How to set your foot in the working world

"2008 Recession" by Renegade98

During this economic crisis that has hit the country since 2008, landing a job has become almost impossible. To make matters worse, the job market is shrinking more and more for those who just graduated from college. Companies are taking advantage of the situation by asking ridiculous amounts time of experience. Since a lot of workers have been laid off, there are many experienced people looking for a job, thus recent graduates have to compete against people with years of experience.

Latinos were hit harder by the recession so it makes things more difficult to recent graduates.

Now having a diploma and a good GPA isn’t enough to get a job. Obviously, the student loan lenders do not care about that. Neither do the bills nor the rent. So what is it to be done? The job hunting has just started and probably will last a good deal of time.

It won’t be easy to set your foot in the working world but here are a few things that you could do. Volunteering is a good way to get references and most importantly, hands-on professional experience. Even though you will not get paid, it will shine in your resume.

"Man working" by totalAldo

Offering your services for free to people and companies is another way. If you are a web designer you could design a website for a certain company. Try to do your best because it will not only give you experience but also you could get clients if the website is catching.

Graphic designers, photographers, writers and such could build their portfolios by offering their work cheaper to small companies or individuals.

For those still in school, try to do as many internships as you can for different companies.

One other thing you could do is to learn to sell yourself. Ask experts to help you create a selling resume and make sure to include everything important you have done that could have given you experience. Also, include your qualities and skills. Let employers to know your strengths. Take advantage of free resources such as WordPress and Blogspot to show what you are capable of and so they can get to know you.

The most important thing is to not give up; keep fighting and do everything in your power because, in the end, you will succeed.

By guest contributor, Francia Henriquez.