Congratulations, Your Student is a College Graduate. What’s Next?

Graduating from college is a major milestone. Once you have finished celebrating your student’s success, it’s time to help your student determine their next steps. Your student’s college degree is a stepping stone to other future life achievements. So what's next for your student after college? For some students, the career they want to pursue requires a graduate degree; others may decide to continue their studies in graduate school to avoid a bad job market, or to just avoid a getting a job. If your student has opted for graduate school, they have most likely already taken the necessary tests and applied. If not, time is of the essence. If your student decides they’re ready to enter the workforce, it’s not uncommon for them to have little to no idea what they want to do with their careers. Career experts predict the average person will switch careers, not jobs, four to five times over their lifetime. Encourage your student visit their colleges Career Services center to find useful tools and resources to help them with career choices and direction. Once they have narrowed the field, it’s time to get out there and find a job. While graduates should have begun their job search prior to graduation, it is definitely not too late to get the ball rolling. One of the biggest mistakes graduating seniors make is by doing the obvious-- looking for job openings. Instead, one of the best ways to land a great job is to research companies that will potentially provide career growth. Remember, your student doesn’t have to find the perfect job the first time. But, at least finding a job that provides options for career growth will allow them an opportunity to find a career they can pursue. Besides choosing between career and school, your student will also need to make multiple life decisions upon graduation. First of all, where will your student live? Will they live at home or on their own, in the same town as the college or try a new location? To help determine this, your student will need to consider what expenses they will have to handle. For example, consider expenses such as car payments or transportation, insurance expenses, student loans, utilities, credit card payments, etc. The sheer amount of anticipated expenses may dictate your student’s living situation until the job and career path has been better determined. Article courtesy of universityparent.com. Sources: http://www.quintcareers.com/next_after_college.html