Here are some resources to consider when thinking about making career choices after college graduation.
College Career Centers
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Many colleges and universities provide career centers for their students. College career centers offer students with a variety of services to jump-start their success after college. Many centers offer students a career counselor. A career counselor is your liaison for anything career-related and can be a helpful guide through postgraduate life.
College career centers also provide students with career aptitude tests, alumni connections, resume building, and job placement.
Career Coaching
Photo by Amy Hirschi on UnsplashWhile some students may prefer to talk to a college career counselor that can provide you with university resources, others may want to jump straight to a professional.
Career coaches are experts in career planning, resume building, interviewing, and job placement. A career coach will assist you in making smart decisions about your career. They can often make the transition into a first job or start of a new career smoother than you'd expect. Career coaches can also help to define or redefine career goals for your long-term vision.
Career Material Assembly
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It's probably not a stretch to assume that most college students have already put together a resume and cover letter, or even have a LinkedIn profile. However, it can often feel like you're just going through the motions when creating career-related materials, unaware of how relevant certain details can be. After all, searching "employable skills" in Google so you can include something relevant in that section is a bit of a passive approach (though not necessarily an ineffective one).
As we mature and become more informed about the job market throughout college, maybe it's time to do a complete overhaul when it comes to our career materials.
Fortunately, there are many resources available related to constructing a viable resume, disruptive cover letter, and a stacked LinkedIn profile. Not only is it possible to re-build your resume based on existing templates to really make the most of that page, there are also full tutorials so that you are aware of the function and meaning of each part of this kind of document.
In the future, you can then reflect back on that information when editing and reconfiguring different segments. The same is true for cover letter writing and networking profiles.
Material Reviews
Photo by Van Tay Media on UnsplashEven after you feel confident and career facing, there is always room for improvement. To weed out minor typos, there are plenty of software fail-safes, like spellcheck, to help you out. Otherwise, handing off your cover letter or resume for someone else to read through is another way to avoid silly mistakes.
Assuming that you've eliminated more common mistakes, how else can you boost the effectiveness of your work?
There are actually services that are geared toward reviewing things like resumes and cover letters, and for interview preparation. One of the ways to get your materials reviewed is through a carer coach, as mentioned above. Talking with a real person during this process can be a great help in truly understanding how others will read through your work, and how an interviewer or hiring manager really thinks. Additionally, there are AI-powered reviewers for resumes, which may offer quicker, more general advice.
By the time you graduate, you'll have learned way more than just what's on your degree. And part of the growth and learning associated with higher education is in self-improvement and preparedness. It's time to enter "the real world", and really, that idea should be one that brings excitement rather than fear.
While it's encouraged that you take risks in your approach to career-building, having a reinforced jumping-off point can only help in your journey after college. The resources available to students are often undersold, or difficult to wrap your head around, but that doesn't mean that they're inaccessible.
If you're looking for a career coach or courses on building the perfect career materials, check out these services offered by Work It Daily through our Career Growth Club!
