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9 Recruiters Give Tips to new College grads

May and June are traditionally the months for graduation from learning institutions especially here in the western world. If a recent study is correct - new college grads may have an uphill battle when looking for a job. To help new graduates in their journey into the "real world" I reached out to some of the nations best recruiters to get their advice.

I asked them specifically: 

"What is one tip you can offer for new graduates looking to find a job?"

They shared a wealth of knowledge which I'll pass on to you below:

Tom Turigliatto 

Executive Vice President

- Azimuth, LLC (Chicago)

 “…Stay open to all Staffing Companies and explore Temp-to-Hire, as well as, Direct Hire positions. Nearly all Staffing Firms have a website where they can view all current job openings, can apply on-line for the jobs that they are qualified for, and can up-load their resume. It is always better to have a job, even if a Temporary job, when looking for the perfect fit that matches their degree. Employers are impressed with recent grads that take a position to build experience, earn money, while seeking their desired career.” 

Mr. Turigliatto's linkedin profile.

Stacy Donovan Zapar
Most Connected Woman on LinkedIn ♦ CEO, Tenfold Social ♦ 

In-House Social Media Training for Recruiters & Hiring Teams
(San Diego) 

"The #1 tip for new grads who are job seeking is to network your way to a job via LinkedIn. Create a LinkedIn profile, connect to everyone you know and network with your connections to find a job. After you apply for a position online, always follow up with the recruiter on LinkedIn so that you can stand out from the pack and be noticed. Remember... it's not always WHAT you know, but WHO you know. LinkedIn lets you to take your networking to the next level!"

 Ms. Zapar's linkedin profile

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Mike Hamilton

IT Executive Search Consultant at Lucas Group

(FL)

"Spend time on your resume! You will lose a lot more opportunities than you will gain by not having correct information on your resume(contact, email, address...etc).[By]not listing or updating changes in employment, or gaps in employment.[Having] grammatical errors on a resume your submitting.Invest in preparation and presentation of your resume by a career services agency if you don't have resume writer or want to use one.DO NOT lie on a resume about anything (example year a degree earned, etc)"

Mike Hamilton's linkedin profile

Ken Stevenson

Sr. Lead Technical Recruiter/Account Manager / NextGen Information Services

(St. Louis) 

"Be professional. The vast majority of people I have interviewed of late from recent graduating classes have been highly unprofessional. Some examples, accepting cell phone calls during the interview. Responding to texts during the interview. Holding off the start of the interview to post a status on Facebook so that their friends know they are in an interview. Also, unreasonable expectations. Wanting to know how soon they will be promoted to a management position"

Mr. Stevenson's linkedin profile

Jill Glist 

President

– Lambent Services (New York City, NY)

“Consider smaller work environments. Many freshly-minted college grads are drawn to big name organizations and relatively sexy industries like film, publishing and fashion. However, highly desired places give new hires limited responsibilities that are associated with boring repetitive tasks. Membership in a smaller team is often associated with having multiple roles, which helps you identify what you love doing, and what you are good at. This helps you make informed decisions as you move along your ultimate career path.”

Ms. Glist's linkedin profile 

Ned Tyson

Client Advocate, Talent Sourcer, Resourcing Specialist, Human Capital Planner 

at Diversified Systems, Inc. (OH)

"Do not believe you are entitled."

Mr. Tyson's linkedin profile

Tyrell Ross

Client Services Recruiter

(Salt Lake City)

"Don't be picky. With the job market in the current state that it is in, just being able to find a position in which you can use your degree, is a blessing in disguise! Remember; be grateful and humble, yet be confident"

Mr. Ross's linkedin profile 

Chris Shaw

Technical Recruiter at Gap Inc.

(San Francisco)

"My advice to new graduates is to first have an idea of what you want to do and where you want to be. When new grads are out looking for work, but have no clue on what it is exactly they want to do, they will spend their whole time searching for something that they won't even know they've found once it is right in front of their faces."

