• The official blog of Abacus Group — a place to share our knowledge and thoughts on trends in recruiting •

As the job market shifts and develops, so do the most sought-after skills. Regardless of if you are two or twenty years into your career, it’s important to become familiar with these skills and see if/how they can be applied to what you do.

College graduations are about two months away, so now is the time for upcoming grads to start preparing for their first job search. The process can certainly be daunting but taking some of the first steps over the next few weeks will only benefit you in the long run. Here’s a checklist of 10 things you can do to prepare for your job search before graduation!

If you’ve never worked with a recruiter before, you probably have a lot of questions about how to prepare or what to expect for your first meeting. Although it will be similar to a job interview, there are a lot of key differences that are important for you to understand.

By looking specifically for an employer over a certain role, job-seekers are more likely to find the right cultural fit that nurtures their professional growth and cultivates a long-term relationship with a company.

There are some telltale signs that it’s time to start looking for a new job. Often it is best to get this process started sooner rather than later as your behavior at work and towards it, may detriment your performance. This could result in your termination before you even had the chance to begin your job search.

US employers reportedly added some 105,000 IT jobs in September. Computer and electronic products manufacturing, IT services and customer development all saw dramatic increases while data processing, hosting, and related services saw less obvious increases.

The importance of soft skills in the job market has not gone unrecognized. Because of the emphasis on these skills that are so difficult to verify and substantiate, effectively incorporating them into your resume is imperative.

The fact of the matter is that LinkedIn accounts in any capacity are incredibly powerful, however, this will highlight the difference between the basic and premium options, reinforcing the immense capabilities of a paid LinkedIn subscription. LinkedIn Premium is very popular among recruiters but there is a lot of value there for job seekers and networkers in general.

Summer certainly isn’t the easiest time to find a job but it’s best to look at the season as an opportunity to kick your search into gear, perhaps even take a different approach.

Sometimes money becomes the dominant focus of one’s job search—and it shows. This mindset greatly damages one’s prospects in meetings with potential employers. Job seekers should verbally prioritize other, unrelated factors, including new learning opportunities, company reputation, professional recognition, and long-term career development.