Tassels turned: Timely career tips for college graduates
As the Class of 2021 prepares to leave campus — or their bedrooms — our career experts offer up some jobrelated advice:
“Don’t fall for the convention that ‘looking for a job is a full-time job.’ Freelancing or temping is a great way to get an inside view into various organizations and experience different environments. You’ll be gaining valuable experience and potentially valuable contacts too! It will also give you something additional to discuss when an interviewer asks what you’ve been doing with your time. You can even work it to your advantage to show that by experiencing a few different company environments you’re even more certain that the company you’re currently interviewing is the right one for you.”
-Michele Mavi, Atrium Staffing, New York
“Use your career services office. They are there to assist you, offer advice and cultivate relations through employers and alumni connections they regularly work with. Don’t underestimate the power of their network to assist you. It’s not what you know but who you know (or who they may know). Once you’ve landed, let your alma mater know about your success. They’ll be eager to add your name to their database of recent graduate hires. When you can, become an alumni mentor to others at your alma mater and pay it forward.”
-John Hyde, executive director, Career Services, New York Institute of Technology
“As much as people around you may want you to succeed, no one else but you is responsible for creating your own definition of success. So, as you look toward the future, don’t allow yourself to be hemmed in by the rules that others live by. It may take courage to break apart from the pack and you may sometimes make the wrong call but living the life you were born to live will sometimes require bending the rules and other times, it will require being brave enough to break them entirely.”
-Margie Warrell, leadership coach, author of “Make Your Mark”
“Never underestimate the power of your personal network. You begin building this network as an incoming college freshman with your professors, employers and mentors through professional internships. Actively engage with members of your network through personal relationships, LinkedIn or online communities to help with job interview prep. They can help you assess what the person making hiring decisions wants to know — and how you can best articulate the value of your knowledge, skills and experience to land the job.”
-Carolina Martin, executive director, Students Rising Above, San Francisco