It’s a simple piece of paper. Black letters on a white page. But as you hear your name called and you start crossing that stage, you feel it: your diploma. Claiming this simple piece of paper immediately marks a new stage in your life. It’s an amazing moment and a testament to the years of hard work you invested into your education.

 

Unfortunately, there’s a catch. As you glance over your shoulder, there’s someone else accepting the same diploma you just received. And depending on the school you’ve attended, there are likely hundreds more following you to accept the same honour.

 

Then it hits you.

 

With so many people graduating with your same degree, not only in your school, but in schools across the country, how will you stand out to employers? These days, having a university or college education is just a check mark (albeit an important one) on a recruiter’s grading assessment. Ultimately, it’s what you accomplish outside of school that will really make you stand out above the sea of other newly graduated job hunters.

 

To help you out, we at jobpostings created a list of what we feel are the best strategies and experiences you can use to compliment your diploma, so that your résuméalways floats to the top of the employer’s TO CALL BACK list.

 

1. Clubs and associations

If you’re still in school (even if it’s your last year), then joining the exec team of a school club or association can give you your first real taste of management responsibility. It will provide you with great networking opportunities with like-minded students (who may one day turn into your future colleagues), and with industry professionals from the companies who sponsor student clubs. And as far as job titles go, being a club executive looks far more impressive on your résumé than what you would get from an average part time gig.

 

2. Designations and certificates

Whether it’s the CHRP for human resource management grads, a CA for accounting grads, a CFA for finance grads, and so on, professional designations are hugely important depending on the industry you get into. In certain professions, your formal education doesn’t stop just with your bachelors, it’s very much an ongoing process. By making that extra effort to gain these industry specific designations and certificates, you’ll put yourself that much farther ahead of your fellow graduates.

 

As well, getting these designations and certificates often gives you membership to valuable industry specific reports, invites to industry events, and opportunities to network with industry professionals. These all represent opportunities you can leverage to get ahead.

 

3. Take on a co-op or two or three

Making coffee, filing papers, and picking up the office cake are all things many students come to expect from internships and apprenticeships, paid or unpaid. But in reality, that’s only one small part of it.

 

We all pay our dues, but Ben Rogul, a recruitment specialist at Aon Hewitt, says that an internship is also a fantastic way to show an employer what you’re capable of, even if your résuméis weak. “(Also) if you’re showing them that you’re a dedicated worker, that you’re a hard worker, they’ll see that you’re a valuable asset and there’s no way they’d let you go.”

 

An internship can also be valuable outside of school to fill in a résumégap, especially if that internship is in line with your interests and career goals.

 

4. Lend a helping hand

Volunteering at a charity or non-profit organization can turn into an exciting and fulfilling way to develop your transferable skills and gain experience. Since these organizations often don’t have the resources of large, for-profit companies, you are more likely to be exposed to different kinds of work.

 

Maggie Leitheadis president and CEO of Charity Village, an online resource that helps connect people to volunteer opportunities around the world. She believes that getting out there and helping others can help develop interpersonal skills and analytical skills — qualities that employers look for.

 

“Obviously if your core goal is to build up your résumé, whether you’re a volunteer at home or abroad, the volunteer element is really going to help you get experiences that are just as valuable as paid employment. Just about any kind of volunteer project can help build those skills that will look really good on a résumé.”

 

And with the increasing emphasis companies are placing on corporate social responsibility, being able to cite your meaningful and unique charity and non-profit work experiences will definitely score you big points during your future job interviews.

 

5. Help grow a small business or start up

In large corporations, there aren’t many opportunities to take on roles outside your predefined position. Normally, you’re limited to and expected to specialize in what you were hired for, with few opportunities to cross-train.

 

This ain’t the case in small businesses and start ups. There’s simply not enough money to hire a bunch of specialists. This means that — similar to working for a charity or non-profit — you’ll be asked to wear a number of hats and participate in a number of projects. While you’ll probably work longer hours, the experience and the satisfaction you get from seeing projects you were so intimately involved with succeed, far outweighs any negatives.

 

Working in these environments forces you to strengthen your team building skills, eye for efficiency, and MacGyver-likeproblem solving skills — all worthwhile points to mention in interviews for future positions!

