As this is my last semester as a college student, I have less than three months before graduation and I am faced with the real world more directly than ever before. The only goal I really have left, other than finishing up my last few classes, is to put myself out there and find some way of applying my degree in the workforce.
During the past couple of months, I’ve dealt with the stress of finding job openings I’m qualified for, the tedium of filling out applications and a healthy amount of self-doubt. However, there’s one thing I have taken away from this process that I feel is worth sharing: I should’ve started sooner.
It’s the obvious piece of advice to give, right? Even before freshmen start their first classes, they get emails about career center services, their college’s career fair and plenty of advice on how to prepare for what comes after graduation.
Obvious or not, there are still plenty of students that put things off for too long; I know there are aspects of the process I certainly did. I only applied to take part in an internship this semester. Additionally, my résumé was pretty much non-existent until a month ago.
This isn’t to say I did nothing to prepare for graduation, but the point is I could’ve done more, could’ve gotten started earlier. There are students who know all that they could be doing to prepare and just don’t.
As an English major, I know a lot of people who want to go into the journalism or editing field after they graduate. However, so many of these same people have never made an effort to get involved with campus groups such as Technician or Agromeck that would let them develop the necessary skills.
Applying what you learn in class to a real-world setting can let you know whether or not it’s actually what you want to do with your life. For engineering students, the externship program lets them get on-site experience with local businesses and see what they will be doing on a day-to-day basis.
These experiences also serve as a way to build up your résumé and increase your own marketability to potential employers. Relevant coursework is nice, but having concrete, real-world examples of your work, as well as legitimate references give you an extra bit of credibility.
These are just a few tips; some I’m benefitting from, others I wish I’d put more effort into. The point is to make it clear that just going to class and hoping for the best aren’t enough to land a great job. If nothing else, go ahead and check out the services the University’s career center offers and start thinking about what you can do to make the transition from school to career as smooth as possible.