perseverance is key

quizlet.com if you need a study tool. It’s very efficient in it’s use of flash cards and quizzes/tests and is helpful if you want to remember key things about certain topics.

mendeley.com for research papers. It’s extremely helpful if you want more organized papers and an easier way to write down your ideas and even share ideas with other students if you choose to.

sleepyti.me if you need to calculate when you should fall asleep/when you should wake up.

hemingwayapp.com to break down your essays and give you tips on proper word usage, sentence structure, etc.

duolingo.com to help you learn the basics of a foreign language.

slader.com to view the solutions to your textbook questions for free.

1. About this Journal Page: I usually add this on the first page, it’s sort of like the alpha because it explains the things that i plan to do w/ my journal. I add “Dear reader,… Love, Me” and script my name + heaps of doodles.

2. Birthday Special and Etc. Bonanza: This page is a list of people’s birthday and other special occasions where either list it down or make huge tables similar to a legit calendar. Doodles make this 10x better.

3. Favorites of the Month: I love doing this because it feels like I can actually reminisce the things that i love about the month. I do this in sketches and paint it with watercolors because watercolor makes everything 100x better.

4. Things I love about the season: Frankly speaking, we only have 2 “seasons” in my country so that’s practically just rainy and dry. And since I am desperately in love with summer, I dedicated a list of things I love about it.

5. The Huge Movie list: This movie list is meant to be a sort-of “reacts” and “ratings” kind of thing because i always love rating the movies that I’ve binge watched.

6. The Moody Playlist: I shuffle my tunes and seek for beautiful tracks and turn them into themed playlist. I think this is perfect if you have a spotify account because you can later on make a legit playlist.

7. Tick it off: This is quite typical tbh: the to-do-list page. The page which makes your journal a bona fide journal. I often times write down my to-do-list with boxes so that i can just tick off when i’m done.

8. Bucket list Version 2.0: Also a classic, you can add a little twist to your bucket list by turning them into sketches instead of the old, lame bullet-ed list sort of thing. Bonus: you can add how old, how you want to look, etc.

9. Thoughts in a Bullet: I do this to write down with ease the bothersome thoughts. I just write it down either in phrases or sentences. Thoughts in a bullet is perfect for calming down and easing the anxiety.

10. The Sunday’s best: Sunday’s best is actually the page i dedicate for when I’m chilling. I practically just let my thoughts wander and write it down in a page. I either make a playlist for sunday, how i want my sunday to be, quick sketches of my bedroom, and tv series i binge-watched that day. Sunday’s best is practically just a chill page and you’re free to do whatever you want to do with it.

11. This Week’s Bake, Blend, Stir and Fry: I honestly just call it that way because it sounds cooler but the gist is that page is meant to be your Recipe of the week sort of thing. If you’re a person with a heart for cooking, then this page is for you.

12. The Featured Pet: I love making this  page because I can actually add my pets in my journal!! I’ll sketch them and describe them and just list down the reasons why I love them. Some of the stuff i write are: name, age of description, color, animal, breed, favorite food, behavior, personality, when it barks, etc!!!

13. Quick Urban Sketches: This journal page idea is something to do when you’re feeling the sun and you want to go outside and bathe yourself with it. You practically just sketch heaps of beautiful buildings, strangers, shrines, etc and paint it using a watercolor (i do it this way, you can do it in your own way too). And then describe it in a short phrase, sentence, or maybe even a paragraph. This is perfect if you’re an outdoor person who loves the sun ~

14. This Week’s Highlights: This is quite similar to favorites of the month however it’s for the week plus it’s not only your favorites. I actually like doing the highlight page because i want to remember all the things that happened to me for the whole time i was having this journal.

15. Dear Elle,: Elle does not exist. I don’t even know anybody with the name Elle. I just dedicate a page for her because I feel like I’m talking to a friend. No, she’s not an imaginary friend. I think the things I write in my dear elle page is mostly directed to me. In dear elle, i write down with all my heart the things that I'am afraid of, my flaws, insecurities, anxiety and I usually just sum it up with a nice positive reminder.

