The Real World: Graduation

Congratulations! You have graduated from college and you are finally free of your last final paper, project exam, whatever!  But, I wish I could tell you that you will get the job of your dreams and stay with it forever until you retire or whatever fairy tale story that’s suppose to be.
 
Unfortunately, now you have to move on from being a college student to an adult with, yes, a full-time job, if you’re lucky. You are probably already missing college and I don’t blame you! If you are wondering by now who I am and why anyone should care, it’s because I was one of the unlucky people that didn’t get a job out of college and stood by to watch all my friends get jobs (even the ones still in school). You should know one thing though: you haven’t graduated yet, so you have time to prepare and with these tips, the real world will be easier!
           
1. Connections and Networking
From the day you started talking to your freshman year roommate on your college campus you started making connections. In the working world, connections are one of the more important aspects to finding a job. If you know someone, who knows someone who can land you a job, then your connection would have paid off.  It sounds hard to meet people like this, but you would be surprised who you could meet in this day and age.  Just remember: connections can literally be with EVERYONE! They can be as simple as your new friends in college, teachers, family friends etc. Most importantly, always attend school events, these are sometimes key opportunities to land a part-time job while you are on campus, this includes the Career fairs your school has to offer.  Hint: I would become best friends with your career advisor.
 
2. Internships
Do as many internships and be a part of as many groups on campus as you possibly can. It may not seem like you should worry about this at the beginning of your college career, but BELIEVE ME! If there is one thing that I regret it’s not doing this sooner. Of course I wouldn’t advise doing this your first semester, but I would recommend to start thinking about what interests you by your second semester. Internships, are great for resumes and also make your college experience that much more involved and better! So, do some research and ask your peers what they did (preferably older students).  Do not wait! The internship you get might even lead to your future job.
 
3. Resume
It’s never too early or too late to make a resume with everything that you have done or been involved in while in school. If you want a part-time job and eventually a full-time job, you are going to need a resume. Create a resume and build on it throughout  college by participating in clubs and volunteer work on campus. Take it to the career center and start getting some tips about how to make it better and more attractive to employers.
 
4.Don’t Let Your Major Govern You
All right I graduated in math now it’s time to become a teacher because that’s the only thing I can become. WRONG! Just because everyone thinks that math majors become teachers doesn’t mean it’s something that you need to do. You have to understand that your major doesn’t govern what you have to do as a career. If you graduated as a political science major, then you can be a person in Business Administration and even Marketing. The professional world will completely look pass the fact that you majored in political science. When they look at your resume they see Bachelor’s of Art in whatever, your college and the date you graduated. Besides that they could hardly care what you graduated in as long as you have the skills and experience for the job you are applying for.
 
5.Unemployment!
DO NOT get stuck in this category. From personal experience, its really hard and not fun but so is working 40hours a week, but believe me unemployment is still worse. Worst part about it: the repeated rejection from the working world.  There is nothing worse then seeing “We appreciate your interest in this company, unfortunately we will not need you at this time.”  After hearing that so many times I have it engraved in my memory.  If anything, just take what job you can but keep looking around so you can have something to fall back on until you are able to get your foot in the door of your dream job.