So you’ve reached the last year of your college course, and you’re confused as to what to do before entering the real world. You may have heard your parents and teachers telling you how fierce and different the real world is from school and college. And there is some reality to it.
The real world is indeed different, and you have to prepare yourself for it. After your graduation, you want to get a job or start your own business. For both of these, you have to use your graduation’s knowledge and use it in real life. Often, there is some gap in theory and practical which many students don’t realize soon.
Apart from that difference, there are some other things that you must work on so that you have the best experience and are well-prepared for the world outside your college. So, in this blog, we’ll tell you some things that you have to do in the last year of your college life
Let’s start.
Work On Your Social Media Profile
You have to work on clearing your social media profile of all the things you don’t need now. It could be the time you uploaded funny pictures with your friends or another time when you got drunk and danced like crazy in the dorm.
No, we’re not saying you shouldn’t have had fun. But we want you to remove all such posts because the company you’ll be working with will look at your social media profile to know about you. A little fun here and there is no problem, but if they feel you go in an entirely different zone and do things that are not considered ‘normal’, they may decide not to hire you.
Observe how the fun things you did in college can lead you to lose a job. So, it is wise to not take any risks because you won’t know what exactly can offend the employers.
Learn a Useful Skill
You may have heard this tip in several college-related blogs over the internet. But what we’ll tell you is different from everything else because we won’t just say ‘learn something useful’ and leave you hanging without explaining what ‘useful’ means.
When you’re in the last year of college, you’ll have fewer subjects and less load on your mind. You can use this time to learn a skill that employers look for in potential employees. Don’t just learn any skill which you think will be useful. But look at jobs on various job portals. Doing this will help you know which skills employers are looking for.
After shortlisting a few skills, choose one or two and start working on them in your spare time. We ensure that you’ll benefit from putting your time into learning them, and employers will be happy when you’ll tell them that you already have a skill they need.
Create A Website
We recommend students create a website when they enter college. But if they didn’t, they can do it even in the last year. A website or a blog is a direct indication of your skills. It will help employers see your work firsthand.
They need to see the work firsthand because you can say any praise about yourself, but the praise will only matter when you have the proof to back it up.
On a regular basis, companies deal with people who show they’re the experts, but companies know that there’s no weight in their talks when they start working. So, they’ve become strict with how they select people. And most people won’t have a website or a blog, which will be an advantage for you.
There is no restriction on what you can showcase on your website. Whatever skill you excel in can be shown on your website. It could be your proficiency in writing, photo editing, photography, or anything else. Sure, you’ll have to invest in keeping the website up and running, but believe us, the money you spend will be worth the return.
Focus On Networking
The network you create is easily the most crucial thing in your professional career. It is because it can help you in situations you think nothing will. Consider that you’re looking for a job and can’t find it because of some reason. You can’t always find job ads in newspapers and job portals because sometimes companies don’t post a vacancy.
If you have a good network, you can tell them that you’re looking for a job. The chances are that they’ll notify you of an opportunity, and if you do everything right, you may just get selected. Many people have landed their dream jobs because they had a great network and didn’t only depend on job ads but proactively searched for it by asking people in their network.
But the question is, “How can one create a good network?”
Building a network is not too hard. You have to stay connected with people who you met once or twice. Most often, people forget about others who they don’t meet too often. Make sure you don’t do it if you want to create a great network.
Another way of building a network is by looking at social media for the alumni of your college. We also recommend you stay in touch with your professors after college. If you were a good student, they might also help you land a job. So, keep yourself open to opportunities from different directions because you never know which job can change your life for good.
Get References
When someone with authority approves of your worth, employers are more likely to hire you. Professors have authority in college. When they give good remarks to you, employers will consider it.
Though some people use fake references thinking the employers will never call them, but the truth is, employers do contact the references and confirm whatever is written about you is true or not. Only after the confirmation will you get the benefit of references.
To get references, you have to be a good student and complete all assignments on time, as professors don’t want to represent students who can’t perform well in classes. It is because then they’ll be directly responsible for any bad behavior or performance by the students. And no professor wants their name to get dragged into something that can potentially degrade their image.
You can even ask the place you interned at to give their reference. If you performed well, the manager would have no problem giving a reference. Get it from as many people as you can because it will increase your chances of securing a job.
Create A Professional Resume
A resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV) is essential for any job. It tells the employer your basic information, education, strengths, interests, expertise, and references. It is that one document that has to be created to perfection because most people get rejected at the first phase, where employers either approve or reject CVs.
Poorly made CVs get rejected, and people often wonder why they can’t secure a job even after having degrees from the best colleges. A resume shows how well you can represent yourself and everything about you.
So, put time into creating a perfect CV that tells the employers about you. If you’re applying for different jobs, you have to create different resumes for each job because a generic one won’t be enough for all. And don’t worry, you don’t have to create the entire CV again. Just change some parts that you think will be unnecessary for another job or add something you feel is missing.
Internships
Internships give you practical experience of how you’d work in the real world after graduation. They make you familiar with how theory and practical work are different. After an internship, you can decide whether you want to work in a certain role or not.
Often, you may be interested in something in college, but when you intern for that thing, you realize it is different from your expectations. At that time, you should not get disappointed. Rather think about other subjects you can focus on so that the same thing doesn’t happen when your college gets over.
Internships are of two basic types- Paid and Unpaid. You mustn’t only focus on getting paid ones because some good internships will often be unpaid. Don’t let money play a factor in changing your internship into a paid one and do the work you don’t like. Remember, your goal from an internship is to learn about the industry. You can always earn money in a job.
Conclusion
It is common for students to get anxious during their last college year. The reason for anxiousness could be the fear of the unknown- working in the real world. If you’re also fearful, don’t be because the things we shared in this blog work. They have for many and will also work for you.
So, consider these points and start working on them so that you can start your professional career in the best way possible.