16. The Botanical Garden Dream: Actually this is just a page dedicated for my favorite flowers that I’d love to have and plant in my garden one day. I usually just make this in a garden-looking way so there’s not much words but sketches and doodles. And then i color it using my colored pencils because it’s easier to work with pencils for botanical tbh.

17. 100 Resons to be Happy About: I made this on my first journal (that’s when I was 11) and every time i read it, i still can’t help but smile. This page is a major help for struggling people out there. Honestly, it’s just a page filled with heaps of things i love and i write them down in different sizes, orientation and fonts so that it looks sort of like a mess but not really.

18. *insert TV Series*’s Lessons: I did this on Modern Family and I swear to god this is like the most favorite thing I do about the lesson sort-of thing because I just !! I often times divide it in characters like: Here’s for Haley, Alex, Luke, Phil, etc. And I’ll apply them to myself and it helps out trust me!!

19. 17 Things I’ve Learned Before Turning 17: This is perfect because I can actually look back and see how much I’ve grown. You can do it too but you can use your age instead like if you’re 12 it can be 12 things I’ve learned before turning 12. Something like that.

20. The Dreamy Backpack Adventures: The Dreamy Backpack Adventures is actually just the list of places that I want to visit before I die!! I often times get my inspo from tumblr and do a mini research and write it down on that page too. 21. 10 Things That Make Me Happy: This is quite similar to 100 reasons to be happy about but this time it’s more of a me. I just write this down when I’m totally feeling myself and stuff like that. I got the inspo from the anonymous chain message going on in tumblr so yep.

22. The Ultimate Road Trip Guide: I make this page because I’m one heck of a huge fan of road trips! I often times just make a playlist, write a to-bring-list, make my outfit ideas, and food list kind of thing that i shall do for the whole trip. I also sketch my pillows hehe!

23. Other Versions of Sunshine: I actually made something like this and posted it here, can you remember? It’s just a bunch of lovely little things that remind you of sunshine. I write this down when it’s a sunny saturday and it’s the golden hour (4-5pm).

24. Little Things to be Happy About: I also made this and posted it in here. It’s quite similar to Other Versions of Sunshine but this time, it’s more like a little bit of less descriptive. I suggest making this before doing the Other Versions of Sunshine. This will honestly pump you up a bit.

25. Reminders to Myself: These are cute little positive things that i write down so that i can sort of just read it when I’m having a sad day. I add cute little doodles around too. To make this 10x cuter, i add little animal or cupcake or plant doddle with this bubble reminders and stuff. You can also scan this and post them in tumblr.

26. Sketches: I don’t really think I need to explain this. These are just cute sketches of everything: your house, neighbor’s house, your friends, strangers, etc.

27. The Pressed Flowers & Leaves Page: I’m pretty sure your journal will be a thousand times better if you press some flowers on another book and tape it using washi on your journal. You can dedicate a whole page with captions (what’s the plant, where is it from, when it was picked and pressed, initial color, etc) for your pressed flowers. Perfect for future gift ideas.

28. The Ultimate Picnic Guide: The Ultimate Picnic Guide is also quite similar to The Ultimate Road Trip Guide. I sketch my little cute picnic idea and add colors (using watercolor, still) and then i label it and point it out. Like, the sort of food I will eat, the colors of the blanket, the books I will read, the outfit that i plan to wear, the basket i will bring and stuff. It’s honestly better to sketch it than just write it down. But you can always just do it your way.

29. Paint and Palette Test: I think most artists use a separate sheet of paper for this but honestly the palette test is one of my most favorite thing about painting and making art. I keep it in my journal and test the colors that might match. This is really perfect for future art references and also nice if you’re having an art block + don’t know the heck what you should do. This palette test page could help.

30. A Love Letter: A love letter is sort-of a self-project i made because i love to write letters to people. I will make letters for my friend, my crush, my mom, my dad, and other relatives when i feel the urge to do so. I usually never give them out because well, that’s the sole purpose of writing it- never giving it out. So yeah, a love letter is perfect for when you just want to pour out your feelings over someone and you don’t want them to figure it out. EVER.

