12 Jan Are you prepared to graduate?

So, you’re four months away from graduation, are you prepared to graduate? If you’re like the typical college student, the answer is probably no.  I totally get it. I was that girl. Graduating from undergrad and was feeling completely unprepared for the real world. Even though I had a job with a rural marketing agency, great internship experiences and a few offers on the table I just didn’t feel prepared. Here are a few ways you can start feeling more prepared to graduate.

Start to think about what you want to do.

You know the question, the one your aunt asked as soon as she saw you at Christmas: “What are your plans after college? Do you have a job lined up? You know I heard so-and-so’s son has a job lined up at the grain merchandizing headquarters.”

Yea I get it… I have one of those aunts too.

Let me start by saying you don’t need to have it all figured out right now. Yep, you heard me right, you just need to start. It comes down getting a job. This is your first job, it certainly won’t be your last.

If you’re still not sure where to start, think about classes you enjoyed, activities you were passionate for and clubs were involved in, really anything that brought you joy during your college years. What topics made you excited? What classes were you always skipping? Spending some time answering these questions should help you drill down into part of the industry you’d like to work in, and hopeful a job title.

If you’re still not sure, take some time to read through our job profiles on the blog to see what jobs sound interesting.

Set Yourself Up for Success.

While you’re still in school (or even if you’re out) this is the perfect time to set yourself up for success. Have you spruced up your resume? Find someone in the industry you’re looking to work in, look it over. Update you LinkedIn profile, have classmates, advisors and professors write you recommendations while you’re still in school and your work is top of mind.

Come up with a list of your skills and truly learn how to communicate them to others. Show that you can work in a team atmosphere, you can solve problems and make decisions. Highlight how you can plan, organize and prioritize work (think about managing school, work, extracurricular activities, class projects, concerts and figuring out where to get free food).

Create a list of people who you want to be your references and then actually find time to talk to them. Make sure they know what your goals are and which skills you’d really like them to highlight when speaking to recruiters and HR professionals.

Find Open Jobs.

So, where you even look for jobs? Of course, you can check out the AgGrad job board where you can find jobs in the agriculture industry.

Share that you’re job searching, ask people to keep an eye out for you, this is the perfect time to use your connections. Don’t apply for things that don’t answer the questions that you previously answered above.  Don’t be afraid to apply for jobs you may not meet all the qualifications for, if you’re willing to learn and have fit most of the requirements you could be a good fit.  Pro tip: If you continue to see a skill listed on jobs you’re interested in, that you don’t have, find a way to learn it (this could be an online course, internship or immersive program).

So, are you prepared to graduate?

Don’t worry, y’all it gets easier. If you have questions, we’d love to have you join our AgGrad Social Facebook group and answer any questions you may have. Search “AgGrad Social” on Facebook, request to join and you’ll be added to the group.