Don’t wait until after graduation to begin building a career. Instead, make your post-college life easier by taking concrete steps toward the goal while still in school. Consider joining a local chamber of commerce as a junior member. The small annual fee will give you a chance to network with people from all walks of life and make contacts with individuals who work in the industries that interest you the most.
Another clever tactic for career-minded young adults is getting a credit card. Equally helpful are tactics like finding a mentor who can guide your job search and career, starting a small business, volunteering in the local community, taking a class that teaches the basics of interviewing, attending job fairs whenever possible, and assembling a top-notch resume with the assistance of a paid professional. Here are more details about each step.
Join the CoC as a Junior Member
Chambers of commerce are associations of local business professionals. If you don’t have the money to invest in team coaching, they welcome provisional, retired, and student members so you will have a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips. Becoming part of a CoC is an ingenious way of developing many contacts for your network. For a small annual fee, you’ll gain access to seminars, discussion groups, trade shows, industrial tours, educational forums, and countless social functions where local businesspeople get together on a regular basis.
Get a Legit Credit Card
When you apply for and receive your first credit card, it’s easier to establish a solid credit profile and a good payment history and deal with budgeting dilemmas. The best student credit cards available can help users easily manage their finances. However, knowing which cards are worth the effort and which are not is essential. For college-age adults, learning to live by a personal budget is a major step in handling money. To find the right card, be sure to review a special guide written especially for students that explores all the pertinent features of the top-ranking cards for people in college.
Volunteer for Community Service
In addition to doing a good deed for the less fortunate citizens of your community, volunteering for community service projects is a fast-track way of enhancing your professional network, making important corporate contacts, and building your brand in the eyes of local business owners. Young civic volunteers establish themselves as active participants in making positive change. Established corporate sponsors of charitable events and projects take notice of volunteers who take on challenging tasks and produce results.
Look at volunteering as a form of auditioning for a full-time job with a local company. Try to sign up for assignments in which you can both demonstrate and acquire relevant skills. Practice memorizing names and faces so you can call people by name every time you see them.
Start a Small Company
There’s no need to commit to more than a few hours of work per week when you start an online micro company. Consider setting up a resale or other type of merchant store that sells products or services that interest you. Learn to create a simple website, build a shopping cart, and start making money every time someone makes a purchase.
Additionally, take a commercial bookkeeping class to maintain accurate records. Later, when you develop a professional resume, remember to list your operation of this small enterprise under the “Experience” section of the document. Hiring agents view students who own businesses as self-starters, so you’re doing yourself a favor by becoming an entrepreneur while still in school.
Learn How to Interview
Unfortunately, too many college students assume they can wing it in interviews. The reality is quite different. Hiring agents place importance on a candidate’s ability to answer challenging questions under stress, provide honest details about work histories, and make a positive impression during a 30-minute session.
Unless you have more than a dozen interviews under your belt, consider taking a no-cost online course that walks you through the entire process. Keep in mind that it takes time to learn the several skills that go into dealing effectively with HR (human resources) workers, who possess advanced skills in questioning job candidates and discerning which ones are ready to hire and which aren’t.
Pay for Resume Services
Don’t balk at spending a couple of hundred dollars on hiring a professional resume writer. At this point in your career, it’s the wisest investment you could make. For around $175, a certified pro will interview you online or over the phone, build a resume from the ground up, and offer one or more revision requests at no extra charge.
Rest assured that hiring agents in corporate HR departments can spot a well-crafted document as soon as they see it. They can smell a DIY resume a mile away. Don’t skimp when it comes to your future. Find a certified writer specializing in your demographic, college students about to graduate and search for a first career ladder job.
