How To Prepare for Work After College

It’s about post-college preparation so you can hit the ground running!

Economists maintain that a college degree is still the best way to land high-paying jobs, but lots of graduating high school students are questioning that when they hear about college graduates not being able to get a job or finding a job that has nothing to do with their major. On top of that, add the dismal figures that reference student loan debt topping $1 trillion and graduates finding themselves with low-paying jobs that make them no better off than if they hadn’t gone to college.

Let’s take a closer look at how college students can successfully hit the ground running as soon as they graduate. We’ll examine the idea that just attending college may not be enough; students may need to make more focused decisions before entering college – to help put their degree to work right away.

Have a Plan

It used to be OK to head off to college and figure out a degree later. According to MyMajor.com, 80% of students entering college hadn’t picked a major and 50% will change their major while in college. But the combination of rising college tuition and students spending more time in college to get those degrees is posing a problem. Matter of fact, Harvard economist Richard Freeman advises that students who are undecided about their future plans find a job after high school until they decide what they want to study—instead of heading to college without a clear plan.

Don’t Follow Your Passion?

Get a job doing what you love. We’ve all heard that mantra. However, a new school of thought espouses the idea that students not follow their passions, because most of our passions don’t necessarily translate into successful careers. Instead, the idea is to follow our effort. Students, even in high school, can focus on how they spend the majority of their free time. It’s the idea that whatever you spend the most time doing — may be your perfect career. When we spend time with something, we gain a lot of skill which makes us an expert in that field and being an expert translates to career success.

Look at Barriers to Entry

Pursuing a profession that requires a specialized degree creates a barrier to entry—and this can be an advantage. When a student pursues medicine, education, law or accounting, for example, those fields require a degree in order to gain certification to apply for those jobs. Other careers, like the arts and many business roles, have collegiate degree programs, but these degrees are not a requirement to work in those particular jobs, increasing the number of eligible job candidates. More people applying for fewer jobs can automatically lower the pay.

Check out the BLS

The Bureau of Labor Statistics‘ website has detailed information about most career paths including average salary and the number of people needed in those careers in the future. If you’re considering more than one-degree path, choose one that will have a large need for workers in the future. Fields that have a saturated market not only make it harder to find a job, but the salary may also go down due to the oversupply of workers willing to work for less.

The Bottom Line

Remember, the sooner you get out of college, the sooner you will earn money instead of building up more debt.