31. What I Want To Be: This one is just a goals of the day sort of thing. You can also do it in a goals of the week or month. :-)

32. Things I Love About *your favorite artist*: This can either be a singer, painter, dancer, etc. I honestly just do this to express my love for my faves.

33. The Skin Care Guide: Every time I purchase new things to spice up the softness of my face, I’ll sketch the cute little bottles and facial stuff that i purchase and describe it and write my reviews.

34. The All-time Page (fave books, music, etc): This is a little classic. I basically just write down my all-time favorite books, art, painters, movies, and more.

35. The Book Trip: You can google up some nice book recommendations or from good reads and then you write it down. You could also try to write your expectations and stuff.

36. The Movie Binge: This is quite similar to the Book Trip but this time I write down cute movie recommendations for future binge-watching. Yay!

37. Dear Future/Past Me: I’m not sure if this is classic but I actually like doing this. I wrote a letter for myself 5 years ago and I opened it today and just wow, I was so surprised with how much I’ve grown. So if you practically like those things, you can add this to spice up your journal.

38. Dreamy Date: Practically just a list of things/quality that i want my future significant other to be. Or how my dream date will go. Or just practically the “date a person who..” kind of thing. 

39. To Be Or Not To Be: It’s just a cute list of all the inspirational quotes i gather from everywhere. At times, I’ll sketch the figure/portrait of the person who said it and add a little thought bubble with the quote.

40. The Grocery List: Honestly, I just make a grocery list kind of thing because i love drawing goodies and food!! It’s more of a favorite page kind of thing but this time it’s filled with canned foods. You can also do this in bullet form.

41. The Fashionette 101: In other words: outfit page. This is where I sketch my #ootd or just the outfit inspos i get from tumblr. As you all know, i have a tag #ootd_insp. I sometimes sketch nice outfit ideas from there. 

42. Cut It Out: The Cut it out is page is practically dedicated for magazine cut-outs. I have a lot of old magazines and art books that I’ve finished reading so instead of throwing them, I’ll just cut ‘em and paste on my journal.

43. Little Flaws I love About Me: This is also inspired by the chain anonymous message about loving yourself. You just practically just list down the cute little things you like about yourself.

44. List of Pets and Plants + Name Ideas: This is sort of like a keeping track page for all my pets and plants. I will also sketch and draw them when I feel like it. This is perfect with watercolor, jsyk. :-)

45. The Space Page: The Space Page is one of my most recent page where i just draw a lot of space stuff and all the planets and add cute little facts about it. I sometimes add glitters instead of painting them because planets are fab as heck.

46. Mini-Comic and The Everyday Adventures: Literally just a little comic strip about your everyday encounters. I made a similar one entitled “The Homey Adventures” and you can find it somewhere in my blog. You can divide it in four squares or depends on your own liking.

47. The Brunette and Grainy Pictures: If you have a lot of vintage, european-ish sort of stickers and cute little goodies, you can make a vintage page for that. You can fill it out with nice doodles of buses and pins and stamps, too.

48. Doodle page: This is entirely different from the sketch page because doodle page is a lot more chill and adorable. You can fill up a whole page or just half of it or maybe a quarter and add other sections if you want.

49. Poems: Yep, quite obvious, guys.

I discovered this by accident and I thought it was really funny and cute:

1. Download the template from MyScriptFont website

2. Write out the alphabet and numbers in your style, using a black marker (felt pen). This is mine:

3. Scan the template  4. Upload to the MyScriptFont website, name it, set the format and click “send file” 5. Download it to your computer and install

And check out my result!

You’ve probably heard this one. But have you actually done this? I doubt it. It’s been almost a year since I turned off my notifications and let me tell you: this shit is life-changing. No, you won’t miss anything. You’ll check your social media in the moment of your choice. Not when you’re in the middle of something.

Guys

I’m so

Why is it that if you get a good grade and share it, it’s bragging? To the point where I feel legitimately ASHAMED if I get a good grade.

There’s this girl, the same girl who accuse me of bragging when I said “I thought I would be invited to PTK since I have a 4.0 and 12 credits and that meets the requirements” (I was, by the way, it was just late). I feel like she constantly tries to bring me down academically now.

