You’ve just graduated from college and you’re thinking about taking a well-deserved break in the action before embarking on your new career. Besides, the current job market pretty much stinks. If this sounds like you, consider doing something meaningful as you explore your alternatives.
A “gap year” represents a prolonged period of time between two stages of life. Taking this time off is commonplace in Europe and Australia where young adults often take a break after high school or college. Graduates are encouraged to use this period to take on meaningful experiences for personal development and exploration before moving on to the next stage of life.
But, is becoming a “gapper” a smart move for you – especially given the current state of the economy? Naturally, it depends. Consider the pros and cons of taking a break.
Pros:
You can take this time to save money for grad school, an apartment, or a car.
If you’re tired of school, you may not do well in a grad school program without taking a break first – which could save you money in the long run.
You can use this time to explore careers alternatives, perhaps by interning.
Traveling across the country or abroad will allow you to explore geographical options and other cultures.
You can use this time to “give back” to your community by volunteering.
Cons:
After taking some time off, you may never want to further your education.
You could lose contact with those ever-important networking contacts you’ve accumulated while in school – such as professors and professional mentors.
Many educators believe that the increased focus, maturity and motivation gappers obtain are worth the break in the “job search” action. And, given that good jobs are few and far between right now, it might be a good time to escape from the pressure that has left many recent college grads burned out – the pressure of finding a good job in a bad recession. So if you’re inclined, take some time. This gap in your resume could work to your advantage. Good luck!
It’s sad but true: job security is an oxymoron. The workplace is simply not as crowded as it used to be. But, if you are fortunate enough to have a job, especially one that you enjoy, now’s the time to keep yourself from becoming a statistic and take hold of your career.
First of all, this is no time to be invisible. If they don’t notice you, you’ll be one of the first people to receive a pink slip. Instead, adjust that attitude to fit the seriousness of the times, and safeguard your position. How?
Perform! Being a valuable contributor to an organization has never been more critical. Be a good employee. Be a team player. Be a top-producer.
Stay tuned in. Skip that $4 latte in favor of the office coffee klatch. Eat at your desk instead a grabbing a sandwich at the local café. Move your lunchtime workout to after work instead. The more you’re around the office the better plugged in you’ll be.
Talk up your contributions. Make sure you're adding value by going above and beyond your basic job responsibilities. Then make sure your boss knows it -- without being obnoxious. Document what you do, and how successful you are at it.
No whining. If your workload increases, deal with it. If you have to come in early, stay late or work a weekend, suck it up. This is not the time to be thinking about work-life balance. Remember, happy campers are less likely to get laid off than chronic complainers.
Never stop networking. The day you’re let go is not the day to start calling old colleagues and asking former bosses out to lunch. You should be doing that right now. How quickly you land a new job after a layoff often depends on how consistently you've networked.
In this economy, preparation is just as important for those who still have jobs as it is for those seeking them. So, stay focused on what you’re doing, but have an exit strategy in your back pocket. Good luck!
As graduation looms and seniors send off resumes and attend interviews, one thing is certain: life after college is uncertain and a bit scary. There are plenty of ways to combat that fear and prepare yourself for "the real world."
Although you may have had a part-time job and juggled other activities while taking classes, many students will find that the balance of a career and social life is much easier to maintain. Because they have already mastered the art of time management and scheduling, they have no problem acclimating to a 9-5 workweek and using outside time to relax or enjoy their hobbies.
The biggest shift for many is becoming completely independent from their parents and college lifestyle. While the hours may be earlier, many will find that their 40-or-so-hour workweek is much more lenient than the crazy noon-4 a.m. schedule they previously enjoyed.
Seniors should just remember that everything leading up to graduation can prepare them for life afterward, if utilized correctly. College is a time for learning and growing, both in and out of the classroom.
Does College Really Prepare You For The Real World?
Yikes! You’ve got the diploma in your hand and that first job lined up – and you begin to wonder if all those thousands of dollars spent on tuition and books truly readied you for the working world. After all, some say that the “real world” is cold and harsh, where second chances are rarely offered, deadlines are hardly ever extended, and the concept of “fairness” doesn’t exist. It is rumored to be a barren, desolate place where work days actually begin at eight in the morning and the coffee? Well, it just plain stinks.
