Don’t wait till Spring: Prepare Now for Life after College Graduation

Your hard fought battle for a college diploma will soon be finished. Once again, you will be facing a new personal frontier. Embrace the opportunity – you did it before and you will successfully do it again. We’ve put together some tips for the journey.
Prepare. Think twice about your final year activities. Ask yourself these questions. If it doesn’t merit a couple of yes answers, just say no.
• Will it enrich my life?
• Will it build on my skills?
• Will it provide valuable experience?
• Will it help secure a position?
• Will it make me a more rounded individual?
• Will it help someone else?

Get involved. Look for an internship or part time work that has potential for your field of study. Don’t focus on whether it pays well – or even pays at all. Focus on whether it offers a chance to learn.

Master the art of interviewing. Read blogs. Study typical questions. Conduct pseudo interviews with your classmates. Join Toastmasters. Become adept at communicating clearly, concisely, and with confidence.

Create your resume now. Revise it on a monthly basis. Master the art of telling your story. Learn how to customize your resume to a specific opening
Go back to kindergarten. Figuratively speaking, of course. Put into practice the rules we learned at five. Be kind to others. Be polite and respectful. Share the glory. Help others. You get it. College has a way of putting the focus on self, but the “real world” awaits. Change your focus now – and you’ll be much more successful in finding a job then.

Accept that life has many dimensions. Understanding how the fulltime work environment functions in terms of its expectations and culture will require flexibility, maturity, and a willingness to learn in non-classroom situation where the “rules” are so clearly defined.

Take time to understand the various generations. You may be a millennial, and rapidly becoming the dominant force in the workplace, but you will be working with GenX, Baby Boomers, and maybe even a few from the Silent Generation. They each have a different concept than you do about almost every perspective. Take time to learn – and respect – the differences.

Develop time management skills. Regardless of how much flexibility you garner in your future employment, you will still need to be able to plan and complete projects according to your employer’s timetable.

Broaden your scope of talents. Develop business acumen – take a class if necessary. Attend a leadership seminar. Cultivate communication skills. Read widely. Even if you’re the hottest IT graduate on the block with more positions available than people competing for them, companies are seeking employees who are well-rounded.

Develop healthy habits. Take care of yourself. You will increase your chances of succeeding if you are mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy and balanced.
Stretch and cleanup your network. Broaden your support system. Join organizations that tie into your chosen field. Don’t focus only on linear friendships. Seek advice from older mentors. Help someone younger. Start cleaning up your social media image now. There are multiple resources available to help.

Of course there are more tidbits of advice, but this list will get you well on your way to a successful career. Here at Springborn Staffing, we care about our candidates. From resumes to interviews to general advice, we help college graduates, as well as our older candidates make wise career choices. Contact us today and see what is available in Bangor and Portland, Maine.

Leave a Reply