senior gearing up to apply or a recent graduate still in the search, she says the attitude you bring to the search, and a willingness to keep showing up, can make all the difference.
Find that advice and more from Primrose below:
The mindset that serves you best is curiosity. You do not need to know exactly what you are looking for. You just need to stay open when something unexpected shows up.
You do not need to know everything to be a strong candidate. Employers expect you to learn on the job and not walk in with all the answers. On your resume, showcase what you actually did: the projects, the part-time jobs, the group work. Be specific about what changed because you were there.
A big pitfall is vague language. “Helped with” and “assisted in” tell a hiring manager nothing. Say what you built, fixed, organized or improved, even if it feels small.
Treat networking like a conversation, not a transaction. Ask people about their actual career path because that is where the useful information comes out. Do not wait until you need something to reach out. The people who network well are the ones who authentically stayed connected when they had nothing to ask for.
Keep applying to roles that catch your interest, even ones outside the obvious path. Treat applying to four to six especially relevant opportunities a week as your focus. These are the ones where you put in extra effort to tailor your resume and reach out to someone at the company.
LinkedIn makes it easy to search for alumni from your school or college. They are often the best place to start since they already have a reason to help you out. That kind of effort matters more than sending 50 rushed applications into the void.
Then, follow up. A brief check in a few days or a week later puts your name back at the top of your contact’s mind.
Work with your school or college career advisors sooner than you may think you need to. Start now so you understand what the timeline looks like for your field. Some industries recruit a year out and others fill roles within weeks.
Your career advisor can be a real partner through the whole process. They help with more than understanding timing. They can give resume feedback, conduct practice interviews and offer perspective when you are stuck. The students who end up on track are the ones who got moving before they thought they may have needed to
Your value is not just your major or your job title. It is the skills you built getting there: communication, problem solving, leadership, showing up and following through. Those are valued and carry over into far more roles than you might expect.
Do not wait for the perfect job posting to feel confident applying. You are more ready than you think.
