I always thought that after I graduate from college I would have this perfect dream job and everything would be right in the world, but as I grow up and get closer to stepping into the real world I realize that it is a lot harder than I thought to get a job lined up. Ever since I started school, I always knew what was going to happen next for me. After 8th grade comes high school and then after those four years are up you go to college, but nobody explains to you what happens after college because there is not a definite answer. Obviously, you will eventually find a job and work, work, work until retirement comes around, but it is a lot harder to do than it sounds.

College definitely prepares you for the next step in life, but only to an extent. As a senior in college, I am on the right track to doing what I want with my career, but there are some gaps that need to be filled before anything can truly happen. By gaps, I mean knowing where to apply or asking myself if I should take this job or the other job, and even knowing who is the right person to talk to. There are many things that college cannot prepare you for because sooner or later you need to figure out how to do those things on your own.

What I have learned throughout the years is getting connected with people is key. You can never have too many connections when starting or continuing your career. Even if the person you are talking is not in your field of study, they might know someone who is and can get you connected with them. It is a never-ending chain of contacts when you start talking to people.

Another tip that I have learned throughout the years is to send your work and resume to everyone. You can never apply to too many places because it just increases your chances of getting a job. You must go into job hunting with the mindset of wanting everyone to see your work. This is how you start to become known to others in your work force.

Before any of this can happen, although, you must make sure that your resume is pristine. What do I mean by pristine? Well, first off, make sure everything is spelled correctly and that you used your grammar correctly because if an employer looks at your resume and sees a silly mistake like misspelling a word, there is no shot that you get the job. Next, you want to make sure that there are a few things on there that have to do with what you are searching for. For example, I am currently interning at a Pilates studio and in charge of creating the blogs, newsletters and social media posts for it. Since I am in search of a journalism job, putting that I have interned there on my resume will increase my chances of getting the job. It is all about standing out to an employer, you do not want to just be mediocre.

My advice to those in college is to start thinking about your future now because before you know it, you will be about to graduate and have no idea what you want to do with your life. It is always nice to be one step ahead of yourself when it comes to your career. Start getting that resume in ship-shape and talking to people for connections, your future self will be glad you did.