For example, last week, a mandatory discussion board was posted for English bc we had a snow day Thursday, and the email said it was open til Monday. I posted something to snapchat about it and she was like “bro that was due on Thursday…” and I said “no it’s open til Monday” and she was like “yeah cause only me and two other people did it” and I was like “no it said in the email…” and then checked with my teacher and told her and she didn’t respond.

Today I posted about the 99 in soc on snapchat and she was like “didn’t you already take precalc in high school?” and I was like “no this is sociology” but like… I just feel like she’s trying to find some way to take me down a notch or something.

But the thing is, I can get good grades whether I’ve taken the class before or not? I hadn’t taken psych before and I ended up with an over 100% average. So saying “you took the class before” doesn’t mean the 99 is less valid.

Moreover, it’s not like I brag about my grades and don’t share my bad ones. I share all my grades, even the bad ones! It just happens that I work my ass off and I’m blessed to be naturally hardworking and organized and so I usually get good grades!

It’s gotten to the point where I feel GUILTY when I get a good grade because I feel like people are going to accuse me of bragging and try to bring me down. I feel like I should get a C because then when I share it people won’t accuse me of conceit.

That guy who dumped me during finals week said I was “academically intimidating” and that my confidence came off as me being conceited. He said he thought I thought he was below my standards academically (I legit never even thought about that). Do you know how AWFUL it made me feel to know I made someone FEEL that way?! Yes, it’s more his problem, but it happened.

Notetaking

Sound Note - take notes while you record audio

Evernote - notetaking that syncs across platforms

Paper 53 - minimal notetaking that syncs

Microsoft OneNote - collaboration and syncing, best for Office users

Google Keep - jot things down, best for Google suite users

Notability - take notes and annotate PDFs

Mindly - create mind maps

Day One - a digital journal

Flash Cards

Quizlet - the quintessential flash card app

StudyBlue - another commonly used app

Cram - best for its “cram mode”

Eidetic - uses spaced repetition for effective memorization

Planner 

My Study Life - schedules, tasks, reminders, and more

StudyCal - keeps track of tasks, exams, and grades

24me - automated reminders and event planning

iStudiez - schedule and prioritized task list

Google Calendar - a calendar, best for Google users

Glass Planner - a calendar and to do list with incredible functionality

To Do List

Clear - organized to-do and reminders

MinimaList - simple to-do and focus timer

Trello - collaborative project organizer

Todoist - clean and functional task manager

Default notes app on your phone

Time Management

Forest - plant trees by staying focused

Pomotodo - pomodoro timer with to-do list

Timeglass - custom timers

Tide - pomodoro with white noise

Alarmy - forces you out of bed 

Pillow - smart alarm that tracks sleep cycles

Productivity

Workflow - automate tasks

Habitica - turn your habits into an RPG

Continuo - simple, colorful activity tracking

Freedom - block distracting apps

Free Learning

Coursera - free MOOCs

TED - listen to Ted Talks

Duolingo - language learning

Memrise - spaced repetition language vocabulary

Khan Academy - free video lessons

Ambient Noise

8tracks - curated playlists

Spotify - online music streaming

Coffitivity - cafe ambience

Noisli - background sound generator

Rain Rain - rain sounds

Binaural - binaural beats

Health

Rockin Ramen - recipes based on ramen

MealBoard - meal planning

Lifesum - healthy eating

Stop Breath And Think - mindfulness meditation

Pacifica - mental health management

Sworkit - personalized video workouts

Waterlogged - hydration tracker

Reference

WolframAlpha - Google on steroids

Oxford Dictionary - all of English at your fingertips

RefMe - citation generator

PhotoMath - solve math problems by taking a photo

Mathway - step by step math help

Desmos - free graphing calculator

Wikipedia - not the best source, but it’s handy

Miscellaneous 

Companion - stay safe when walking alone

Mint - money management

Toshl - finance manager

Busy day ahead, which is why I tried, for the first time in my entire life, to schedule what the hours of my day would look like. So far, I’m successful in following the schedule. I think this works well because I am used to cramming, and knowing the deadline I set for myself is looming near motivates me to do things quickly. 💕

Here’s an easy resolution: This stuff is all free as long as you have access to a computer, and the skills you learn will be invaluable in your career, and/or life in general. 

