Graduating college is both a time for celebration and confusion in many young adult lives. In order to stay one step ahead, there is a list of steps every college senior should take upon the arrival of their graduation date.
According to Fastweb, an online scholarship matching and college search service, “many students leave college without the slightest clue of what to do next.” So in order to make sure that you are prepared to be out in the real world, Fastweb suggests 10 helpful tips that will help students get started on the career process.
For guidance in the next steps of adulthood, Fastweb suggests scheduling an appointment with the university’s Career Services. Colorado Mesa University’s Career Services is an essential place to visit as graduation approaches.
According to the CMU website, Career Services offers a variety of services designed to assist students in identifying and obtaining their career goals such as career planning, resume/cover letter workshops, mock interviews and career assessments. They provide helpful guidelines that are designed to prepare students for their professions.
According to Alecia Dembowski, the assistant coordinator of Career Services, “A lot of students up to this point haven’t done a formal interview, as is typically required for a professional level job, so you can come into career services and do that professional style mock interview and really get prepared.”
A mock interview is an opportunity for a new employee to practice an interview and receive feedback from a professional career counselor. It can help students who are graduating to feel confident in answering difficult questions, improve communication skills and reduce stress before an actual interview by teaching interviewing strategies.
Taking part in mock interviews can familiarize students with the interview process. It teaches them how to answer the difficult questions, develop interview strategies and improve communication skills. The questions asked in mock interviews are typically general employer questions that are asked during a first round interview.
“Everything we offer current CMU students are services we would offer CMU alumni as well,” Dembowski says. “So if you’re getting close to graduation, or even after you’ve graduated and you need help with updating that resume, getting that cover letter written, you know, really in a way that’s tailored to what your new goals are as a college graduate, then we can help you get those together, get them revised, edited and sharp and ready to submit for that new professional job you are looking for.”
One helpful tool that CMU offers for students is one for seeking employment. According to their website, CMU Career Services has developed a new online search engine called Handshake. It is designed to connect students with employers of all occupations everywhere in the world. With this tool alone, students are able to find jobs while in school and after graduation.
On the CMU career services website under the job link for students tab, there is an extensive set of links that provides students with job resources such as resume and cover letter samples, interviewing tips, tips on job search strategies and graduate school applications.
Using campus resources such as career services is important to take advantage of while it is still available. According to an article on preparing for life after college by the University of Kansas, it is a good idea for seniors in their final semester of college to talk to their advisors, talk to a career coach at their school’s career services department, reevaluate social media profiles, update resumes and attend career fairs.
“I would say before graduation, come in just to get that job search strategy and learn how to start,” Dembowski says. “Once you have that job search strategy in place, then we can start looking at how we need to tailor your resume, how we need to tailor your cover letter and what kind of interview questions do you need to prepare for.”
As important as it is to talk to guidance counselors before making big career decisions, it is also a good idea to talk to financial aid to find out how much of student loans is owed. According to Fastweb, most student loans begin repayment after a six week grace period.
The grace period is a set time college graduates have before a payment on their student loans must be made. It is very important that these payments are made when they are due. The U.S. Department of Education uses several loans services to handle their billing on loans. The loan servicer will discuss with the student which repayment plan best suits their needs.
There are several ways to make payments back to the Department of Education. To make payments electronically, request for an electronic student loan statement, schedule an electronic debit to pay your bill or mail payments directly to the loan servicer. Payments can be made before they are due or you can pay more than the amount due each month. Failure to make any student loan payments when it is necessary will cause the loan to go into default, ultimately ruining your credit.
Seniors at CMU can go to Career Services in the University Center with no cost at all. Just send an email at career@coloradomesa.edu, or call their office at 970-248-1404 to schedule an appointment. If any seniors need guidance on where to start after graduation, Career Services is your best on-campus resource.
