5 Life Hacks All New Graduates Should Know

Guest post: Beth Leslie

If Shakespeare had been a modern graduate, he may well have ruminated that “All the world’s a video game, and all the men and women merely players.” For many grads, entering the job market seems largely to consist of endless jumping through hoops, desperate scrabbles to collect money and dastardly battles with an unavoidable boss.

But just like in the virtual world, levelling up professionally is a lot easier when you’ve got a few handy cheat codes in your armory. Consider these life hacks the mods you need to get ahead of the game:

1. Social media dashboards

Click on any job advice sites, and they’ll all tell you to avoid social media like the plague. While it’s true that most employers are worse Facebook stalkers than your crazy ex, swearing off the internet altogether is actually quite a bad idea. A killer LinkedIn profile attracts recruiters. Tweets and shares about relevant industry issues show that you’re engaged and passionate about your job. Creatives with a snazzy online portfolio stand out from the crowd. Blogs give you a platform to show off your expertise. 

The problem is that managing all these different sites at once is time-consuming and tricky. Which is where an online dashboard like Hootsuite comes in – one of the best life hacks for anyone attempting to “do” social media. Hootsuite is free, it’s easy to use, and it puts all your social media streams in one place. Because you can schedule a bunch of statuses or Tweets in advance you can create a load of social media engagement at a time convenient to you, rather than having to remember to post separately each day. Plus, you can easily see who is messaging and mentioning you online – meaning nothing will slip through your net!

2. Twitter lists

If you’re hunting for a job (or just want to keep an eye on what’s out there), then Twitter can be a great information source. Recruiters, job boards and companies are all constantly tweeting out the positions they’ve got available. 

Rather than wasting your time checking multiple accounts multiple times a day, use this next life hack: create a Twitter List. Add all the accounts who post the sort of job listings you’re interested in, and scan through the feed once or twice a day to see what catches your eye.

3. Online courses

Employers are always grumbling about graduate skills gaps, so sprucing up your CV with a course in coding or SEO marketing gives you a rather powerful edge when looking for a job or angling for a promotion.

Think it sounds like a faff? What about if you could do it whenever you wanted, in the comfort of your own home, and without paying a penny?

Sites like Coursera and edX are learning platforms backed by some of the world’s top universities, so you can be sure that the content provided is world-class. You’ll find a plethora of options available, and you can even get certifications and credits for completed courses.

4. Micro news sites

Being all clued up on current affairs is a pretty useful trait to have. After all, every company in the world is influenced by the world around them. Political decisions like Brexit can upend business models. Viral trends like Pokémon Go can be exploited as a marketing opportunity. All of which means that being able to talk about relevant news items will impress in interviews and company meetings alike.

Problem is, ain’t nobody got time to be reading newspapers all day. Life hack? Head to theSkimm. This website selects the main points of the main conversation topics, bundles it all up into one easy-to-skim email, and sends it off to you. Five minutes reading will clue you in on the top stories, and you can go on to read in depth any that are particularly applicable.    

5. A really great virtual organizer

There are to-do lists, and then there is Todoist. This nifty little tool is the life hack with the power to make you into your most productive self ever. Promise.

The beautiful thing about Todoist is that it syncs neatly across all devices, meaning that once you create your list you can access it on your phone, your work computer and your gran’s laptop simultaneously. And because Todoist allows you to add subtasks within subtasks within subtasks, you can easily break down a big complex project into enough chunks that it actually seems doable.

Better yet are the ‘gamification’ aspects. When you tick off an item, you get Karma. Get enough and you’ll “win” that level. The same system gives you kudos for unbroken “streaks” (the total number of days in a row that you completed all your tasks). It’s these gamification elements that keep you motivated, triggering that innate desire for competition and achievement.  

After all, as Shakespeare (never) said, all the world’s a game…

Beth Leslie writes graduate careers advice for Inspiring Interns, a recruitment agency specializing in matching candidates to their dream internship. Check out their graduate jobs listings for roles. 

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