1. Become awesome at Excel.

Chandoo is one of many gracious Excel experts who wants to share their knowledge with the world. Excel excellence is one of those skills that will improve your chances of getting a good job instantly, and it will continue to prove invaluable over the course of your career. What are you waiting for?

2. Learn how to code.

littleanimalgifs.tumblr.com

Perhaps no other skill you can learn for free online has as much potential to lead to a lucrative career. Want to build a site for your startup? Want to build the next big app? Want to get hired at a place like BuzzFeed? You should learn to code. There are a lot of places that offer free or cheap online coding tutorials, but I recommend Code Academy for their breadth and innovative program. If you want to try a more traditional route, Harvard offers its excellent Introduction to Computer Science course online for free.

3. Make a dynamic website.

You could use a pre-existing template or blogging service, or you could learn Ruby on Rails and probably change your life forever. Here’s an extremely helpful long list of free Ruby learning tools that includes everything from Rails for Zombies to Learn Ruby The Hard Way. Go! Ruby! Some basic programming experience, like one of the courses above, might be helpful (but not necessarily required if you’re patient with yourself).

4. Learn to make a mobile game.

If you’re not interested in coding anything other than fun game apps, you could trythis course from the University of Reading. It promises to teach you how to build a game in Java, even if you don’t have programming experience! If you want to make a truly great game, you might want to read/listen up on Game Theory first.

5. Start reading faster.

Spreeder is a free online program that will improve your reading skill and comprehension no matter how old you are. With enough practice, you could learn to double, triple, or even quadruple the speed at which you read passages currently, which is basically like adding years to your life.

6. Learn a language!

With Duolingo, you can learn Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, or English (from any of the above or more). There’s a mobile app and a website, and the extensive courses are completely free.

Full disclosure: BuzzFeed and other websites are in a partnership with DuoLingo, but they did not pay or ask for this placement.

7. Pickle your own vegetables.

Tired of your farmer’s market haul going bad before you use it all? Or do you just love tangy pickled veggies? You too can pickle like a pro thanks to SkillShare and Travis Grillo.

8. Improve your public speaking skills.

You can take the University of Washington’s Intro to Public Speaking for free online. Once you learn a few tricks of the trade, you’ll be able to go into situations like being asked to present at a company meeting or giving a presentation in class without nearly as much fear and loathing.

9. Get a basic handle of statistics.

UC Berkeley put a stats intro class on iTunes. Once you know how to understand the numbers yourself, you’ll never read a biased “news” article the same way again — 100% of authors of this post agree!

10. Understand basic psychology.

Knowing the basics of psych will bring context to your understanding of yourself, the dynamics of your family and friendships, what’s really going on with your coworkers, and the woes and wonders of society in general. Yale University has its Intro to Psychology lectures online for free.

11. Make your own music.

Step one: Learn how to play guitar: Justin Guitar is a fine and free place to start learning chords and the basic skills you’ll need to be able to play guitar — from there, it’s up to you, but once you know the basics, just looking up tabs for your favorite songs and learning them on your own is how many young guitar players get their start (plus it’s an excellent party trick).

Step two: A delightful free voice lesson from Berklee College Of Music.

Step three: Have you always thought you had an inner TSwift? Berklee College of Music offers an Introduction to Songwriting course completely for free online. The course is six weeks long, and by the end of the lesson you’ll have at least one completed song.

Step four: Lifehacker’s basics of music production will help you put it all together once you have the skills down! You’ll be recording your own music, ready to share with your valentine or the entire world, in no time!

12. Learn to negotiate.

Let Stanford’s Stan Christensen explain how to negotiate in business and your personal life, managing relationships for your personal gain and not letting yourself be steamrolled. There are a lot of football metaphors and it’s great.

13. Stop hating math.

If you struggled with math throughout school and now have trouble applying it in real-world situations when it crops up, try Saylor.org’s Real World Math course. It will reteach you basic math skills as they apply IRL. Very helpful!

