Immersing ourselves in an online world of education can be fantastic. We can study anywhere, anytime we find time, and still maintain the life we lead before school.
Online learning has truly changed the game. While a lot of us would still desire a more traditional college experience, some of us would prefer to get down to it and just get our degree online.
However, many may wonder if future employers take an online degree seriously once they graduate? According to an article published by U.S. News, employers accept online degrees at a much greater extent than in the past.
However, the article does explain that to some degree opinions vary and it could depend on our desired field. For example, while an employer may admire our time management skills, they may be less likely to hire us if the online degree was in HR thinking that jobs in HR need more human experience.
Graduating college is both wonderful and terrifying. After graduation, we’re forced to leave the comfort of the classroom and face the job market. This prospect becomes even more horrifying when we read that it takes the average college graduate three to six months to secure employment after graduation.
Once we’ve successfully finished our degree, it’s time to head out into the real world and begin the dreaded job search. Check out the top 4 tips on scoring a job after graduation.
Make sure the school you attend is accredited
If you obtained your degree online, you can be sure that most employers will scrutinize your degree for evidence of accreditation. So, it’s best to do diligent research to make sure the college we plan to attend has the proper accreditation before deciding to pursue our degree there. For example, getting this online rehabilitation psychology degree could be a good fit for those seeking a degree in psychology, as such schools are indeed accredited.
Consider hiring a headhunter
Let’s be honest – finding a job can be rough. Between tailoring our resumes for the jobs we want to navigating the new and scary world of online job hunting, it can get overwhelming fast. And then, we must actually go on an interview. Generally, it’s best to admit early that we could use some help and seek out some type of guidance like a headhunter.
Luckily, if you find a headhunter, you can have a trained specialist give you a leg up in the job search by helping you optimize your resumes, cover letters, and online portfolios. You will need both paper and online resumes and they should be consistent. A headhunter will even lead you in the right direction for where to begin looking for work.
Apply for the right jobs
Since our resumes and cover letters should be tailored to our specific field, there is no use wasting time applying for jobs that aren’t a good match for us. It can be tempting to apply for anything when we’re out of work, but this tactic isn’t wise when we have a degree in our qualifications. It’s important to be realistic and apply for jobs that we actually want and are actually qualified for. For example, just out of college, we’re going to want to be looking for entry level jobs (just college isn’t enough experience for higher level work).
Be ready to be an intern
An article from 2018 in TIME argues that internships have become the “new entry level job” and that they are here to stay, citing that, “Research on the internship market by Seal and Nunley suggests that roughly 70 percent of internships are part-time and 60 percent are unpaid.” Not quite as high as we’d like on either front. But, on a positive note, this study also showed that, “participation in multiple internships in college helps students to secure employment or enter graduate school within six months of graduation.” This could mean good things for those that interned a lot in college, but internships aren’t only for students and we should be ready to have to take an internship until we can find a better position.
