Congrats, You’ve Graduated! Now What?

What should you do after you finish college? If you’re lucky, you’ll fall straight into a top, high-paying job for a big business. You’ll get a nice signing package too and did we mention some of the best benefits like health insurance? Unfortunately, this type of outcome is reserved for the leavers and graduates who excelled in school. We’re talking about the one percent that achieved all A’s while completing extracurricular activities. And don’t forget, it’s also about who you know. Most people tend to have connections with someone in the industry, whether that’s family ties or just solid networking skills online. So, if you don’t have any of these advantages, you are going to struggle to find yourself with this type of opportunity.

That leaves an important question unanswered. What should you do once you finish your college degree?

Take A Gap Year

This isn’t just about enjoying life while you can, though this certainly plays its part. You might think that the people that immediately enter into high paying jobs after they have finished school are lucky. But are they really? Don’t forget that if they’re high paying, they’re going to be very stressful, arguably with very little spare time. Sure, they come with holiday pay included, but how many of those holidays will actually be taken? It becomes a rat race with everyone working the most hours they possibly can. You’re far better taking some time off while you have the opportunity.

Of course, a gap year isn’t just about enjoying yourself. It should be about bettering who you are and what you can offer a future employer. There are plenty of ways to do this, but one option would be to head to Africa and help out in villages and areas that need volunteers. Or alternatively, you could head to a foreign country to teach English. There are even some gap year packages that include both the chance at the holiday of a lifetime and a way to get some great skills and activities on your CV. Half the time, you’ll be helping in the local community and the other half you’ll be exploring a tropical paradise.

Take A Post Grad

Of course, if you really want to impress future employees, you might want to think about taking a post grad. A post graduate degree is the chance to gain further knowledge in an area or industry that you are interested in. For instance, you might have studied psychology as your major. A post grad will allow you to to expand your knowledge in new and exciting ways and hone in on a specialty. But that’s really just one example. You can take a postgrad in virtually any field, and the best part is you don’t have to go back to school.

Rather than heading back to college, you can complete a post-grad in your spare time, working from home. When you study online with RMIT and other similar institutions, you’ll be able to plan your own study time, determine how much time you want to spend on working and how long you want to take to complete the course. It’s all in your hands, and this means you can complete your post grad, while you continue to work.

Work Independently

Finally, if you are not hired straight out of college, you should consider working independently away from the hustle and bustle of the office. Again, you can do this from home, earning a solid living while still pursuing your dream career. For instance, you can think about getting started just by setting up a Linkedin profile. With a profile like this, you can show people who you are and what you can offer. You might even find that you get some part time work that will be helpful when building up your resume. This could even lead to permanent positions.

Of course, you can also think about taking up something like blogging. Blogging isn’t just a way of sharing your thoughts and feelings. Through blogging, you can actually show experience as well as some initiative. Working independently like this and demonstrating a drive to success can let employers know that you would be a great hire for you their business.

You see, even if the job offers aren’t pouring in after university, you’ll have plenty of options on where to go next. The important thing is that you don’t just stand still. You have to keep moving forward, pushing the envelope and pursuing new horizons.