With all the stress of finishing up finals, perfecting your resume, and beginning your job hunt, you haven’t had time to sit down, take a deep breath, and enjoy your final days as an undergraduate in college. Without even noticing, I attended my last class ever as an undergraduate. However, I didn’t even feel a sigh of relief because of the constant stress lately. I’m sure many of you are going through this important time in life and experiencing these emotions as well.
As if that stress isn’t enough, you are constantly worried and thinking, “What are my plans after graduation?” Take a deep breath, and spend some time celebrating this milestone in your life! You are about to graduate college! All you have known your entire life is school. You didn’t have to worry about what your next step would be because it was already decided for you. All you had to worry about was waking up for class, doing homework, and deciding what your spring break plans would consist of. Now you’re about to embark on a new adventure, and it is overwhelming but exciting as well. Don’t pass up the opportunity to celebrate during this time and reward yourself for all of your hard work you have put in to get to this point in your life. Take a short rest, and spend the holiday with your family without the stress of school—just enjoy being together. Then take the opportunity once you have spent some time relaxing to start applying for jobs.
Finding your first job doesn’t happen overnight. Put your best foot forward, and once you are a graduate, you’ll have a clearer mind for applying and gathering all the appropriate documents. Spend time perfecting your resume, ask for suggestions on what to include, what edits to make, etc. It needs to be clean of grammar mistakes, and it should really emphasize all of your experiences. Use the appropriate action verbs while explaining each experience, add your strongest skills, and personalize your resume for every position you apply for. Perfect your resume.
What about the actual application process? Yes, of course websites like Indeed.com, Monster, and CareerBuilder are effective, however, they aren't your only option. Networking is key. Now this doesn’t mean asking everyone you know, “Hey do you know of any jobs hiring?” Instead, contact everyone you know and just catch up with them. One piece of advice I’ve been given multiple times is to write down every name and contact information for anyone you can think of. Chances are, your first job won’t come from one of those career sites—it will come from your brother's girlfriend’s stepmom's cousin's husband. Networking is so important now, so take this time and contact those important individuals in your life.
Like I said, finding a job will not come overnight—it will take some time, and there is a process. But with graduation out of the way, you will have time to network, perfect your resume, and conduct research about your job prospects. For once, this time of your life isn’t predetermined for you. The next step you make is completely your decision: to travel anywhere you want, and find and apply for your dream job. Make the most of it. And remember, thousands of people are feeling the same emotions as you are right now—you are not alone.
