How can college grads rev up their careers? The good news is that there are several effective tactics for building momentum with salary increases, position advancement, and personal growth. Everything begins with a solid plan, followed by additional education, the services of a professional job coach, knowing how to dress, and more. Here are the pertinent details.
Make a Specific Plan of Action
Careers don’t materialize out of thin air; you must build them. There’s no such thing as accidental job-related success. The relationship between humans and stress is complex but career uncertainty is definitely part of the equation. What’s the most intelligent way to proceed if you want to take your post-college professional lifestyle to the next level? There are several techniques, but the first step is to develop a detailed achievement plan. Everyone’s written list of goals is unique, but all should contain a few standard components.
When constructing a plan, make bullet points about what you want to achieve within the next 10 years and a short description of how you will make it happen. If additional education or training is a part of the mix, be specific about what you will study or train to do. Avoid listing money-related milestones because getting caught up in specifics of earnings and bonuses is too easy. Instead, describe the desired positions and career ladder you wish to climb.
Earn a Post-College Degree
Many who complete a four-year course of study move on to the job market after receiving their official paperwork and freshly minted diploma. Others move directly to graduate programs in business, engineering, math, the sciences, and other subjects. But even among those who choose to get jobs, many re-enter school a year or so later to seek master’s degrees.
In addition to the academic side of the question, succeeding in graduate school entails paying for tuition, among many other things, for a year or more, depending on your area of expertise. Regardless of your institution, expect to spend between one and three years completing an advanced course of study. The simplest way to pay for the whole thing is to take out a student loan to cover a portion of or the entire cost of attending a program. Most consider the loan amount an investment in a lifetime of success and security.
Hire an Employment Advisor
Even if you’re adept at interviewing, moving a career path to the next level takes work. Find a full-time professional coach who works with candidates to help them land more interviews and jobs. As with a resume writer, try to find someone who knows your professional niche. Most job coaches are generalists, but most are happy to focus on a particular type of work, like engineering, marketing, accounting, or anything else.
Dress For Success
One of the oldest rules for job seekers is to dress for success. The guideline has been around for decades because It gets results in most situations. Note that it is not about dressing up or attempting to appear too formal. Instead, take the suggestion as a warning to dress right when interviewing for any position, attending an employment fair, or conversing with interviewers over lunch or dinner. Part of the idea is to wear contemporary, clean business attire and be well-groomed.
Invest in Job Fairs
Online and in-person job fairs are available for anyone wanting to start a career. Most are free to attend, but the in-person events offer a much quicker route to a paid job, a more extensive selection of positions, and an easier way to network with other attendees. What does it mean to invest in a fair? Investing means being willing to spend your money to travel to at least three events not situated in your hometown. Employers appreciate that some interviewees travel far to get to a job fair.
The effort indicates that the person is serious about landing a position that eventually turns into a career. Don’t think you must spend a fortune to succeed at fairs. Decide in advance which fairs to visit. Always register online before arriving at the venue. Then, as an added precaution, post a digital resume that is access-restricted to only those companies that will have booths at the event. Finally, rent a hotel room and stay overnight in the city if necessary. That way, attending a distant event will be a hassle-free experience.
