Finding employment immediately after graduating from college is getting more and more difficult than it was some years back. No wonder a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers actually revealed that just about 20% of college grads of 2009 got a job immediately after completing school. Now this translates into something like only one in every five college grads getting a job immediately after finishing college. That certainly is not some cheering piece of news for college students, but more especially for college seniors who will be entering the job market sooner than otherwise.
So how then can a college student whether senior or not prepare for the task ahead? In other words, what do students need to do now to increase their chances of getting employed soon after graduation? Okay below are some of the issues that college students need to grapple with, in order to ensure they get prepared for the job market out of college.
The Time-Related Factor
One of the challenges that transitioning from campus to career will bring is time-related. This is what many erstwhile college students are realizing after completing their degree. Accepting the work-life of getting up very early to get to work and close much later than they expected seem too difficult for them to bear. Another area where this comes up is regarding time management. In which the company that you work for expects you to still have a life even while working 40+ hours every week.
There are some things that college life may not prepare you for
Indeed there are a number of things that college life might not equip you with. But knowing how to handle most of these things, plus having the necessary skills that are absent regarding some of these things will only make the person in question a more effective employee in the future. This includes:
- Possessing teamwork skills as this will be important in your work-life and even your private life
- Having job-hunting skills, particularly networking, interviewing plus salary negotiation
- Knowing how to deal with people as well as their personality types, etc.
Workplace professionalism
Coming to terms with the professionalism that is required in the workplace is another issue that recent college grads may find difficult to handle. In school a student might have succeeded with playing a prank or by behaving in such a way that leaves much to be desired, but such behavior in the office can lead to a person being fired.
Also, professionalism includes finding out some things by yourself. Regarding this, you just have to be a self-starter. That is someone who by himself knows how to figure out things. You will never get all the answers from others.
Salary negotiations plus job offers
Even though we are experiencing a time when job offers for everyone including recent college grads are not so forth-coming as expected, you might be lucky and receive two or more offers. So how will you deal with this? Okay before this, ever shows up on your radar, you should be prepared. You should know how to negotiate your salary as well as your entire compensation. In addition, you also need to have a sense of your career path.
The Solution
Taking advantage of the Federal Work Study Program or an internship is definitely a useful and important way students can prepare for the job market. For the study program a student needs to be eligible as this is a financial aid from the government. Nevertheless, both will provide you with experiencing work-life, while still in school and so help you with learning how to manage your time properly, develop the necessary workplace professionalism and other things regarding work. In fact, your interactions with others in work-life will open you up to the real challenges and characteristics of work-life making you more suitable and fit for work-life in the future.
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