14. Start drawing!

All kids draw — so why do we become so afraid of it as adults? Everyone should feel comfortable with a sketchbook and pencil, and sketching is a wonderful way to express your creativity. DrawSpace is a great place to start. (I also highly recommend the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain if you can drop a few dollars for a used copy.)

15. Make your own animated GIF.

BuzzFeed’s own Katie Notopoulos has a great, simple guide to making an animated GIF without Photoshop. This is all you need to be the king or queen of Tumblr or your favorite email chains.

16. Appreciate jazz.

reddit.com

Have you never really “gotten” jazz? If you want to be able to participate in conversations at fancy parties and/or just add some context to your appreciation of all music, try this free online course from UT Austin.

17. Write well.

Macalester College’s lecture series is excellent. If you’re more interested in journalism, try Wikiversity’s course selection.

18. Get better at using Photoshop.

Another invaluable skill that will get you places in your career, learning Photoshop can be as fun as watching the hilarious videos on You Suck At Photoshop or as serious as this extensive Udemy training course (focused on photo retouching).

19. Take decent pictures.

Lifehacker’s basics of photography might be a good place to start. Learn how your camera works, the basic of composition, and editing images in post-production. If you finish that and you’re not sure what to do next, here’s a short course on displaying and sharing your digital photographs.

20. Learn to knit.

Instructables has a great course by a woman who is herself an online-taught knitter. You’ll be making baby hats and cute scarves before this winter’s over!

21. Get started with investing in stocks.

If you are lucky enough to have a regular income, you should start learning about savings and investment now. Investopedia has a ton of online resources, including this free stocks basics course. Invest away!

22. Clean your house in a short amount of time.

Unf$#k Your Habitat has a great emergency cleaning guide for when your mother-in-law springs a surprise visit on you. While you’re over there, the entire blog is good for getting organized and clean in the long term, not just in “emergencies.” You’ll be happier for it.

23. Start practicing yoga.

Most cities have free community classes (try just searching Google or inquiring at your local yoga studio), or if you’re more comfortable trying yoga at home, YogaGlohas a great 15-day trial and Yome is a compendium of 100% free yoga videos. If you’re already familiar with basic yoga positions but you need an easy way to practice at home, I recommend YogaTailor’s free trial as well.

24. Tie your shoelaces more efficiently.

Before I started my final year of uni I was stressing out about finding a job. I did quite a bit of research and planning, and managed to receive a job offer before I even finished my degree!

Here are a few tips I would give to those of you in the same situation:

1. Know what your end goal is

Before you start aimlessly applying for jobs, take some time to think about where you actually want to go with your career. Where would you actually like to end up?

Do some searching and see what type of jobs exist in the area you want to work in. Search though graduate job sites, your universities careers website, or just Google. Make a list of all the jobs that appeal to you, and if you find any, make sure you note when applications open & close so you don’t miss out.

2. Google your name & clean up your social media act 

Employers are using Google to find out about potential employees, so if you search your name and something embarrassing turns up in the top results (i.e. drunk facebook photos/inappropriate comments etc), either delete the posts or make your account private. When I did this I discovered that there was someone with the same name as me who posted really embarrassing stuff, so I created a bunch of social media accounts with my real name on all of them to move those out of the top results. 

I’m not saying you can’t be the real you on social media, but try to keep things that you wouldn’t want a potential employer to see on your private accounts.

I would recommend taking at least one professional photo to use as your photo on social media sites.

Also make a LinkedIn! It’s really boring but employers use it and you can follow companies you are interested in. Add in all your skills and experience and write up a summary letting everyone know what kind of work you are looking for.

  3. Sign up to all of the graduate job sites 

In Australia GradConnection is really good, but other countries will have different sites. It probably won’t be hard to find them! 

Graduate job sites generally list a huge number of jobs from mainly large companies, as well as when applications open and close. Some of the good ones have a blog with tips to help you improve your applications. You can usually make your own profile which employers can look through.

If it is an option, opt in to email alerts, especially if you can get them tailored to the field you want to work in. It serves as a good reminder for submitting applications, and you may find a new job to apply for through the alerts.

