Kick Start Your Career
Successful Strategies and Winning Techniques

For new graduates, the key challenge remains how to secure that first career-related job. Full of guidance and tips on how to handle the complex field of job hunting, Kick Start Your Career can help navigate an ever-changing job market and secure your chance at your desired career. It is a valuable investment in your future. It advises the reader on how to:

• stand out in job applications;
• use social media for job searching;
• create resumes and cover letters that stand out;
• succeed at interviews.

It provides a practical, hands on, step-by-step approach. With an integrated Personal Plan that helps create key job search documents it directs soon-to-be graduates towards achieving their career aspirations. Accompanying online resources include examples and templates, which can be downloaded in Word format to help you prepare resumes and other job search documents.

This book will help graduates progressively build up job-hunting resources ? skills, achievements, resume, cover letter and interview responses ? and turn this into a practical outcome: a new job. It is a key companion to any student or recent graduate exploring the job market.

Chapter 1: Getting Prepared

Chapter 2: Adaptable Strategies

Chapter 3: Personal Abilities

Chapter 4: Job Hunting-Key Factors

Chapter 5: Locating Job Opportunities

Chapter 6: Social Media Job Search Options

Chapter 7: Social Media - Establishing Your Online Profile

Chapter8: Social Media for Job Hunting

Chapter 9: Personal Development.

Chapter 10: General Achievements - Developing Your Selling Points

Chapter 11: Achievements: Extended - Further Selling Points

Chapter 12: Preparing Your Foundation Resume - Stage 1

Chapter 13: Preparing Your Foundation Resume - Stage 2

Chapter 14: Referees and References

Chapter 15: Preparing Your Targeted Resume - Country Specific

Chapter 16: Preparing Your Tailored Cover Letter

Chapter 17: Interviews

Chapter 18: Conclusion - Job Search Preparation and Job Hunting.

Appendices

Lee Smith’s professional life included developing young graduates. He holds multiple qualifications in applied science and technology. Extensive experience in preparing Personal Development programmes led to a focus on helping young graduates transition from university to find their first career job.

John van Genderen is Professor Emeritus at the University of Twente, The Netherlands, and International Visiting Professor at Wuhan University, China. He has carried out education and training programmes at universities worldwide. He has also assisted numerous young graduates in finding suitable employment both at home and abroad.