So after enduring courses in astronomy, memorizing little known facts about ancient philosophers, and carefully planning your class schedules (some that no doubt included three day weekends and nothing before 11 am), was your college education relevant to what you’ll be doing and experiencing in the workplace going forward?
Many times students end up pursuing careers that are not even related to their majors. So if what you learned in college does not directly apply to the specific job you’ll be performing, don’t freak out – not all has been lost. The fact is much of what you learned in college outside of the classroom has prepared you quite well for navigating workplace culture — which is just as important as the work itself.
Take, for example, the time management skills you’ve acquired. While tending to your studies at school, you’ve had to complete projects and meet deadlines as you balanced a job, parties, and hang time at your favorite Internet café. You’ve learned to text during classes and listen to your Ipod while cramming for an exam in the library. This is called “multi-tasking” and it is something you’ll be required to do pretty much all day long. You also have acquired teamwork capabilities by working on group projects in college – as painful as some of them might have been. And, just think about that professional network you’ve built without even knowing it. Your connections with professors and other students can potentially be quite helpful when it comes to landing a job in the future. Yes, a little Facebook each day is a good thing…
Most importantly, your college experience has prepared you well for managing day-to-day responsibilities like being punctual, balancing a checking account, doing laundry and going grocery shopping on a budget. You’ve gained a sense of independence that will directly translate to your work experience where you will be expected to finish a task (without being micro-managed) and finish it well.
Yes, college educates you in ways that go beyond what you learned in the classroom. But are you really ready for the real world? The answer is yes. Definitely.
Spherion, a leading recruiting and staffing company, partnered with MonsterTRAK, Monster.com's college division, to visit a local college campus and find out how seniors are preparing themselves for the transition from campus life to the working world.
Your resume killed, you aced your interview, and you’ve landed the job of your mildest dreams. Sure, your current arrangements might not be ideal, but for now, you’re just happy to have your little five-foot-square box of heaven. Something’s amiss about that box, though – the people surrounding it look and behave nothing like your old college comrades. No, you haven’t missed a memo – you’re just new to cubicle living. Looks like you’re not in Kansas anymore, but don’t despair, greenhorn; I’m going to show you the ropes.
The first thing you need to keep in mind when navigating the perilous corridors of the office is that, yep, college is over, and it’s time to start adhering to a new set of rules. This means no more all-nighters, no more chest-bumping in the halls, and no more showing up in a ramen-stained T-shirt and tattered shorts. It’s time to start showing some decorum, so a full night’s sleep, more civilized methods of greeting your peers, and some smart threads are in order.
Once you’ve got the etiquette down, you’re prepared to enter this strange new world. Take a deep breath, open the door, and cross the threshold into a good portion of your working adult life. Once you’ve exchanged hellos, shook some hands, and savored the approving looks of your co-workers, it’s time to get down to business. You may have been a slacker in college, and if this was the case, you’re about to learn that bosses, for the most part, are considerably less forgiving than your professors were.
Quit shaking, kid; you can survive this.
If you want to keep your office job, you’ll want to work under the assumption that mistakes will get you canned. This assumption isn’t so far-fetched when you consider the current economic crisis. In fact, there’s a better chance now than ever before that your first flub will be your last, so putting in 110% is that much more important. How to do this?
1.) Stay Alert As mentioned previously, you’ll want to be well rested and alert when you show up for work. Get eight hours of sleep every night, eat your roughage, stay away partying on weeknights; do everything your mother and countless after-school specials have been telling you to do since before you could form complete sentences.
2.) Stay Organized This means that you’ll need to start using that Blackberry or iPhone for more than just texting and playing Bejeweled. Learn how to use the calendar function on these devices, make note of important dates and deadlines, and, if possible, synch it up with your home computer as a second line of defense against delinquency. If you’re not technologically inclined, pick up an old-fashioned day planner and use that.