Remember this isn’t the only way to find jobs! Smaller companies sometimes advertise through your university careers website, or general websites like Indeed, SEEK, etc, so make sure you look in a few places before ending your search.

4. Jazz up your resume and cover letter

I don’t mean making them bright pink or anything, but make them stand out in a professional way.

Resume tips:

Tailor your skills/experiences to the job you are applying for. Look through the job description and skills required and make sure you cover each skill on your resume.

When describing your skills, don’t just use examples from university. Try to use examples from part-time work, clubs you have joined and extracurricular activities as well.

Also don’t be too wordy, it probably won’t be read. Simple one or two sentence dot points should be okay.

Use a professional email! Plz don’t use [email protected] etc

Include a link to your LinkedIn/professional twitter etc in your contact details

Don’t submit a 20 page resume! It will most likely be deleted/thrown in the trash. Stick to 1-3 pages depending on your experience and make sure everything is actually relevant.

Inspiration

Resources [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Cover letter tips:

Mention why you want the job

Try to mention something about the company that you like - e.g. that they work with a specific charity or they provide excellent training. Do your research!

Don’t drone on like a robot - keep it interesting and use your voice

Keep it to 1 page - don’t make the HR person’s job harder for them

Find out who to address it to - you can usually google who the hiring manager is

Resources [1] [2] [3] [4]

Also:

If you can, get your school’s career adviser to look over your resume and cover letter

Always submit your resume & cover letter as a PDF - it looks way more professional if you read it on the computer

Format it nicely, keep it consistent between everything you submit in your application

ok this is probably obvious but CHECK YOUR SPELLING!!~~~

Try using Canva to make your resume pretty

5. Make a personal website 

If you want to stand out more than other applicants, make your own personal website and include a link in your application. Make sure it looks professional and highlights the best you.

Things to include:

Samples of your work

Links to your (professional) social media pages

A short description of yourself, your professional interests and where you would like to head in your career

A blog if you are really looking to stand out

Skills, experience etc

Resources [1] [2] [3]

6. Network 

Contact someone from your dream company and ask them if they would like to go for coffee/ask to chat. If you know someone or even know someone with a contact - reach out to them! Try to get them to put in a good word for you - people usually like to help others out.

Attend careers festivals and meet people from the places you want to apply

Ask around - your lecturers/fellow students/friends’ parents might know some important people

Ask what the company is really looking for in its candidates

Resources [1] [2] [3]

7. Online tests

If you are invited to do an online test as part of the recruitment process, find out what type it is and see if you can get your hands on a practice piece. If it is a personality test there is usually no way to prepare - just be honest.

I found online forums really good for this. If you’re applying for a large company, chances are there are tons of people who have done the same test and there could be existing forums about this. See what people said about them and if there is anyway to prepare.

Some of these honestly aren’t bad. For one application the test I had to do was actually a game, and for others it was standard logic questions - it all depends on the job!

Resources: [1] [2] [3]

8. Interviews

Interviews are probably the worst part of looking for work - but it’s something you need to get good at. With larger companies, online interviews are becoming the new big thing because they are cheaper to run and it is quicker to weed out candidates. Usually a question will pop up on the screen for a minute or two and then you will have a couple minutes to record your response via a webcam - you won’t be speaking to an actual person so it can be a bit awkward, so i’d suggest practicing first.

Interview tips:

Practice answering common interview questions - try to memorize a few responses such as the most common one “tell me about yourself”

Research the company again before going in to refresh your memory. Find out when they started, if they have grown recently or changed their direction.

Bring in questions - trust me, they WILL ask if you have questions

Dress appropriately

blue makes you look trustworthy, black looks professional, plz don’t wear orange

in online interviews you have the advantage of not wearing pants ;)

Bring a copy of your resume & make sure you have it memorized

Make sure you know where the interview is being held

Don’t cross your arms/yawn

Smile and be friendly!

Pretend you are a confident person, even if you are secretly about to wet yourself ;)

Thank the interviewer afterwards

Resources [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

9. Get some experience

It really sucks when you are looking for a job when everywhere wants someone with experience. 

