Written by Sierra Gamelgaard, Account Executive for the Golden Boomers International account team

 

As college comes to an end, seniors are sorted between those who have a postgrad career lined up and those who are still seeking employment. Finding a job after college can be difficult and frustrating, but also rewarding and exciting. Whether you’re preparing for an internship or getting ready for a full-time career, the transition from college to career shouldn’t be too painful. College is a time for experimenting, finding your passion and learning new skills that you’ll develop further in your life. It can be easy to forget the kind of attitude and motivation you need in the workplace, but it’s important to adapt quickly and realize that it’s not going to always be as fun as college. Take a look at these five tips for transitioning from a college student to a career guru.

 

  1. Maintain your passion

                  Sometimes, we can get so caught up in daily obstacles or challenges that life throws at you. It’s at these times that you may doubt your strengths or your personal interests. However, it’s also during these times that you must remember why you are in the industry you’ve decided to work in and what motivates you to work hard on a daily basis. Passion is what drives people to do things that they’re interested in and complete personal goals they’ve set for themselves. Take a look at what you’re passionate about. Are you interested in developing new social media apps? Or working with a nonprofit organization? You can have multiple passions, but make sure you’re devoting enough time and effort into each, that way you can fulfill all of your goals.

 

  1. Clean it up

                  Social media has become a huge part of society and features a variety of different content from people and companies. In college, it may seem harmless and fun to post every single photo that you’ve taken, but in the professional world, some photos may be deemed inappropriate. Take the time to go through your social media outlets, like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to clean out any useless content. Going through your accounts will be refreshing and will prepare you for the real world.

 

  1. Classroom to workplace

                  There’s a time and a place for everything, but something you might do in the classroom, may not go over so well in the workplace. In college, it’s easy to not care or pay attention in class, however in a work setting, it’s important to pay attention and do your assigned work. Taking initiative and maintaining a good work ethic will look great in the eyes of your supervisor. If you have an intense workload for the day, try adding breaks here and there to refresh your mind and relax for a while. Also, you know that classmate you met in math and studied with for every test? Apply the same networking concept to the workplace by getting to know your coworkers on a professional and personal level. By creating a good connection with those who work around you, going to work may seem like less of a chore and more of a motivation to work hard with your colleagues.

 

  1. Keep working hard

It can be easy to slack off in college and find yourself making excuses for not completing an assignment or forgetting to study for a midterm. In your professional careers, deadlines are serious and your supervisor is going to be expecting the same, if not better, work you create throughout your job. Keep yourself motivated by producing quality work that makes you proud. Now that you’ve gotten your dream job, it doesn’t mean you can work less; it will be important to continue to impress your supervisor and those who are part of your work life. Your hard work doesn’t go un-noticed and will most likely be rewarded in due time.

 

  1. Network

I’m sure you’ve heard this multiple times from professors, friends and even parents, but it can’t be expressed enough that networking will get you places. Saying a friendly hello, going into your professor’s office hours, or stopping by a coworker’s desk to chat about the news is not a waste of time and will actually benefit you in the long run. Networking builds strong and beneficial relationships that you can rely on. It also allows you to meet people who you may have never been able to meet before. And guess what? That person you just spoke with yesterday has a cousin in the HR department at Nike and can connect the two of you. Networking allows people to connect by motivating and helping one another when searching for that perfect job.

 

Sierra Gamelgaard is a senior public relations student with a passion for strategic communications and social media. Her life consists of Italian cooking, rooting for the Packers and Portland Trail Blazers, enjoying the outdoors rain or shine, addictive reality TV and consuming every piece of sushi possible.