Get Busy Now or.....
If you are a college senior who is expecting to graduate this coming May but you haven’t done the following, then consider yourself way behind the eight ball.
- You should have completed a resume
- You should have begun researching the industries/jobs you are interested in
- You should have already created a career plan and begun to put that plan into place
So, if you haven’t done any of this than let me ask you, “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” Please don’t tell me you’re one of those people who really believes you have plenty of time. If you do then you’ve either been vacationing on the moon or you’ve been asleep for the last year. By the way I hope you’re not considering graduate school as the alternative to a bad job market. This is not the answer. Staying out of the job market and getting your Masters is not a good move for two reasons. If the job market is bad and you do stay out for another 1 to 2 years, it won’t make it better just because you’ve gotten the Masters. And if you don’t have a clue as to what you want to do, the Masters could be a wasted effort in a direction you have no interest in. Please talk to me if you still aren’t convinced.
Ok, now that I’ve gotten this of my chest let me try to explain what is going on and what your best course of action needs to be. Going to college is a very important part of your life and your career. It hasn’t changed and in fact has become more important to your future than ever. The job market is not as much the problem for beginners as is the search itself. With that being said you need to get yourself ready now. This is best done by deciding on a few viable directions, followed by research and the creation of a marketing plan. Then you can start the process as though you are finished with school and ready to get into the game. If you are not totally sure of the career you want to pursue, than it’s even more important to submerse yourself into a job and at least find out what you don’t want to do. Any experience is still better than none.
So get going, do it now and continue on until you have activity. Believe me when I say the more you work at this now the happier you will be as you near graduation. You may not have secured a job by then but you will feel in control of your destiny as you make inroads to your future. Classes, parties, friendships and all the things that make college a great experience won’t get in the way. However if you don’t act now you’ll be sorry you didn’t do all of the legwork while you had the chance.
For more information on how you can get started on the right path contact Jan at janmark@careergrapevine.com
