With thousands of college students eagerly receiving their diplomas last month from Georgia State University and many other area schools, there are even more people in the job market now. So, how can you make sure you stand out from the crowd of new graduates who are looking for a job? The first thing you need to consider is utilizing your network of contact to find that first job out of school.

If you follow the tips outlined in this post you should have no trouble acquiring that initial job as a college graduate in Atlanta.

Make a Connection
Your first step in the process is to make a connection with a person or persons in your network who are already working in your industry. An excellent place to start is with a free account at LinkedIn. If you are not on this social networking site and are a recent college graduate, you are hurting yourself. Create an account and send connection invitations to alumni from your school who are working in your industry right now. Make sure your personalize each invitation sent instead of using the generic message provided.

You can also use Twitter with this step by following companies and organizations where you would like to work. Keep an eye out for their tweets, especially ones that discuss job openings or scheduled job fairs. Don’t hesitate to join the conversation and even re-tweet their content to make sure you get noticed.

Facebook is an excellent place to find a job too. Message your friends and family members who work in your industry and ask them for contact information to people they know. Don’t feel embarrassed when doing this. You need to find a job.

Maximize Connections
Once you put together your connections, you need to figure out who the most important ones are for your job search. A strong piece of advice is to put these people on a list from most important to least important. Go on a couple of practice meetings with the connections at the bottom of your list. This will help you prepare for meetings with the top three or five connections on your list. Ask to have coffee or lunch and then ask about developing your skills. This can include a shadow day at their place of work or having them review and edit your resume for you.

Keep Your Connections
One of the most important steps here is to maintain your connections as much as possible. Do not speak with, or meet, a connection once and then never talk to him or her again. This will get you nowhere in the business world when looking for a job. In fact, it could give you a bad name. The more often you connect, the likelier it becomes that a connection will refer you for a job at their company or another company when one becomes open.

Staffing Resources, a leading Staffing Agency in Atlanta GA should be your first stop as a college grad. Find temp to perm jobs and opportunities to put your skills to work in a rewarding career as a temp in many exciting industries. Give us a call today to learn more about temp assignments in Atlanta and the Southeast.