Everyone wants to graduate. After high school, some people thought they were done, but as society has changed, so did the requirements for obtaining a job. Nowadays, it is tough to get by (not excluding some lucky people) without a Bachelor's Degree. You are finding yourself spending way over 12 years in the educational system.
Disregarding the typical 4-year ride of college, life often gets in the way and many people end up taking up to 7 years of undergraduate courses. Gearing towards the end, by the time you are almost done, you are realizing that although you are finally graduating, you don't know what you are going to be doing in your life after.
That is a scary thought. Welcome to post-grad fears. That's only one of them. It is a bonus if the major you took is what you want to be doing. Some people take any major just to get to a generic degree. But that is only the start. Let's say that you know you want to do something in your field. Let's say it is not a science degree. Maybe it is something Liberal Arts. The panic starts when you find yourself looking for even a part-time internship and not hearing back from anyone.
You have to start building your resume and portfolio at least a year before you graduate. You need to make yourself desirable so people will hire you. You need to be good with words and know what you are talking about. If it says on your resume that you were an Office Assistant, be prepared to talk about all the skills you used while working there. That's if you even get to the interview portion.
This isn't negativity, it is the reality. You need to sell yourself and you need to be persistent. This is something we all should learn. Sure it's easy to write that, but this is your POST-GRAD life you are planning. No more classrooms, just working all day. It is a big transition, and if you can't imagine that transition you have to start now. Start planning, or else. What is scary (to me at least) is being home for 6 months after graduating, with no plan, looking for any random minimum wage job to just survive on.
It is important to know what you are skilled in so you can use it to your advantage. Picking a major in college is all about that. You find what kind of work you can achieve the highest grades and satisfaction from. From there, you can sharpen your skills and push and find the drive to succeed in whatever it is that you do. If you want to avoid these post-grad fears, or at least try to avoid them, keep sending applications. Even if they don't respond, just keep at it, and eventually, something will work in your favor. I always say something's got to give. And it is true. Nobody becomes a success overnight, but the baby steps will get you further than taking no steps, or the easy way out.
Post-grad fears can be motivators. You don't have to plan every detail of your future; but if you work hard towards it, even if the result isn't what you want, at the very least you'll know you tried your best. Don't let it scare you, let fear take a back seat!
