Lesson 8: Graduating from 1st Year and Planning Your Future
Freshman year is going to be very exciting, but more so exciting is the prospect of coming closer and closer to your goal; finding your dream job. You need to start planning your future right away to make sure you are competitive!
Where to Start
Planning your future starts from the moment you enter college. You need to find the appropriate courses and jobs that will, combined, give you the solid background you need to land your dream job. It is not uncommon people change majors often, and it is even more common for people to work in a different area that they studied for.
As I mentioned before, you need to find as many occupations and positions relevant to your future as long as you as still in college. You will have many fellow students who will never work a day in their lives while they are working on their degree. They usually do not have the motivation and they have plenty of money. If you have enough money to get by you still might want to consider doing work in a relevant field. It will give you a great edge after you obtain that piece of paper. In the end it is all about experience, and unless you are going to graduate school experience is even more important than marks. If you can get away with it work during the summers, and try to work less during the fall and winter terms. Those are the most strenuous because you are also attending school on a full time basis.
To start planning your short term future or long term future, go to your career center and see what the job market is like. You are likely to find a great summer job through them! Career centers usually also have a lot of literature relevant to your field. They might carry books that list the kinds of professions you can get into upon graduating with, for example, a degree in math or biology. These books usually also have an average salary listed. Look at them, because if you love what you are taking but the jobs available in that field do not appeal at all to you then you might want to back that degree up with another major. You don’t have to let go of a passion for biology, but if you hate being out in the field then take a business major on the side. This will allow you to be more versatile and you could end up working in an office instead of a pond.
Your starting point is being aware what is available and where to go to get what you want. Go to every single workshop or seminar that is relevant to what you want to do in the future. They are often held in colleges and widely advertised. If there is a career day with firms and representatives, go! It doesn’t matter you are not graduating yet, you can still go and see what the requirements are and if a particular firm sounds interesting to you. The earlier you start the easier it will be in the end to find a job, because you are thoroughly prepared and you have done the appropriate research in advance.
