Congratulations Seminoles! You survived up to your senior year. Next stop… the real world! Time to find a full-time job and officially take over all financial responsibilities (if you haven’t already). Not sure where to begin the journey to full-on adult? Make sure to check these off your to do list before you graduate to find your successful #SeminoleFuture.
1. Visit the Career Center
Did you know the career center offers tons of free resources? Talk with a career advisor their job revolve around helping you. On the Career Center website you may find a career liaison who focuses on helping students in your field. They can help you pick out your strengths, find internships and even help you find a job. Think of them like career professors. Take advantage of the people dedicated to looking out for your post-college life.
2. Lock in that Internship
Internship = Experience + Connections. Plus, you gain two distinct advantages if that company happens to be looking for new employees. First, you’ll probably know before the public because you work there. Second, if you don’t already know the boss, your supervisor can put in a good word for you. If you land the job, boom, instant post-grad employment status! If not, you gained experience to add to your resume.
3. Update your Resume
Always, always, always keep your resume up to date. If you need help, check out FSU’s Career Center. Inside their lobby, trained students critique general resumes as well as tailor them to specific jobs and internships. Help the career center help you by highlighting the skills you already possess that will help you land and rock the job.
4. Build your ePortfolio
Building an ePortfolio makes it easy and efficient to organize your resume and apply for jobs. Resumes offer abstract info about what you can do. A portfolio shows concrete examples of your skills put to work. Link your portfolio to every job application. You’ll impress the company and stand out. Sites like Weebly, Wix and WordPress provide great starters and templates to help you build a professional site. Your ePortfolio should contain a writing sample to show your correspondence skills, your skillsets, resume, contact information, previous projects and anything else that you want prospective employers to know.
5. Sign up for a Mock Interview
Despite the many internships or jobs you’ve held, sign up and practice with a mock interview. Remember, employers around colleges expect to interview students, so their professional expectation of you might be lower compared to an older applicant. A little extra practice can’t hurt even the most skilled interviewer. A mock interview will expose your strengths as well as areas that need improvement. Boost your confidence and get your interviewing skills in shape.
6. Go to the Career Fair
A career fair is a great place to network and look for jobs. Bring a handful of resumes and explore. For FSU’s career fair, you can even check out what companies will be there in advanced so you can plan out what tables to go to and what to bring. Talk to the representatives on what jobs are available. Tell them about yourself. They are there to find potential employees just like you are there to find an employer. It’s a two way street.
7. Lock in Letters of Recommendation
Considering grad school? Looking for a job? You’ll need letter(s) of recommendation. Professors are willing to write letters of rec, but they need to know you first outside of the classroom. If you hold no work experience or former employers, turning in a character statement from your professor beats turning in nothing at all. No one knows the quality work you produce better than your professors.
8. ProfessioNole
ProfessioNole is a special program exclusively for FSU students. Students network, build connections and jumpstart their career search. Alumni volunteers come back to campus and offer help to students who don’t know where to start. They can help you figure out what job qualifications your major fits, share their professional journey and help make relevant connections in your field. You’ll be in good hands with the volunteer alumni.
9. SeminoleLink
On SeminoleLink, students and alum can hunt for jobs. Show up to the career center, and they can guide you through the site if you’re lost. A wide range of jobs exist on the site from teaching to graphic design positions. To help make the job applications more efficient, you create a basic portfolio and submit it to potential employers. The companies that register on the site want Seminoles to fill their job openings—take advantage of that fact.
10. Apply for Jobs
Newsflash: No one will ever hand you a job. You need to sit down, fill out an application, interview, maybe interview again, then maybe get a job. If you want to start your life as a working adult post-graduation, start your job search during the semester before you graduate. If you get ahead of the curve, you’ll show potential employers enthusiasm and impressive work ethic. The rest is up to you, Seminoles. Happy job hunting!
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