The thought of spending tens of thousands of dollars for a college degree and still not being able to fend for yourself after graduation can be depressing, overwhelming, annoying, you name it.
A study at Georgetown University found that the unemployment rate for college grads is 6.2 percent. That’s a really huge number when estimated with the millions of students who graduate college each year.
To some extent, the government receives most blames for the increasing unemployment rate. However, this could also be a fault on the students’ part.
To have a successful career life after college, other than the acquired college degree and certificate, many more approaches have to be taken.
Below are 5 of such approaches to be taken to ensure a successful career life after graduation.
- Network with the higher ups in your field
“It’s all about connections” – with the increased rate of biases and politics in all aspects of life today, it’s almost impossible to move forward without good connections.
Getting to know people is important, but getting to know people that are highly ranked in your field is a prerequisite for achieving success before and after graduation.
The higher ups are your assets and will never turn to your liability unless you activate them. How? By getting to know them. Become closer with them. Let them be known to you and you to them.
It’s normal to feel a little awkward or timid the moment you decide to reach out to these persons. However, your career could take a massive turnaround for the good if you can sober the courage to bust out of your bubble and connect with them.
Fortunately, social media has made this exercise a lot easier.
With social platforms like LinkedIn, you are only a few clicks away from meeting people that can teach, guide and even help a great deal in securing job opportunities for you.
- Have a blueprint
Every Architectural, Mechanical, Electrical and also Technical structure have a blueprint, and this is simply a well drawn out plan featuring the design and also the materials that are going to be used, how they are going to b used, and what they will be used for.
A blueprint is like a navigation to guide you through the long-run after college.
Even life has a blueprint.
If you want to be successful, you must have a plan. You must bear in mind, however, that your plans might face hiccups along the way, that’s what the blueprint is meant for; to plan ahead and bring up possible solutions to possible problems.
You have to map out plans that’ll help you easily navigate through the future. Don’t sit back and wait for your certifications to get you the dream job.
To begin with, ask yourself, “after college, what next?”
- Develop yourself in your field
There new innovations and new inventions to solve new problems on a daily basis; like the ongoing automation of manufacturing industries with AI intelligence.
Don’t just rely on the knowledge you have acquired or on the impressive certificates you hope to attain. Become a part of these advancements and also equip yourself with the necessary knowledge and skills that accompany these changes.
With the internet, this exercise has also gotten easier. You can develop yourself by self-tutorial via web contents like ebooks, articles, pdf files, etc, or through online coachings.
Whichever one, don’t be left behind. Don’t use old methods to solve new problems.
People want easy and more convenient ways to get things done. This is where your knowledge can come to play. Use your knowledge and skills to find solutions to different real-life problems and this will be a big help to you before and after college graduation.
- Build your portfolio
There are so many certificate and diplomas you can acquire before graduation. It’s important to be highly ranked and with a good reputation in any institution you find yourself in. This can increase your credibility when background checks in done on your profile by employers.
Also, in order to subsist with your skills before a white collar job, it’s important to compile the best pieces of your skill or handwork into a decent portfolio.
This means, if you have good artistic skills, build up a little art gallery and fill it with your best artworks. Likewise, if you are in college and you aspire to be a journalist or wish to pursue any career that involves writing, use the internet as a medium to showcase your writing skills and also get better at it by blogging or through any other means.
Doing this will make you more experienced and learned in your field, and it’ll make future job employers more confident in your abilities.
- Have failsafe and countermeasures
This simply means to have a backup. Don’t rely on degree alone. The degree doesn’t work, it’s the person behind the degree that does.
We live in a world where nothing is promised. Getting your dream job after graduation is not promised. Hence, there’s a need to devise a means of self-dependence after graduation, with or without a job.
You can easily do this by learning to monetize your skills or by learning some side job that can sustain and keep you financially able for the short while before you eventually land your dream job.
Don’t let your acquired knowledge go to waste. Instead, use it to discover ways to aid others and you’ll definitely be making some gigs off of it. Discover market gaps and fill them. Sell different kinds of stuff or render services that are in high demand by the masses.
To round things up
College degree is important. But what’s more important is how you use the college degree to your advantage.
Don’t think a college degree will give you a good life. Only you have the power to give yourself the life you desire.
On the other hand, a good college degree is a plus for you and it’ll occasionally make your struggle for a good life less difficult.
Enjoy your college life to the fullest, but also take the best approaches for the career life afterward.
Which other approach do you think will prepare college students for the career life afterward? Share your thoughts below.
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Joseph Chukwube
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