Congratulations Graduates! You’ve made it to the real world and are ready for joining the professional workforce. We know it can be scary, but Emerald Staffing is here to save the day – As one of the founding staffing firms for the Portland Metro, we are not just another staffing service… Our goal is to consult and prepare you for what it will take for a hiring manager to “want you”. It’s a competitive world and with Portland on the rise, the job market is different from 10 years ago.

No, you are not doing anything wrong in your career search, but a recruiter knows the right path to take for a win-win situation. With a tight market, we want our clients to want you. You might be wondering, what exactly do I need to do? Here are 3 key things to keep in mind:

1. Resumes – You might be thinking, eh… this resume will work. Sorry to break it to you, but hiring managers are constantly seeing resumes and they all look the same. After a while, everything becomes repetitive information. Have your information be crisp but different and unique, be sure to create a game plan and set an objective. If a recruiter gives you an idea, use it! If they want you to make some changes, do it! Our goal is to make the client print off your cool resume and say, “Yes – I want them”!

2. Dress Code – It’s okay, we understand everyone has a different idea of business professional and business casual. Remember, the key word here is “business” – You will always want to step up your work attire while job searching – You will want to look sharp and on-point, throwing on a tailored blazer adds a little extra “pizazz” to your outfit.

3. Communication – Calling all job hunters… You need to be reliable and easy to get a hold of. If a client wants to meet you, we need to be able to tell you the good news. When a recruiter has to tell a hiring manager, “I’m still waiting to hear back from them,” the idea set in everyone’s mind is that you’re not serious about working. If you’re no longer interested in the job, that’s okay, just be honest. We want you as a candidate, but that can change with lack of communication.