Not every fresh graduate has the luxury of waiting, when it comes to income. Some of us may have pressing family needs, or end up with dependents at a younger age than expected. Yet others may have higher aspirations, or want a strong head start. While
there’s no way to guarantee a higher salary right out the gate, there are steps you can take to improve your odds:
If you want a higher income, it often entails a degree of sacrifice. This could mean investing more time and effort, when others are taking a break. If you’re willing to do this, you could start even before you graduate; although it may mean surrendering
weekends, or added stress on top of school work.
The first way to start early is to reach out while you’re still in school, to desirable employers. If you’re a University student, for example, do take up internships, and participate in job placement programmes. You could even send out cold emails, explaining that you’re graduating soon and would like some advice (many companies are actively looking for fresh talent, so don’t be too hesitant to do this). This will improve your odds of getting a desirable or higher paying employer, almost as soon as your graduate.
A second approach is to save aggressively as a student. If your parents are still providing for you, for instance, you should be able to set aside more of your allowance; or even consider a part-time job.
The goal is to build a savings fund of around six months of your expenses. This buys you time to look for a better or higher paying job after graduation. If you don’t have any savings at all, you may be forced to take the very first job that comes along – and this
may not pay as well as you’d hoped.
An example of a performance-based job is a sales job, where your commissions are directly tied to your success; or self-employed jobs where you’re directly paid by clients.
Jobs like these don’t have the slow, tiered progression of many nine-to-five jobs. If you’re successful early on, you’ll make more money right away; there’s no need to go through a long entry-level stage, with limited pay.
Of course, these types of jobs are outside of the norm, and can require a leap of faith. It’s important to find a company that will provide sufficient mentorship to get you started, as well as initial support (e.g., setting you up with basic training, essential licensing, and an office). At Exodus Capital, one of main goals is to help fresh graduates enter these careers with a head start, and potentially find higher income right out the gate. Do feel free to contact us (suggest link here) if you have an interest.
A common mistake among fresh graduates is to walk into interviews empty-handed. This often follows the common complaint that “everyone wants several years’ experience”. There’s a simple solution to this:
Even if you’ve never worked before, create a sample portfolio anyway. For example, if you’re in marketing, design some marketing campaigns, ads, blog sites, etc. as a demonstration of how you’d approach projects. If you’re a graphic designer, make sure you have a ready assortment for a future employer to browse.
This doesn’t guarantee that you’ll secure a higher paying position – but it greatly improves your odds. When a prospective employer asks what you can do, the worst possible response is to shrug, present nothing, and make the excuse that you haven’t worked yet.
A good source of this is government agencies, such as Workforce Singapore. When there’s a labour shortage in a given sector, companies are forced to compete for a limited pool of talent – this allows you to command higher prices, even if you’re not the
most experienced.
The key is to push past your comfort zone, and be willing to take on jobs outside your educational background. Unless you get very lucky, jobs that are currently in demand may not coincide with what you studied. You may, for instance, end up in construction even if you studied IT; or end up in healthcare despite a background in accounting.
You’ll have to be willing to learn and adapt, to tap into fields that are lucrative at the moment.
The surest sign of inexperience is to focus on qualities. These are traits such as:
● Hardworking
● Passionate
● Driven
● Ambitious
Fresh graduates often fill their CV or resume with these qualities, for want of other things to say. To be blunt, almost anyone can claim these qualities; and there’s no real way for any employer to test these.
Rather than harp on about these, build resumes that emphasise achievements. These are awards won, projects completed, or a simple list of things you can do for an employer (e.g., programming languages that you know, licenses to undertake financial or construction activities, and so forth).
Candidates who focus on achievements and practical skills are more likely to win out, in the job that they want.
Talk to lecturers, coursemates with parents in the right industry, or special interest group members. Even if it’s just people in your tennis club, be socially active and ask for help.
If you hole up and keep to yourself, it’s harder to meet the right people, and get word-of-mouth referrals. Remember that being recommended by someone is always better than being found on a job site or LinkedIn. In fact, if your goal is to start off with a higher paying job, it’s practically essential to have the right connections.
A lot of fresh graduates are too shy to ask for help, or feel like they’re being manipulative, too brazen, imposing, etc. However, there’s no harm in asking if you’re sincere and direct. The more such conversations you’re willing to have, the more likely you are to get a head start.
Perhaps the most important lesson is to accept that, the higher the income potential, the more difficult or volatile the job might be.
For example, a business owner has a higher potential income than an employee – but this could mean taking on business loans as debt, and dealing with the fallout if the business fails.
It can be intimidating to take on such jobs – but the rewards may be well worth it. At Exodus Capital, we help to mitigate some of the risks by ensuring you’re well-prepared, and that you don’t take on more than you can handle. Do contact us, if you’re interested in a guided head start.
