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Want to take your job search into your own hands? With the right approach you find a first job that suits you faster.
Your paperwork is sorted, or you are working on it: the regional employment service, your health insurance fund, your child benefit. But the main question remains: how do you actually find that first job? In Flanders and Brussels only 72.6% of recent graduates found work quickly in 2025, the lowest figure in eight years. With a strong CV, a sharp LinkedIn profile and the right choice of sector you improve your chances considerably.
In short: you find a first job faster by making your student experience visible, networking actively and aiming at sectors with high demand. The main points:
- Put your student jobs and placements concretely on your CV, even without “real” work experience.
- Look beyond job sites: your network, placements and an agency produce at least as many opportunities.
- Sectors such as technical work, logistics, care and customer service face a structural shortage, which improves your chances as a starter.
- Recruit a Student supports you from your last student job to your first permanent role, with offices in Antwerp and Brussels.
How do you find your first job faster after graduating?
Do you feel overwhelmed by the search for your first job? That is normal, and you are in good company. Most starters underestimate how much faster it goes once they deliberately use their student experience instead of starting from an empty CV. With the right preparation, from your CV to your network, you find a job that really suits you faster.
To find a first job faster, combine a strong CV, an active network and a targeted choice of sector. These six steps move you forward quickest.
1. Put your student jobs on your CV
Do you think you have “no experience”? That is often untrue. Your student jobs, placements and group work do show skills: customer focus, punctuality, teamwork, working to deadlines. Put this concretely on your CV, with your responsibilities and results. Employers increasingly value demonstrable skills over a long CV full of qualifications.
2. Optimise your LinkedIn profile
Set your status to “open to work”, add a short description to your student jobs and placements, and ask former employers or lecturers for recommendations. Recruiters search LinkedIn actively for starters, including for roles that never appear online as a vacancy.
3. Aim at sectors with high demand
Some sectors face a structural shortage of staff. The VDAB counted 227 shortage occupations in 2026, especially in care, technical work, construction and IT. Each region keeps its own list: the VDAB for Flanders, Le Forem for Wallonia and Actiris for Brussels. As a starter you often stand a better chance in these sectors, even without years of experience, because employers there are more willing to invest in on-the-job training.
4. Know your worth: what to expect as a starting salary
The average gross starting salary for a recent graduate in Belgium was around € 2,510 a month in 2025, with clear differences by level of education and sector. Know these figures before you negotiate, so that you can make a realistic and defensible salary proposal in your interview.
5. Use AI tools sensibly, but stay recognisably yourself
AI tools can help you structure a cover letter or improve your CV, but an application written entirely by AI is quickly spotted by recruiters. Use AI as an aid and keep your own voice.
6. Build on your student network
A student job is more than earning extra: it is a first foot in the door with an employer. Employers value students they already know and include them more often in the procedure for a permanent role. That network effect is worth more than you might think.
When do you take which step in your search?
| Phase | What you do | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Before your final exams | Update your CV and LinkedIn already, orient yourself towards sectors | Have a head start once you graduate |
| Just graduated | Apply actively, call on your network, possibly earn something temporarily | Stay visible on the labour market |
| The first months after | Collect feedback, adjust your approach, keep networking | Find the right match faster |
The tricky part is that many starters only begin applying after graduating, while the preparation can start earlier. Anyone who goes through these three phases deliberately gains valuable time.
Would you like support in your search? Recruit a Student connects you with employers actively looking for starters, in sectors such as transport, cleaning, administration and finance, customer service and technical work. Request a no-obligation conversation.
How does searching as a starter compare with searching as a student?
A procedure for a permanent job often takes longer than for a student job, and employers expect more motivation and self-knowledge. In return, a permanent job offers you more security and the build-up of rights: a permanent contract, pension accrual and full holiday entitlement.
For starters who have already gained experience through student jobs in sectors with demand, such as transport, cleaning, administration or customer service, that transition usually goes more smoothly. Employers already know their potential and decide faster than with a completely unknown candidate.
- Compare your CV before and after. Turn your student experience into skills that count for a permanent role.
- Keep track of your applications. Note where you applied and when you follow up, so that you keep every application on track.
- Combine applying with a temporary job. Through Recruit a Student you stay active and earn while you look for your first permanent job.
- Choose your sector deliberately. We point you towards the sectors with the most opportunities for starters.
- Plan your networking moments ahead. The sooner you make contact with employers, the greater your chance of an invitation.
You find a first job faster by making your student experience visible on your CV and LinkedIn, aiming deliberately at sectors with demand and using your network actively. Anyone who starts this before their final exams gains valuable time after graduating.
Finding a first job is a process that calls for structure and preparation.
At Recruit a Student you already have, during your student jobs, one fixed consultant who knows your profile. That experience and that network stay with you once you graduate: they are precisely the basis of the CV you start your first permanent job with.
As long as you still fall within your student quota, you can also bridge that transition with one last flexible student job with us, while you look for your first permanent role yourself.
Need to bridge the gap to your first permanent job?
Starting a permanent role a little later?
Recruit a Student is not here to find you a permanent job, but to offer you flexible student jobs as long as you fall within your student quota, in sectors such as transport, cleaning, administration and finance, customer service and technical work. That way you keep building financially and on your CV while you apply for your first permanent job.
- Flexible student jobs, including after graduating, up to and including 30 September
- Work experience that looks good on your CV for your next application
- Available quickly, with short procedures
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take on average to find a first job after graduating?
That varies greatly by sector and region, but the sooner you start applying and networking, the better your chances. Waiting until all the paperwork is done often costs you time on the labour market unnecessarily.
Do I need work experience to be hired as a starter?
Not necessarily. Many employers, certainly in sectors with staff shortages, look as much at skills, motivation and willingness to learn as at experience. Student jobs and placements definitely count.
What is a realistic starting salary in 2026?
The average gross starting salary for a recent graduate in Belgium was around € 2,510 a month in 2025, with differences by level of education and sector. If in doubt, ask what is usual in your specific role and region.
What do I still have to arrange administratively after graduating?
Besides looking for a job, register with the regional employment service, inform your health insurance fund and check your child benefit. The rules differ by region: the Groeipakket in Flanders, Iriscare in Brussels and AViQ in Wallonia.
Can Recruit a Student help me find my first permanent job?
Recruit a Student specialises in flexible student jobs, not in placement into permanent roles. So you apply for your first permanent job yourself, with the tips in this article. As long as you fall within your student quota, you can combine one last student job with us with your applications, and the work experience you gain looks strong on your CV.