3.) Stay Informed When a new technology or new approach to the sort of projects you’ve been assigned to comes along, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage by remaining willfully ignorant of it. Find and devour all the information that you can on work-related topics to help keep you ahead. Search the Web, ask around, or conduct a bit of independent research elsewhere to ensure that you’re not stuck crunching numbers with an abacus.
Now that your boss is happy, your co-workers see you as their equal, and you’re aware of your surroundings, you can comfortably embrace the cube. Just settle in, and see where the corporate journey takes you. If you follow at least some of my advice, you’ll be surprised to see that it’s taking you places faster than you expected. Good luck!
Your college days are quickly coming to an end. You are about to face the real world for the first time. In other words, you’re going to need a real job— pretty scary, huh? If you’re wondering what to do next, you’re not alone. Millions of new grads have been faced with this same exact situation. They survived, and I promise, you will too! Nonetheless, there are things that can be done in preparation to help make your transition into the working world a little less jolting.
Like most grads, I’m sure you’re thinking that a great resume is going to take you places. While that’s true for the most part, it’s the substance (not the fluff) that determines the greatness of a resume. These days the job market is intense, so you’ll need to pull out all of the stops in order to land the job of your dreams, or at least one that’s worth bragging about. But, before you even think about writing your resume, make it your ambition to get as much experience as possible. That way, you’ll have something impressive to put on that fresh new resume of yours.
Internships, temp jobs and volunteer work are all great ways to rack up experience. Plus, you’ll gain an insider perspective in the field that you want to work in—something invaluable to finding career happiness. It also gives you the opportunity to network with other professionals in your prospective field. Networking is critical. It means getting your name out there and making connections with people who can assist or influence your job search. The right contact could be your golden ticket to a sought-after career opportunity that may otherwise not exist.
As you gain experience, you’ll find out what you like to do and what you’d rather do without. This is an important part of determining what career path will suit you best. While your degree will set you in a definite direction, don’t overlook jobs that play to your natural talents, interests and abilities. A 40-hour work week is tough enough, so make sure it’s a job you that you don’t mind doing or better yet, that you actually like.
Once you’ve got some experience and a grip on what jobs appeal to you, it’s time to write your resume. Unlike those lengthy research papers you’ve become so familiar with, a good resume should be short, sweet and to the point. It should provide an employer a brief synopsis of your education, work experience, skills and achievements. Since you are new to the workforce, it should not exceed one page in length, unless your experience merits it.
Next, you’ll want to write a smooth cover letter. Your cover letter functions as a prelude to your resume, offering you a platform to pitch yourself to prospective employers. It should include a personal introduction, indicate the position you’re applying for, express interest in the company, and expand upon (not just repeat) the skills and experience that make you the best candidate for the job. Finally, your cover letter should fit nicely on one page with ample margin space.
Once your resume and cover letter are complete, it’s time to make your debut to the job market. There are a number of ways to do that—from uploading your resume to job boards and applying to online job postings, to targeting specific employer Web sites and applying to posted positions or e-mailing your resume to their HR department. While it may be tempting to send out a blanket distribution of your resume, it’s not wise. Instead, research each company and job description. Then, modify your resume and cover letter to appeal to each position.
Now that you are faced with the quickly approaching end to your college career, it’s time to apply what you learned to the workplace. Make it count. Your career is a blank slate. It can be everything you want it to be, it’s all up to you. So, take this information and get experience, network, write your resume, prepare a cover letter, post it to job boards and e-mail it to employers. Go out there and make it happen! Good luck!
So I got on this topic with one of the interns at my doctor's office the other day. We were talking about writing papers, class presentations and group projects, and how, as undergrads we always wondered how any of this would actually help us in the "real world."
And now I can see. No, nobody actually cares about the history of the field, and you will never end up talking about theory or obscure case studies in the work world.
But learning these things are valuable in a different way. You learn how to independently find information, you learn how to back up your arguments if you are proposing a new program at work, and you learn how to appropriately participate in meetings and such.
I wish I had realized these things when I was going through school the first time around, because I think it would have helped me shape my resume when I had no experience to speak of....
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