As a university student, the recruitment process itself is rough. Finding career success is even more rough.
The idea of thousands of fellow students with identical university degrees as you, all vying for the same dream job is stressful.
It can be difficult for recruiters as well. Screening thousands of resumes and video interviews to ensure they are passing through the right candidate. Does this student have the minimum requirements to be hired? What combination of prior work and extracurricular experience demonstrates that this student will excel within their internship or graduate role? Would they fit in with the team culture?
Then there’s the fact that the recruitment landscape is rapidly changing in the digital world and Covid-19 era. To prepare for these changes, leveraging the tools like Forage that recruiters use daily to hire quality student talent is vital to stand out in the crowd.
After working with recruiters across leading organizations, I’d like to offer some insights into what I found to be the five best steps to build your profile on Forage and make a difference in your career journey. Whether a successful career to you looks like landing a corporate role at a Fortune 500 company or creating your own startup, here are actionable steps you can take today to unlock thrilling career opportunities.
1. Optimize your profile to be placed into a company talent pool
Did you know that when you enroll into a Forage program, recruiters are able to access your profile? From here, you can be placed into talent pools for future career opportunities.
But first…what even is a talent pool?
A talent pool refers to a database where recruiters store a selected group of candidates who have passed a screening process where they’ve demonstrated that they meet the requirements for a role.
When company HR teams search for your profile, there are different factors they might be looking for, depending on the company and industry they sit in. When you enter your profile details, it allows for your profile to be captured in the search. The more information you fill out in your profile, it can more holistically capture yourself as a candidate and ensure that a recruiter can make a better judgement on you in the recruitment process.
Here are some quick changes to your profile you can implement to increase your chances of being placed into a talent pool by a recruiter:
- Consent for your profile to be viewed by recruiters
- Upload your CV/resume
- Answer your work rights and sponsorship question
- Complete a virtual experience program
- Answer sign-up and post program questionnaire (if applicable)
- Enter your GPA/WAM score
- Enter your University
- Enter your Degree and major
To view what recruiters see on their end, view our completion deck here.
2. Showcase your certificate on your LinkedIn and Resume
A great benefit of your participation in virtual experience programs is that upon completion, you will receive a certificate that you can add to your resume and Linkedin profile!
Personal branding is important. Showcasing your efforts towards personal and career development, outside college requirements is an awesome way to demonstrate to an employee your willingness to learn.
There are some guidelines on how to properly demonstrate your virtual experience program experience. View our referencing policy here to find out more.
3. Share your learning experience in interviews
Next time you walk into an interview, you’ll be job-ready with experience and an understanding of the role. It’ll show you’ve done additional digging into the company and understand the skill required for the job. This shows high intent and that you are genuine in your interest and prefer this company and role, over other offers.
Why do you want to work for X company?
Sample response: During Covid-19, I completed your virtual experience program, <Name of program>. I had the opportunity to work on <Task>, where I got to <Explain task> and gained experience in <skill> through <reason>. I loved the company’s <international presence/specific business sector>. I’m looking forward for the opportunity to continue to learn more about <Company> and translate my experience into this role.
4. Post about it on Social Media
Organizations love seeing students sharing their achievements on social media and reading about your experience in their program.
Completing a Virtual Experience Program is something to be proud of! 🎉 It’s an experience to share with your network and one that deserves to be celebrated. So get creative with it!
We always try to like, share and comment on as many posts as possible to expand your reach and help your posts be seen by our network of world leading organizations and recruiters.
Share your certificate and a story about your experience as a Linkedin post. Employers frequently use Linkedin, so this is a great way to highlight your interests, your skills and your motivation. Include a screenshot of your certificate and a link to the program so that people in your network can check out the program that you’ve completed.
A great way to share that positive feeling of completing a program is by tweeting about it. We challenge you to find a GIF that just perfectly captures the emotion.
This is the place to go and really get creative with it. We’ve seen incredible posts and stories ranging from students laminating their certificates to doing a happy dance!
Blog Posts
Want to go a bit deeper and share your learnings from a Virtual Experience Program with your network? A blog post is the perfect way to go.
TikTok
We’re newbies in the TikTok world, but we just love having a laugh and seeing the awesome content that students create about their Virtual Experience Programs.
5. Keep an eye on the student chat system
Most students on the platform don’t check their Forage messaging system.
We’ve built a chat system so that recruiters can reach out and get to know you when you complete programs on Forage.
Previous recruiters from leading companies have reached out to students through the messaging platform regarding:
- Fast tracking applicant through to an interview
- Exclusive mentoring opportunities
- Event invitations
Ensure you’re checking your chat system notifications, and that your email subscription to Forage is turned on so you can be in the loop and don’t miss a message from your future employer!
