Career Advice to Know Before You Graduate

Career Advice to Know Before You Graduate Image via Pexels 1. Nurture Your Resume: One of the most important elements of the job process is your resumè. In order to stand out the best you possibly can to potential employers, be sure to constantly and consistently construct your resume. Advisors at your campus career center can definitely help you refine, polish and boost your resume to make it attractive to employers. Don’t worry about the formatting being awful, not having a good amount of experience on paper, or the whole thing just being certified ‘trashable’, it is OK if your resume is a work in progress. 2. Dig Deep to Find Your Strengths: Many college students have a hard time figuring out their strengths. According to Raymond Tang of Careermetis.com, “Plenty of graduates, job entrants, and job changers only know what they are functionally good at i.e. being good at coding, filling out balance sheets, writing content, etc. but lack the identification of soft skills that are often overlooked.” Before you graduate, dig deep to find your softer strengths, identify the skills that you naturally possess- skills that will be attractive to potential employers. Advisors can help you identify these skills, and help you convey them to employers. Unfortunately, it is not enough just to know you have these strengths, you have to show them. 3. Learn How to Network Effectively: As technology has advanced, so has the increased presence of job opportunities on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Before you graduate, clean up your accounts by looking at pictures, posts, and comments that may not be appropriate and make you look better in the eyes of an employer. Second, search for your ideal job by using keywords on search engines, job sites, and social media. You can even look for people with similar interests as you in regards to finding a job! Doing these two things can definitely help you get on track to networking, but it also doesn’t hurt to reach out to your professors, join club organizations, and talk to classmates! Image via Pexels 4. Schedule a Meeting with Professors or Administrators:  For some students, it’s easy to build connections with professors and faculty in college, while for others it’s a difficult process. Regardless of it being ‘easy’ or ‘hard’ for you, one of the best things to do before you graduate is to meet up with your professors, whether they be from your freshman year or this current semester. Connecting with university faculty is important for because they can help guide your career search and they can also be apart of your growing network of people! Robert Hellman of Forbes  writes, “Even if you already have a job lined up, set up these meetings. You want their advice, and you want them in your network for subsequent career transitions.  Start building these relationships  now. You will be so glad you did in a year or two when you want to make your next move (or when your company starts letting people go in the next recession).” 5. Meet at Your Career Center:  Many students are under the false impression that going to a career center is an automatic guarantee of a job. While reaching out to a career center  can  help you find a job, it is not a lottery of job offerings with you having the lucky scratch-off ticket. With that being said, during your appointment with an advisor, expect them to help you narrow down career choices, pull out inner strengths, discover your passions and compliment those with your skills. This personal evaluation will help you figure out what kind of job you want and in a specific field! Post-graduation life is sometimes scary and overwhelming, especially when it comes to the working world. Sometimes things don’t always line up like they’re supposed to, however, if you do the work to create a steady path while you’re in college, navigating your career path after college will be a breeze. Don’t shy away from resources that can be utilized on campus and go outside your comfort zone. As always, good luck!