Top 10 Moves To Make In College For A Great Career

These Advices will get You in the Right Direction.

Written by Shelly Verma, Guest Contributor

Flickr by Tulane Public Relations

Many college seniors find it pretty hard to imagine how things can change so

drastically after graduation. Days at the university act as a bulwark
between the secure, closely-knit classrooms and the extensive, unfamiliar
territory of cubicles in the working world. But, post-secondary education
brings about apprehensions about the future too. Many college graduates will
be plunging into the sea of job hunting which can entail-moving out of state
or even worse back into their parents home in order to secure a job in their
field.

What career path you should be pursuing? Should you be concentrating in
pulling up your grades? Or should you be galvanizing your efforts in job
hunting?

Here are the Top 10 priorities that would help you to improve your job
prospects while still being in college:

1. Say yes to extra-curricular activities:

Graduates, who have been active in extra-curriculars, have a better edge
over those who have impressive grades but fail to show any extra-curriculars
in their progress report. If you have gone way ahead of others to learn
management skills, multi-tasking, sports, drama, etc, you win brownie points
enabling you to secure your desired job. You got to be an open-minded
college-goer who’s willing to learn, possesses an interest in the world
around you and knows ways to establish rapport with people. Mind it; these
people would be instrumental in providing you with invaluable opportunities
in your future job-search.

2. Take help of your university’s academic counselor:

When you start with your university you wouldn’t be so keen to think about
where you would be working once you are out of college. However, after you
are halfway through your degree such thoughts might occur to you. The best
thing you can do is to meet your academic counselor. She would help you to
know what you need to complete your course, whether you need to reschedule
your classes or stay back a semester to complete your course. In the final
year the academic counselor would lay out steps for you to get you closer to
your goal.

3. Have a good camaraderie with your professors:

There might have been times when you must have dozed off in the class. You
might not have enjoyed the way your facilitator taught you concepts, making
you pull your hair out literally. But, your professors are your life savers,
I tell you. You would need their references once you are scouting for jobs.
Remember, reference calls can create or mar your career. You would need
letters of recommendation that would well adorn your professional portfolio.
These intelligent folks could anoint your resume with their eulogizing
comments about you. In addition establishing a good camaraderie with your
professors could improve your grades too and you would get every chance to
enhance your knowledge making use of their wisdom.

4. Look for an internship position:

Once you are out of university you would want to be in the job that best
suits your disposition and mentality. One thing that you could do being in
the junior and senior years of university is to fetch an internship position
that would help you judge whether after college that particular field would
be appropriate for you or not. It would further give you a prospect of
testing the waters before you take the final plunge.

5. Be technology savvy:

Make sure that you update your online profile. Let the people in your life
know that you are on a lookout for a job once you have completed your
college. Any job entails technology skills. Be open to learn new
technological skills that would show up in your resume. To stay abreast with
technology would mean to learn media applications like Twitter, Facebook,
Foursquare,and Google-Docs. Being technology savvy and staying well
connected through networking would help jobs racing to get to you.

6. Take part in job-related activities your college organizes:

Renowned colleges and university put up career counseling centers and you’ll
find internship fairs, a database of employers looking for fresh talent and
internship fairs. Students can take part and would find themselves better
equipped to face competition.

7. Get organized:

Success in life is determined in getting and staying organized. Being in
college is the perfect time for you to start off on the right foot and do a
bit of organization of your life. If you inculcate this good habit in
yourself it’s going to act as leverage in letting you excel in your job. You
might get an excellent job but sustaining it entails hard work done in an
organized way. Bear this in mind please.

8. Business card please:

I have heard students getting bemused on the issue of possessing a business
card. ‘’It’s not for me please. I am not in a job and I don’t run a business
either’’. Folks, today even as a student if you have your business card in
your wallet, it’s going to make a lot of difference in your networking. A
few students that I have come across have their name, email, cell, phone,
blog or website, and list of skills mentioned on the card. Having a business
card ensures it reaches the prospective employer when you meet him and he
gets to gauge your prospects to employ you.

9. Sense of Humor is for keeps:

Be a person who possesses good sense of humor with underlying qualities of
loyalty, determination, capacity to give utmost to work and who’s
trustworthy. Employers are always on a look out for freshers who have all
these attributes packaged together. They would like to put on their rolls
employees who are pro-active, aren’t averse to challenges, give their all to
put the organization in the top rungs of success. In addition, they look for
sense of humor as added advantage. In trying times- employers, colleagues
would like to have a person in their company who knows how to contain
oneself. He should be able to work progressively on the out-of-control
project with a smile on face and humor in his repartee.

10. Health always counts:

Your health matters the most. Don’t be awake for nights together, take
nutritious diet and refrain from smoking and boozing. Remember a person
enjoys his/ her success the most when he/she is healthy. Your bad health
could impact your graduate years and future as well. Take up exercise
classes or sweat it out in the gym. The new you could reinforce your job
appeal with the acquisition of skills like hard work and determination.

Shelly enjoys writing on various subjects including career moves, finance, insurance, and home improvement.

ARB Team
Arbitrage Magazine
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