Mr. Shaw's linkedin profile

Dawn E. Dzurilla

Founder & Managing Partner 

Gaia Human Capital Partners (New York City , NY)

"Thoroughly do your homework and due-diligence prior to any job interview. Prove to your potential employer that you too are thoughtfully evaluating their company and position while carefully assessing whether this company and career opportunity is ideally suited for your career. Furthermore, ask many types of questions about the position, its responsibilities and about the process of candidate selection. For example, who else is involved in making the decision to hire this person and when do you need this person to start?" 

Ms. Dzurilla's linkedin profile

Thought for Thursday (TFT): Red-Letter Days

A “Red-letter Day” is defined by Wikipedia as any day of special significance.  Exactly two weeks ago I had a string of Red-letter days when I attended the B.E. Entrepreneur’s Conference here in Columbus Ohio.  I was brought to a level of inspiration that has not yet subsided. 

On May 15^th – Magic Johnson was in town and I had the opportunity to see him not only once, at my day job. 

Later on in the day , I saw him again, as Mr. Clark Kellogg from ESPN had the opportunity to interview Mr. Johnson. He talked a lot about business and how to succeed in life. I was blessed to see both interviews. 

On May 16^th -  Dr. Dennis Kimbro the author of Think & Grow Rich – a Black Choice,  did a fantastic speech, mainly about the mindset of millionaires. He also talked about his new book – The Wealth Choice. His book is a journey for him interviewing over one thousand black millionaires. 

I got in line to buy his book but, by the time we got to the signing table he had completely run out. I took the moment at the signing table to: 

1) Shake hands with Mr. Earl Graves Sr. – the publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine.  I asked him if I could interview him and he agreed as he took a moment to fix my awkward tie. 

2) I also took the opportunity while standing at the book-less signing table to ask Dr. Kimbro for an interview. 

A little bit later, I actually did interview Dr. Kimbro and got to inform him about a well known admirer of his first book he was unaware of until meeting me. 

At lunch – Sonia Alleyne the online editor for Black Enterprise interviewed Robert Townsend. Mr. Townsend is an actor, comedian and one of the first black directors.  He was both hilarious and inspiring.

One of the most inspiring stories he told was the story of his trip to Africa to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. He talked about what his mountain guide, a gentleman by the name of Future, who taught him lessons about how to climb the mountain as well as how to get through this journey called life. 

After lunch I went to a session that was focused on internet and startup entrepreneurs. I had the opportunity to meet all 3 of the speakers. One  - Tanisha Robinson – I had already met previously as she is a Columbus native.  However, I had the opportunity to meet Jon Gosier of Metalayer and Frederick Townes of w3-edge. 

After that session, I went home, took a break and prepared for the Elevator Pitch competition later on that evening. 

The pitch competition was hosted by Robert Townsend. He cracked jokes throughout and eventually the winner of the competition was a lingerie product for larger women. To my surprise the founder used to be a larger woman but, after working on her business for a year she lost over a hundred pounds. 

May 17^th – I arrived early so I could get my interview with Mr. Graves.

To my dismay I was told he would not be arriving until much later that morning. 

So I networked and then watched an excellent presentation by Frans Johannsson. An author who touched briefly on his Swedish and black background and then went on to present the ideas brought forth in his book the Medici Effect. It was a great presentation; he was one of the few presenters I did not have the opportunity to meet. 

After the morning speaker,  I attended a session on alternative, primarily online ways, to finance your business. 

The speakers were very diverse and interesting. 

I then proceeded to look around for Mr. Graves before the next session began. Still no luck. 

I then skipped the next session and took an early lunch with a new connection. 

We took our lunch back to the convention center and when we arrived back. We saw Bob Johnson- the founder of BET – enter the convention center. 

I videotaped a little of it and I wanted desperately to shake his hand. Unfortunately I missed the opportunity as he and his entourage was on power walk mode while I was on Ohio walk mode (a much slower version of walking). 

A few moments later, Bob Johnson came on stage and gave an hour long talk about his entrepreneurial journey. I was elated to be the first to ask him a question. 

