(This post was updated on 6/22/2020)

College graduates are quickly learning the high expectations for their first job out of college aren’t exactly going to be met the way they pictured. There are many perks they hope to find at their first job that end up missing.

It’s important for career counselors to fully understand the anxieties of college students and the extent of their expectations surrounding that all-important first job.

Once you know what those lofty expectations are, here are a few ways to handle them as their career counselor:

Even for those who have natural confidence skills, job interviews are stressful. 

Having the ability to walk into an interviewer’s office feeling confident about who you are and why you’re right for this position is hard enough. But what happens when those unexpected confidence blows happen during the meeting? 

Here are a few ways to boost your confidence skills and help brush off those interview jitters:

There are a lot of factors you must consider when looking for a new job. The salary, location, opportunities for the future, and more play into whether a position and company are right for you. But what about your health?

The truth of the matter is that even jobs we don’t consider to be dangerous can have a negative impact on employee health. Business Insider looked at data from the Occupational Information Network and compiled a list of the professions that were the most damaging to employee health based off factors like time spent sitting and possible exposure to hazardous materials. Surprisingly, jobs like dentist, flight attendant, and podiatrist topped the list of most unhealthy jobs.

Every job has the possibility of negatively impacting your health. Especially if you aren’t aware of what causes those health issues. Here are three common health problems that could stem from a job and how you can keep them from affecting your wellness:

It’s time to spice up your job-hunting strategy. You know the external routes to getting hired by heart: CareerBuilder, LinkedIn, Indeed, and all the other search engines and job boards out there. But that ignores one very effective method to use in the job search: the employee referral. 

In SilkRoad’s 2017 Sources of Hire research, they found that hiring professionals prefer internal hiring more than external because it’s easier to find the right hire. And 45% of internal hires result from employee referrals. 

So, while Indeed does create the most interview opportunities, it’s employee referrals that remain the top source of hires. 

Of course, that begs the question, “Why isn’t everyone going wild over the greatness of referrals?” 

The main issue for job seekers is that they have no idea how to even receive an employee referral. After all, there aren’t job boards out there that just list opportunities at your friends’ companies. So you feel like to get referred for a job you have to sit and wait for someone to think of you. It gives you less control over your job hunt.

But in reality, there’s a lot you can do to move the process along and up your chances of getting an employee referral. You just have to know how to go about it. 

Here are three ways to get referred for a great job:

(This post was updated on 7/6/2020)

Going green. It’s a topic many people are concerned about nowadays. With so many people working remotely this year, we’ve had even more time to consider our environmental impact in both our home and work lives. So, how can we carry that mentality into the workplace once we go back to the office?

The chances are that even if you make an effort to incorporate environmental sustainability into your personal life, it might not be a big part of your professional life.

That means many employers are missing a huge opportunity to improve their employer branding. Even if you’re not overly going into the eco-friendly movement, there are a lot of benefits you can reap by incorporating environmental sustainability into your business model.

Here are three employer branding benefits that come along with being a greener company:

You spend hours crafting the perfect resume for each job you apply for. Careful thought goes into the words you choose to show that you are a professional and the right person for the position. But then you never hear back from employers.

Does this sound familiar? Chances are, you might be going about resume writing the wrong way. Job seekers and hiring managers have very different perspectives on certain words. A phrase that might seem perfect to you, could be meaningless to the person reading your resume, or worse, a deterrent from reading any farther.

Up your chances of getting your resume noticed by avoiding words that hiring managers and employers dislike. Here are four types of words you shouldn’t use in your resume writing:

There’s great news for job seekers: employers want to hire you! And in order to peak your interest about their company, many employers are starting to offer some creative and awesome benefit packages.

A 2016 Society of Human Resource Management survey found that between 2015 and 2016, 33 percent of companies increased the number of benefits they offered. And in many cases, those new benefits are more than the traditional health insurance and vacation policies

With so many great perks to choose from, it can be easy for a job seeker to get distracted. But it’s important to remember a job should offer you more than its benefits package. Avoid being mesmerized by the extras by knowing which ones will actually fit your needs or lifestyle.

Here are five trendy employee benefits and what they can tell you about the company offering them:

In today’s interconnected world, the majority of professionals are increasingly using technology in the office, but there is debate over the impact of smartphones in the workplace.

A recent CareerBuilder study found eight out of 10 workers have smartphones, and 82 percent of those people keep them within eyesight at work. It comes to no surprise that 55 percent of employers feel mobile devices are to blame when it comes to lack of productivity in the office.

While smartphones might land you in a pinch in the office, if not used with professional restraint, a 2015 Pew Research study found 28 percent of job seekers — of which 53 percent are 18-to-29-year-olds — have used smartphones in some way to successfully assist in their job search.

Here are some do’s and don’ts for using your trusted phone to land your dream job:

Over the years, job-hopping amongst young employees has been associated with laziness and a lack of drive and commitment — all negative traits employees want nothing to do with. When done strategically, however, job-hopping is more beneficial for a long, prosperous career than once thought. 

After all, Akumina research acknowledged that 50% of the American workforce would be made up of millennials in 2021, and 75% of millennial managers in 2019 believed frequent job-hopping helps advance careers. With such a popular consensus, it is evident that there is a method to this job-hopping madness. 

Here’s why job-hopping is advantageous for your career — and how you can use it to impress future employers:

As a career counselor who helps college-aged individuals navigate jobs and internships, you know the importance of gaining relevant experience before graduation. But did you know the class of 2016 and other recent college graduates are having difficulties putting those experiences to work in the real world?

A Bureau of Labor Force Statistics survey found that the unemployment rate for 20 to 24-year-olds, the age when many have recently graduated college and are entering the workforce, is nearly twice that of 25 to 35-year-olds.

To help students succeed post graduation, here are a few tips to help your new job seekers land employment: