College is a time in your life when you’re supposed to enjoy your youth, have fun, study, make lifelong friendships, and prepare for the future. It seems like a lot to do in four short years, especially since graduation is right around the corner.
Now that you’ve had your fun and studied hard enough that you’re graduating soon, there are a few things you have to do to prepare for life after college. One of those is getting a job. Otherwise, the last four years were nothing but a really expensive party. Here are three tips for how to do it.
1. Start the job hunt before graduation
One of the biggest mistakes college students make is not beginning the hunt for a job well before graduation. Many wait until after their diploma is in their hands to start the search, but this can be a major error.
Start looking during your last semester. When you begin to interview with companies, simply provide your transcripts so they understand you will graduate in the coming months with a degree in whatever. The sooner you get a jump on the interview game, the better your chances are of being hired.
What it shows potential employers is that you’re eager to start your career and it helps them to understand you’re not a procrastinator.
2. Clean up social media profiles
Yes, four years in a row of celebrating spring break in Cancun were awesome … but they’re generally not something potential employers need to see first-hand. Get a jump start on removing unflattering photos, inappropriate photos, vulgar posts, inappropriate posts, and unprofessional profile pictures.
Your future employers will — yes, will — look you up online when you send your resume to their offices. Don’t let their first impression be a photo of you with no shirt posing with four college girls recently entered into a wet T-shirt contest and throwing back shots of tequila on a Mexican beach. It was fun, but it wasn’t professional job experience.
3. Research different companies
When you head off to your first interview in a crisp suit with a professional and friendly social media profile months before your fellow classmates, learn all you can about this particular company. Ideally, you should know everything from which software they use to manage their warehouses to the names of the founders and every CEO on board.
You might still have a few months left to enjoy college before you graduate, but don’t let that fool you into complacency, thinking you have all the time in the world. Get a head start establishing your career. The sooner you start, the faster you’ll work your way up to that corner office and prime parking spot.