That afternoon I went to a session on social media. It was a great session and I got a chance to talk to all of the speakers except one. – The Small Biz lady. 

After the session I spotted Mr. Earl Graves Senior and jumped at the opportunity to interview him. He was extremely candid about his entrepreneurial experience. 

I then went through the Small Business Expo section and learned about a lot of great businesses and opportunities within the community. 

I then went home 

I came back later that evening to attend the awards dinner. 

As dinner was being served, I noticed Mr. Johnson sitting down out of the corner of my eye and pleaded with his people to let me just shake his hand. I shook it!

From that point on, everything that occurred during the evening was bonus.

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10 things I learned at the B.E. Entrepreneur's Conference:

1. Network = Net Worth: Some of the wealthiest people at the conference were also the most connected individuals. One great example is Mr. Earl Graves Sr. who has connections with Magic Johnson, Bob Johnson as Robert Townsend as well as others. It's my hypothesis that more than any speaking fee that might have been offered it was the established network that Mr. Graves has built over the past 40+ years that convinced the great names above to attend and speak at his conference. Mr. Graves is without a doubt the most influential black businessman in the country and it was a pleasure to have the opportunity to meet him.

2. Conferences are completely what you make them: I met 50+ new people. (again) I shook hands with Mr. Earl Graves Sr., Mr. Bob Johnson (first black billionaire and founder of BET) and Dr, Dennis Kimbro - the author of Think and Grow Rich a Black Choice and his new book The Wealth Choice.. Not to mention learned a lot about business throughout the length of the conference.

3. The early bird gets the worm: I missed out on getting a book signed by Dr. Dennis Kimbro - he ran out of books. However, I did get a chance to interview him by being ready when his book signing was over.

4. Conferences take a team to produce:  I had a chance to speak to one of the event organizers - Toni. She gave me an idea about how much the annual event cost. Let's just say it was several multiples of my current annual salary. It took a team of fantastic people and sponsorships to make the event go well.

5. Speak to the speakers - (if you can):  I think read this somewhere - not sure where, but speaking to speakers and/or panelists is something everyone should do or at least attempt to do when at conferences. I did my best to do that at every session I attended. 

6. Treat everyone with respect: I made the mistake of being impatient with a fellow conference attendee during a conversation. It was only later that I learned this attendee was also both a speaker and a multimillionaire.That mistake won't happen again.

7. You never know who's sitting next to you: I was able to sit next to Millionaires, Doctors, Lawyers, Directors and stand up to shake hands with local CEOs form across the country. It was a great experience overall.

8. You pay for access: Some of the people I met this past week are people I would've never crossed paths with in normal life. Paying a fee of $500 was (to me) well worth the price to rub shoulders with greatness. To be honest, I was concerned that I was throwing away $500 of my money as the conference approached by the end of the conference I realized it was an investment - well worth its price.

9. It pays to be in the right place at the right time:  I had the good fortune of being in the right place and the right time to meet Dr. Dennis Kimbro, Mr. Earl Graves and Bob Johnson. It helps that I'm from Columbus and know how to navigate our convention center somewhat.

10. If you make it more about them (than you) you can win: No one cares about you, your business or your body of work until you start to show some level of concern for their issues. I did my best to adhere to this rule and I think I developed some great relationships as a result.

Thought for Thursday: One of Tim Ferris's favorite authors - Dr Dennis Kimbro - talks about Millionaires, black Millionaires and the path toward wealth.

Before the 4-hour workweek, Tim Ferris read this author's landmark book. Think & Grow Rich a Black Choice. Today, Instead of opining myself - I decided I'd share the thoughts and opinions of one of my living heroes - Dr. Dennis Kimbro.

I had the unique opportunity to interview him during the Black Enterprise Entrepreneur's Conference. 



  You can order Dr. Kimbro's landmark book here:




 You can order "The Wealth Choice" here




What do you think? Does Dr. Kimbro have some valid points? 

Let me know in the comments below: 

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