 

6. Work in your industry

Well, duh. If you’re able to get a job in the industry you studied for, then dive right in! The company you start out at may not always be your dream company, but starting out in a company within the same industry will give you the relevant experience you need to climb the corporate ladder, or have successful interviews at other companies that might better strike your fancy. Regardless, be open to whatever opportunities come your way.

 

7. Be an entrepreneur

Being your own boss is not for everyone. You have to be comfortable with: taking risks, leading a team, serving customers, grinding your butt off 24/7, dreaming big, and being innovative enough to survive your business’ first year and all the years that follow.

 

In all, entrepreneurismis a time investment, financial investment (scary), and a leading cause of premature white hairs.

 

On the flip side, you’ll never learn more about business, yourself, what it takes to battle against competitors, and what it takes to grow your biz out of nothing. The skills you’ll learn and experiences you’ll gain will make you that much more confident in your abilities, and that much more attractive to potential future employers.

 

Employers want to hire self starters and go getters(usually), and starting your own business is clear proof of those qualities.

 

8. Teach

Teaching, like volunteering, is not only a good way to give back to society, but it’s also a great way to sharpen your skill set and build experiences that you can draw on in future interviews.

 

One of the more popular teaching paths for recent grads is to teach English overseas. This approach lets you travel, exposes you to new cultures, and allows you to meet new people. Another path you can take is being a tutor of specific courses to high school and university students. You can even join a local big brother or big sister program that will give you the opportunity to mentor a youngster and help shape their development in positive ways.

 

Overall, what may come naturally to you may not for others, so teaching forces you to build a deeper knowledge of the subject you're teaching by breaking down your subject and explaining it in easily understandable parts. For employers, they will recognize that the subject you’re teaching is a core skill of yours, and the fact that you’re going out of your way to help others learn is always an attractive quality they hire for.

 

9. Study or Work overseas

“The most successful pathway into post-graduate employment is the successful completion of any post-secondary credential with a gap year,” says Paul Smith, executive director of the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE). He’s referring to a Pathways study that describes the benefits of taking time off between high school and post-secondary school.

 

Smith says the results were probably due to the fact that the time off allows young people the opportunity to discover more about who they are and want to be.

 

Meanwhile, founder of Second Chance Travel, Evan Malak, says taking time away after university can also be an invaluable experience to have. “I just think it’s so eye opening and enriching, and you can grow so much from it, and it’ll help you in all aspects of your life.”

 

Maleksays that while many students want to kick their careers into high gear as soon as they graduate, it’s a good idea to consider slowing down. ”North America is a more driven culture, very competitive. There’s a lot of pressure on young people to get into high gear. But I think graduates can learn more from other cultures and put more emphasis on adventure and exploration.”

 

In general, any experience travelling, studying, and/or working overseas — being comfortable working in foreign environments — that’s always an attractive trait employers look for. Be open to breaking out of that nest!

 

10. Sharpen those pencils

Depending on your career ambitions — maybe you want to be a professor, a lawyer, a doctor, a physicist, etc — going for your masters or Ph.D or any other form of post-grad education may be a necessity. Certain professions just demand a greater level of knowledge to in order for you to be taken seriously, or for you to even be licensed to practice your dream profession.

 

If this is the case, keep your head up. You may have to slog it out through a couple more years of school, but at the end of the day, these kinds of professions are high investment, high reward type deals. I.e. you’ll be hugging yourself when you're done.

 

BONUS: Know yourself

Receiving your political science or philosophy degree is fine and dandy, but closing your last textbook and finding yourself with zero insight into what you want to do is not going to get you far when it comes to finding that first, real, post-grad gig.

 

Ben Rogul, from AonHewitt, says “When I’m talking to new grads and I ask them what they’re looking for, I’d say nine out of ten times they don’t know.” He says when graduates come to him and list off the skills and qualities they have, that’s great. But, as a recruiter it’s frustrating. The key information he’s looking for is what the new graduate wants to do.

 

Paul Smith, from CACEE, agrees, “The first job (you get out of school) doesn’t define the rest of your career. That’s why the most important things for new grads looking to make their way into the workforce is to know themselves, to take the time to understand what they’re actually looking for, where their interests are, where their strengths lie, and go forward from there. It’s the person who knows what they’re looking for who’s going to be successful.”