fbpx
Connect with us
Apply Now

Executive Voice

4 Mistakes Stopping New Graduates & Young Job Seekers From Getting Hired

Even with news of the Great Resignation, it’s still a big challenge to get a job in today’s age. Everyone’s been affected, but the group that’s been most impacted are the recent graduates and those with just a couple of years of experience. There’s new research showing employers are expecting so much from entry-level positions, so how can you stand out?
We spoke to TikTok’s favorite Career Coach and LinkedIn Top Voice, Sho Dewan, to get his thoughts. With over 210,000+ followers across social media, he’s helped thousands land new roles with his career coaching & training company Workhap and works closely with top business schools to help their graduates be prepared for what’s to come in their careers.
These are the four biggest mistakes he sees from recent graduates and young talent when they enter the job market.
  • They rely solely on their resume to get them hired
While a resume is one of the most crucial elements in your job search, it alone won’t get you hired for a highly competitive role. What you need to supplement it is a good network and a consistent outreach strategy to connect with more people in your industry. According to statistics, 60% of jobs are found through networking. 
Sho suggests you to start with easy connections on LinkedIn to start building up your network. “Start with connecting with your peers from school, past Alumni who work at companies you are interested in, and mutual connections with careers you admire,” says Sho, who was awarded one of the top 10 Career Coaches globally on the LinkedIn Top Voices list for his job search & career advice on the platform. Once you get the ball rolling and initiating casual conversations, you’ll start to see that your resume has even more weight to it than it did in the beginning.
  • Their resume is not targeted enough
Statistics show that about 75% of resumes never reach the hiring manager. Not customizing their resume exactly to the job description is one of the most common mistakes that young talents make. There’s usually an overemphasis on the brands they worked at but not enough focus on the bullet points in the experiences and the specific skills required for the job. Metrics, data, and keywords will always outweigh fluff and a flashy design. Treat your resume as a sales document to highlight your biggest wins and your chances of getting an interview will skyrocket.
  • They’re not clear on what they want
The worst thing you can say when a recruiter asks what kind of role you want is “anything.” The best hires are not generalists; they are subject matter experts in a particular field or function. Before you go out and apply to every role that is open, get crystal clear on what kind of role and company you’d love to work for. When you define your goal, you’ll allow your brain to focus on it without getting distracted by other roles that don’t align to your priorities. This simple shift is what the top talents do to hone in on roles that they want and brand themselves for it. For example, if you’re interested in an IT role, you need to create the best IT resume that stands out and will land on a manager’s desk. You need to weave in keywords that make sense for an IT-specific point of view. You also need to include your updated contact information, a resume objective, work experience, educational background, skills, and then wrap it up with references.
  • They don’t know how to stand out
Did you know that every opening gets over 200+ applications. When you’re just a number out of hundreds, it’s easy to get lost in that mix. So the best thing you can do if you’re looking for a new role is to see what everyone else is doing…and then do the opposite! Instead of just relying on Easy Apply on LinkedIn, make connections with the hiring team. Before submitting your resume, take the time to understand what the team is missing and add those key requirements into your portfolio. If you want the job you’ve never had, you need to do things you’ve never done!
It may feel daunting to enter the job market in 2021, but in his experience with working with clients from all over the world, Sho knows that with the right strategies, new graduates and early professionals can land their target roles in the companies they’ve always wanted to work at. He tells young aspiring professionals to remember to keep track of their progress and not just focus on the end result. A win is a WIN!
You can learn more about Sho and his team at Workhap on their website: www.workhap.com and their social media channels here:
Related Topics:
Continue Reading


Copyright © 2022 Disrupt ™ Magazine is a Minority Owned Privately Held Company - Disrupt ™ was founder by Puerto Rican serial entrepreneur and philanthropist Tony Delgado who is on a mission to transform Latin America using the power of education and entrepreneurship.

Disrupt ™ Magazine
151 Calle San Francisco
Suite 200
San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00901

Opinions expressed by Disrupt Contributors are their own. Disrupt Magazine invites voices from many diverse walks of life to share their perspectives on our contributor platform. We are big believers in freedom of speech and while we do enforce our community guidelines, we do not actively censor stories on our platform because we want to give our contributors the freedom to express their opinions. Articles are not commissioned by our editorial team, and opinions expressed by our community contributors do not reflect the opinions of Disrupt or its employees.
We are committed to fighting the spread of misinformation online so if you feel an article on our platform goes against our community guidelines or contains false information, we do encourage you to report it. We need your help to fight the spread of misinformation. For more information please visit our Contributor Guidelines available here.


Disrupt ™ is the voice of latino entrepreneurs around the world. We are part of a movement to increase diversity in the technology industry and we are focused on using entrepreneurship to grow new economies in underserved communities both here in Puerto Rico and throughout Latin America. We enable millennials to become what they want to become in life by learning new skills and leveraging the power of the digital economy. We are living proof that all you need to succeed in this new economy is a landing page and a dream. Disrupt tells the stories of the world top entrepreneurs, developers, creators, and digital marketers and help empower them to teach others the skills they used to grow their careers, chase their passions and create financial freedom for themselves, their families, and their lives, all while living out their true purpose. We recognize the fact that most young people are opting to skip college in exchange for entrepreneurship and real-life experience. Disrupt Magazine was designed to give the world a taste of that.