How to Use Your Senior Year to Prepare for Life After College

How to Use Your Senior Year to Prepare for Life After CollegeHow to Use Your Senior Year to Prepare for Life After CollegeHow to Use Your Senior Year to Prepare for Life After CollegeHere are a few pieces of advice for klasseuating seniors to help you get the most out of your final year before you turn that tassel at graduation.As you look forward to your senior year, youre probably thinking about how much fun its going to be. All of the events on campus, the fun with your friends, and 21st birthday celebrations will keep your social calendar booked. But dont worry. No one should be telling you leid to enjoy your senior year of college. In fact, embrace it for all its worth and its worth a lot.Yet, your final year in college is more than a farewell fete to your youth its time to prep for the next phase of your life. Life after college is rapidly approaching. Are you ready?Here are a few pieces of advice for incoming seniors to help you get the most out of your final year.Life after college Career or more school?Many students these days are opting to go right from their undergraduate schooling into a grad school program of some sort. The sooner you can figure out which direction you would like to follow, the better. Depending on your field of study, it can be a difficult choice. The sooner you can make it, the easier it will be for you to get all of your ducks in a row. If youre heading to grad school, you need to focus on finding, and getting into, the right school.If you are thinking about jumping into the world of careers, your senior year and life after college will look much different.Prepare your resumeDo you have a resume yet? If so, its time to update it. If not, its time to build one. If you dont know where to start, there are plenty of places that can help you do it. Include any jobs youve had as well as your education and other experiences that have made you a good candidate for the entry-level jobs you want. There are a lot of ways that your college experiences can boost your resume dont neglect themVisit your campus career centerYour campus is sure to have a career center, and if you havent taken the time to stop in, you should do so ASAP. The career center is your hub for information on careers, help with your resume, and even advice on what career path might be best for you. Call ahead to set up an appointment, and when you go, bring your resume.Once at the center, talk to a career counselor and let them look over your resume to see if there are any red flags or obvious gaps that you need to address. There are certain classes that are remarkably useful for students in any major. Who couldnt use some more knowledge of technology or geschftliches miteinander strategy? Make these last credits really work towards your end goal.Examine your classesBy the time you get to your senior year, you should know what classes you need to take to finish up your major and/or minor. But what about any elective credits you need to use up? Su re, it might be fun to take something easy and frivolous, but is that the best use of your tuition money? Think carefully about the career field you want to be in and think outside of the box. Which elective courses could help make you look better on your resume? Think about classes that could give you an edge based on your career goals. Here are a few examplesBusiness Management You cant go wrong with a class on business communication or any kind of communication, really. The ability to communicate is one of the soft skills employers are always looking for.Human Resources In human resources, you will spend a lot of time working with computers. Why not advance your skills in programs like Excel or Powerpoint? Youll be a step ahead of your peers.The arts If youve chosen a path in the arts, it would still be a great idea to sneak in a basic accounting or business class. You may end up running your own business someday as an artist and need that knowledge.Sales Youve probably taken a lot of marketing classes, but what about writing? Most abverkauf jobs require communication through emails and letters. Some even require you to write some ad copy. Get a jump on it now and brush up on those writing skills.These are just a few examples. For any career path, there are electives that may seem unrelated to the field that could actually do you a lot of good. Not sure what to take? Ask your career center representative or your advisor.Look at internshipsEven if you think youre in pretty good shape with your resume, an internship could be just what you need to get a leg up on the competition for life after college. Look at it this way Youve already put in a lot of hours in school and you are paying them for the privilege to do so. If you can get a good internship that will provide real-world, hands-on training in your field, its a bargain even if you dont get paid.Dont believe me? Movie star Tom Hanks worked as an intern for the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. He learned so much on the job he actually quit school and jumped into the business. Look at where he is now.RelatedTurn an Internship Into Your First Full-Time JobBuild a killer LinkedIn profileWhy wait? LinkedIn is a powerful networking site for professionals on the web, and hiring managers and recruiters use it every day to assess applicants. You dont want to just have a presence on LinkedIn you want a strong, professional presence. Theres no reason you have to wait until you are out of school.Once you start your profile, dont do it halfway. You need more than just a basic profile you want a fantastic profile. Like your resume, you want your LinkedIn page to jump out at possible employers and get you noticed.Once your profile is in place, start actively using the website. Follow people and groups who are relevant to your field of study, connect with people you know, and ask for recommendations from those who have worked with you. Soon youll have a whole new network of possi bilities on just one website.Think about job interviewsYou may not actually be applying for any jobs until the spring, but it benefits you to start thinking about those job interviews. Is speaking a strength of yours? If so, great. You can focus on the types of questions you can expect to face.If public speaking and interviewing is difficult for you, now is the time to try to find a class or help from your career center. There are even tech resources to help you out. A little bit of practice goes a long way.Start thinking about your online presenceYouve had a lot of fun over the last few years no doubt. Chances are your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram profiles (to name just a few) are a digital record of a lot of those good times. Yet as you get ready to graduate and try to land your new career, its time to think about what types of things you have out there on the internet that might not look too flattering.What do you think a hiring manager is going to think when they see picture s of you doing a keg stand or reads all of those angry tweets between you and your ex? If you dont think that hiring managers and recruiters look at those sites youre wrong. While they wont rely on them to the extent that they will LinkedIn, they do scan them for red flags. Now is your time to start removing some of those red flags and avoid any new ones because your online image is more important today than ever before.Your senior year can still be fun and full of memories dont worry. But figuring out where you want to be after school and making a few shrewd moves to maximize your final year of school could pay big dividends once you graduate. Whats even better than your final graduation party? Accepting your first great job offer. Set a plan, follow through, and use your senior year to jumpstart the rest of your life.Click on the following link for more job-search advice.Having trouble figuring out if your first resume does you justice? Try our free resume critique todayRecommen ded ReadingTop Entry-level Jobs for Recent College GradsJob-Search Tips for Recent College Grads11 Things to Do During College to Help You Land a Job After College