Do an internship - you could get a job offer at the end

Volunteer somewhere in your field

Get a part-time/casual job while you study

If all else fails, try an online course - MOOCs are short courses you can usually do online for free. Do one that relates to the type of work you are looking for, it shows initiative and that you are actually interested in the field and dedicated. 

10. Apply everywhere 

I don’t mean somewhere that requires 10 years of experience, but don’t discredit a job just because it’s not exactly what you want to do. Try applying to places that are slightly outside of your field, as long as you have enough skills and experience to do it well - it could end up being something you love!

The more places you apply - the higher your chances of hearing back. But make sure your applications are of a high quality! Don’t just send out identical resumes/cover letters.

11. Don’t give up!

I applied for soooo many jobs in my final year. It was super stressful and I got rejected outright tons of times. I did a few online interviews and face-to-face interviews and some of them I never heard back from. This is not the end of the world! Find out what you did wrong, ask for feedback and do better in your next application/interview. You can do this!

More links & resources

97 actions you should take to become THE person companies want to hire - College Info Geek

Preparing for the future by @studysthesia

Job hunting advice by @harryjamcs

How to get a job fast as hell by @thechronicleofshe

lol

ig: studylustre

#studyblrs get real

If you weren’t up at 3AM last night like some of us (which is good because you shouldn’t be!!!) please look at this post that @universi-tea made since that is where this blog idea and the actual hashtag came from!

Every Studyblr photo has a back story. There is something in the photo that you don’t know about. Whether the person re-wrote those notes four times, ripped out multiple pages of their bullet journal because the header wasn’t perfect, or took over one hundred photos to get a clear & sharp one, the photo was not “perfect” automatically. Lots of time, effort, and photo editing comes into posting almost every single Studyblr photo. Is this why we continue to dread on ourselves when our studying isn’t the same as the photos we see?

Similarly, motivation and preference differ for everyone. Some people enjoy using a bullet journal, some people love mildliners, and some people are in love with Muji stationery. However, some people don’t, and as a community we must respect each others’ motivations and preferences. As it is alright to love the classic Studyblr stationery, it is also alright to not.  You can enjoy reblogging Studyblr aesthetic photos, and you can also choose not to. And, you can also enjoy editing your photos, but you can also prefer not to.

We’ve all used the Studyblr hashtags. #studyblr, #studyspo, #studyspiration. But some end up in disappointment when no one clicks like, reblogs their photo, or when someone even sends hate on anonymous. Is there a hashtag we can use to avoid anonymous hate, to see people actually reblog our photos, and to see an increase in likes as well as meet people who are similar to us?

@universi-tea and @piratestudy have created the hashtag “#studyblrs get real” where “you guys (can) post the real side of studying. post the stories about how you overslept and were late for class. post the pictures of your notes before you redo them. post the no-makeup, two am selfies. post your real life, because it’s happening and it may not be perfect but it’s valid and beautiful and the world needs to see it”(this post).

The hashtag is supposed to bring a positive change “(in) the culture from one where people have to ask if they can still be a studyblr if they don’t have certain supples, to one where people can scroll through their dash and say ‘wow! i do that too,’” because “sometimes it’s messy notes and skipping class to do work for another, or turning in an assignment late so that you can spend time with you friends. it can be sitting in the back of class scrolling through instagram because you just can’t handle school today. it’s a lot of all nighters and coffee and junk food and less than beautiful study spaces. it’s not always (or maybe even ever) beautiful notes and being totally prepared and having you’re life together all the time. it’s not all avocado toast and calligraphy. and that’s okay”(this post).

The point of irlstudying is to reblog all of the posts in the hashtag, as well as reblog similar posts that may have not used the hashtag, to the blog so everyone can come to the blog and see how many people are like them. It is a collection of posts that you may not otherwise see in your dashboard or regular Studyblr tags.

There aren’t any special rules to use the hashtag. Just tag your posts, and they’ll be reblogged!

You don’t have to tag this blog, but you can if you want.

You don’t have to follow this blog, but all followers are welcomed and are appreciated!