Congratulations! You made it to your senior year of college! You’re probably feeling a range of emotions right now. Happy. Excited. Sad. Nervous. Or, if you are like me, you’re probably thinking “Oh, God. I’m graduating in so many months. What am I going to do?!” That was my only thought during senior year. I’m going to be graduating in six months. What am I going to do with my life? It wasn’t until my senior of college that I realized I actually did want to be a writer and someday write for magazines such as Teen Vogue, Seventeen, or Cosmopolitan. But I had no idea how to get there or what to do. I felt as though I was already behind everyone else in their after graduation plans.
In the midst of freaking out, I’d also like to share with you a few things I learned along the way:
BREATHE.
First and foremost, breathe. Take a deep breath and relax. It’s not the end of the world if you have no idea what you want to do after you graduate. Some people (such as myself) don’t figure it out until their senior year or until after they graduate. And that’s totally fine.
FOCUS.
Just because you are in your senior year doesn’t necessarily mean you can slack off. Set a goal for yourself. Whether it’s acing all your classes and getting that 4.0 GPA or just making it through, set a goal. If your goal is to get a job immediately after graduation, focus on that. If you want an internship, go get it! Thinking about going to grad school? Start looking! The important thing is to not lose focus. You’ve come this far so keep going!
INTERNSHIPS
I secured my first writing internship about a month before graduation. I searched for weeks on end, sometimes late at night and into the wee hours of the morning. I knew having an internship was going to help me get my foot in the door faster than trying to apply for the actual job. Most jobs require you to have some type of experience, and internships are usually the best way to go about getting the experience. The sooner you start looking, the better. If you are looking for an internship, here are a few places to start:
- Internships.com
- THREE of my internships have been from this site!
- Career Services
- Your school’s career website
- The organization itself
- This is always good, even if you find the internship on an outside source. Always check the company or organization’s website!
NETWORKING
Networking is key. Start building your connections now. The best way you can do that is to create a LinkedIn profile. This allows you to connect with your peers, professors, as well as others who may be in the same job field as you. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people!
*Note: LinkedIn is NOT Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Be professional!*
In addition to having a LinkedIn profile to connect and network, you should also try to contact someone at the company you are thinking of working for or who is in the same field you’d like to work in. Set up an informational interview and pick their brains. The more people you can connect with, the better.
Think too about creating some kind of portfolio. You can create a website which will highlight your skills and previous work to allow potential employers to see what you can do. You can use WordPress, Squarespace, or any other website platform.
KEEP IT CLEAN ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Your social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, etc.) will come back to haunt you if you are not careful. You might think you’ve set things to PRIVATE mode and people can only see what you want them to see, but that is not always the case. Try Googling yourself from a friend’s computer or from your local library. Rethinking that beer pong picture or that slightly awkward picture you don’t exactly remember taking or thought was funny at the time? Your future boss can see that too. And anything your friends have tagged you in, that can be seen as well. By anyone. Anywhere. Anytime.
Keeping these things in mind, don’t forget to have some fun too! It’s your senior year and you should celebrate that you’ve made it this far. It’s an accomplishment and one you should be proud of.
Ca.Co.Co. 