How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part V

When many college graduates begin their job search, they often wonder “what do I wear to the interview?” It might seem tricky if the company you’re going into is business casual. If the company dress is conservative or business casual, always dress up!

We realize that on a college budget, graduates might have a limited number of suit or dress pieces for an interview. We put together some different interview outfit looks on Ashley, by mixing and matching different accessories to key items in the outfit. This is the best method for any college student to create many interview outfits for less!

Some key items to mix around are:

• necklaces or scarves with a suit coat
• blazer or cardigan over a dress
• classic colored heels with any outfit

For Ashley’s makeup, we used lightweight mineral foundation and blush. For any interview, you want to look natural. To get this natural look, keep the eye shades neutral colored: light pinks, browns, beiges, etc. A brown pencil eyeliner was applied lightly on her top lid, along with brownish/black mascara. We gave Ashley a comfortable and refreshed look for her interview.

Don’t forget the biggest key accessories with your interview outfit…your resume, portfolio, and questions! Good luck!

Ashley's Finished Interview Look

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part I

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part II

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part III

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part IV

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part VI

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part IV

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part I

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part II

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part III

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part V

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part VI

How to Land a Job After Graduation- Part II

I’m Ashley Dingeman, a senior Communication major at SUNY Geneseo. I am currently working as the marketing intern for Whiting Consulting, and with only 47 days until commencement, I am one of many considered to be “an active job seeker.”

With broad major like Communications, I have a plethora of potential professions I would be qualified for. My issue then? Narrowing down what it specifically is that I want to do. On top of that, my growing anxiety is getting the best of me regarding my personal interview techniques, my preparedness for the job world, and the pressure of finding a job in this economy.

You always hear people say that what you learn in college is going to prepare you for the rest of your life. Well, I would have to disagree. Although I have grown as a person and my knowledge has significantly matured, I can’t say that I have been prepped by college for the next stage in my life. I, unlike most students, was fortunate enough to take a class specifically geared toward preparing students for the job hunt. In turn, I was forced to perfect my resume, learn to write a cover letter, create a portfolio, and perform a number of mock interviews.

One thing this class was missing was helping me to pinpoint what I want to do with my life after graduation.  I’m the type of person who has tried many jobs, always loves doing something new, and isn’t afraid of commitment. One of my many passions is food, whether it’s cooking, eating, watching others cook, reading, or writing about it.  Simplified: I would categorize myself as a foodie.

I think to love something so much and to be so intrigued by it qualifies it as a passion. For some, eating is eating and food is food, but to me, it’s so much more. In my perfect world, I would love to do all of the above, cook, eat, watch, read, and most importantly, write. But my world isn’t perfect, and I have to be understanding that my dream job isn’t going to come to me as an entry level position.

In order to stand out from the rest, I’ve been consciously using social media to brand myself and to be heard. Over the next few weeks prior to graduation, my social media profiles will be evaluated and picked apart by the Whiting Consulting professionals, and they will be restructuring them from a college student’s profiles to what employers want to see. This process may not be glamorous, but it’s something that all current graduates should be doing.

Please join me and come along for the ride, learn from my mistakes, and gain these competitive advantages over your peers. You’ll never be more thankful than when you hear those two powerful words from your future employer’s mouth saying, “You’re hired!”

Post written by Ashley Dingeman, Marketing Intern at Whiting Consulting.

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part I

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part III

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part IV

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part V

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part VI

How to Land a Job After Graduation- Part I

With college graduation fast approaching, I thought I would create a series blog for the Class of 2011 and any other recent college graduate job seeker in their quest to land a job after graduation. For the series, we’re taking our intern’s real-life experiences, personal brand, and social media profiles and transforming them to deliver top results for what is found online by job seekers and what hiring managers are looking for in a top candidate. Join us in our journey of helping college grads transform into top notch candidates and how to properly approach the current job market.

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part II

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part III

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part IV

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part V

How to Land a Job After Graduation: Part VI

What I Wish I Knew about the Real World Before I Started Working

What do I wish I knew about the Real World before I started working? As a Brazen Careerist member, I thought I would contribute to the JobSTART101 blog series, where they asked members this same question to answer in their own post. So here are my thoughts…

In my college business program, I learned a lot from my classes by applying myself in team projects that connected to real businesses or people. These projects focused on active student participation and engagement with different activities in the classroom. Professors who gave me team projects where I had to come up an entire marketing campaign was the closest I was going to get to real world similarities in a classroom environment.

Being in the real world for six months now (wow time flies!); I’ve realized the only thing that I didn’t really focus on was how connected everyone is with each other within specific industries. Networks are so vast and reach all corners of the world, confirming that it is a small world after all!

6 Tips for a Smooth Transition into the Workplace from College

Two months ago, I started my job only two days after graduation with little time to prepare for the transition of the mentality behind college work to real work. The outside environment didn’t change for me- being right across the street from my college campus. Yet, the working environment did change from a high-stress “Gotta get good grades,” into where every ounce of performance means everything for the success of the company. Here are a few pointers that I have learned in my quick journey from the lecture hall to my office desk: