Service Journalism "what's next" - anonymous

What's next?
Prepping your professional profile for the real world

Graduation is before us, so what is the best way to take your first step into the professional world? On top of all the skills you’ve acquired at George Brown College there are plenty of quick and easy ways to improve your professional profile. Having a thorough professional profile adds credibility and reference to your background in any industry, and is considered commonplace in today’s business world. First bit of free advice is do not get overwhelmed, always spend your time prioritizing and working on your time management, this is a skill that employers are considering mandatory. Without further delay here are the top five first steps to professionalism as a graduate of George Brown. 

1.       LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a great starting point. LinkedIn is a free, professional network site that allows you to create a professional profile including your skills, experiences, and interests. It’s helpful to you because it allows you to present your professional profile to future employers, and it allows you to present extra information that might not be included on a resume.  The most valuable benefit from LinkedIn is the ability to stay in touch and keep these contacts as you expand your professional network

2.       Career counselor: Have you been to George Brown’s career center yet? An amazing resource for students enrolled at George Brown College looking for work in their industry. From resume, cover letter, and interview skill development to networking events, career workshops, and job fairs the Career Center has your back. Best of all it’s free and fairly easy to make an appointment. After making an appointment you will see a career counselor and start building your professional profile together.

3.       Wardrobe upgrade: A very obvious, but very beneficial attribute to your professional profile is the way you present yourself around your co-workers and superiors. Often scouting by executives is done within six months of being hired at a work place, so dress well and keep well dressed in a professional environment. Zara, H&M, Club Monaco, and J. Crew all carry separate and full suit options. Chances are it will improve your productivity too, those who dress well feel well.

4.       Industry events: Get yourself out there! Try to make a habit of regularly attending trade shows or fashion shows, and showing face. These networking opportunities are valuable to a young professional to develop connections within their industry. The Fashion Incubator has a very detailed list of all fashion trade shows within Canada that are open to the public.

5.       Improving yourself: The top four qualities demanded in 2014 by employers are: the ability to work in a team, decision making and problem solving, planning, organizing and prioritizing work, and the ability to communicate with people in and outside work. These aren’t things you learn in school, they are core skills demanded by the employer. If you do not possess these skills start to work on them now, all it takes is some conscious self-improvement.