I will be brutally honest about what to expect after you graduate

Demetris is a young marketing graduate and one of the people who participated in the Heysuccess Internship Challenge Vol. II. He has a strong passion towards active learning, creative ideas and new challenges. He believes there is a hidden value in every person that once discovered can generate greatness. He has worked as a freelance marketing consultant where he managed to help businesses in several industries create profits and uncover their highest potential. Demetris now works as a Digital Marketer at DeLeMa McCann, Cyprus

The employment market is the hardest place to be if you are a young graduate with no experience, no networks and belief that the only way to land a decent job is to pursue a Masters degree.

The beautiful truth is that a Masters degree for the 98% of occupational fields will give you a lot of knowledge and will possibly make your CV more attractive (for your mother and relatives).The ugly truth is that a Masters degree will potentially delay your opportunities of being employed and once you finish with it you will possibly be overqualified, with "theories" that work only in the academic arena. The naked truth is that young graduates could have more possibilities landing their dream job if they where more open to the endless world of opportunities out there. The only thing it takes is to be alert, focused to your target and a burning desire to succeed. But lets leave truths for later.

In this article I am going to talk to you about how you can drive attention to your personal brand and finally land the job you want.

The world has changed and technology has revolutionized by giving the prospective job candidate the opportunity to showcase his/her values with many different ways. Unfortunately the recruitment process still resembles the way it was back in 1970s. This may be a problem but an opportunity at the same time.

So how can you change the rules of the game and land your dream job for good?

Here is the list below:

1. Do what you actually love. If you are still an undergraduate student you have a huge advantage. You can take part in activities, join seminars or conferences and all these most of the times fully funded. If you think you can create something of your own then build your own start-up. By joining the entrepreneurial world you will meet new people and ideas, develop soft skills (the ones that are actually needed today) and share experiences that you wouldn't get elsewhere.

2. Don't rely on your resume. Yes it is important to have skills and experience, but no they are not the Key factor that will give you the job you want. What makes you suitable for the job is not what you write in your CV but managing to inspire the HR recruiter with security that you can bring change. Add credibility and build value. Keep your Social accounts serious, updated with your latest work and write frequently to pages associated with your field of business. Digital is your 24/7 first impression and the Ad for the Ad. Make it count and get headhunted.

3. Rejection is good. Successful people take rejection as lessons to make the big success. I remember when I was an undergraduate student I used to apply for job openings 4-5 times a week. I knew that I wasn't going to be recruited with zero experience or at least just my degree. But what I gained was experience in interviews, knowing when to talk and when to listen and finally what it is actually needed to make my dream come true.

4. Work before you graduate. Yes you will say this is impossible. How can you work before you graduate with unemployment reaching the peak and without a degree? Well opportunity is always near you. You just have to open your eyes. Most successful businesses started from a scrap book and ended up making millions. Just clear in your mind what you would like to do in your life. Find the most simple version of it and start searching for people who are motivated to buy what you are selling. There is always demand if you are satisfying a need. When I was in the University I used to offer short term solutions to small businesses who wanted to start being active digitally. Why they preferred me and not a professional consultant? I knew they had no budget, no clue on how to get started and they needed desperately a way to create profits. I just connected the dots, started studying A LOT, and prepared my solution.

5. Never say no. If you feel you are being asked to do something and don't know how to do it, accept the offer. Then work hard and learn how to do it. I remember once I got my bachelors degree, I used to call my self a business consultant. When I was asked by a big corporation to prepare a business plan for them I just accepted. It was my big chance to prove I can. Then I learned how to do a business plan. Finally I delivered the kind of business plans that give you results. Because I did it while learning and falling and rising.

Lets get back to truths. The truth is...no one cares about your Bachelors, Masters, Phd or any other title you can hang on your wall. No one cares if you write in your CV very talented, charismatic, etc. Companies want results, results and results.

So the next time you will think that you have to write down your leadership skills try replacing it with numbers. If you don't have numbers to show you will need to start doing, start learning, escape your comfort zone and build solutions that offer real, measurable results.