Career Advice Talk

Gradspot.com’s Top 5 Things Your Commencement Speaker Forgot to Mention

1st June, 2009 - Posted by Robin Ogden -

Guest post by Chris Schonberger –

Class of 2009, congratulations!  Hopefully your commencement speaker was hilarious, inspirational, witty, warm, sage, eloquent, or at least famous enough that you’ll still remember who it was at the end of summer.  (The only person who would fulfill all those criteria at once is clearly Ellen Degeneres!)  But no matter who took the podium, I’m guessing the speech steered clear of the nuts and bolts of post-grad life.  Questions like “what is a good life?” and “what is the meaning of an education?” tend to trump more practical concerns like “how do I build credit?” or “what’s an HMO?” on the Big Day.  To supplement all the flowery words and vaguely illuminating anecdotes, here are five important things to think about as you set forth into the real world:

There are more jobs - and more job resources - than you think. If you are not going straight to grad school or into a profession like consulting or finance that has heavy on-campus recruiting, you may feel like you’ve been put out to pasture.  Don’t get tunnel vision - remember that a lot of other people are in your same position, and there’s an unlimited number of jobs available that can compensate you for doing something you actually like.  If you want to be a freelance writer, check out Mediabistro, Ed2010, and listings on journalism school websites.  Or, have you considered non-profit work?  Tutoring?  Dog-walking?  Who knows - with the financial industry in shambles, you might just end up having the last laugh!

If you don’t have a job yet, get an internship first. This may seem a little backwards, but hear me out.  Before the recession hit, the average job-hunt took about four months.  With things the way they are, you can realistically expect it to take even longer.  And in spite of the old cliche that says looking for a job is a full-time job in itself, five or six months is a long time to be doing nothing but sending out resumes.  If you try to snag an internship quickly (trust me, companies need unpaid and cheap labor right now), you’ll learn something interesting to talk about when you get to the full-time job interview and they ask you, “So, what have you been up to since graduation?”

Wherever you can, be a penny-pincher. Entry-level salaries get eaten up fast when you have to pay your own bills and buy your own groceries, so look out for simple ways to save money.  For example, if you have a full-time job, your daytime cell phone usage is probably pretty low - why not scale down your plan?  A daily latte adds up, so consider sticking to the office coffee pot.  And if you’re living at home, don’t take that as a green light to blow any income on eBay auctions and Vegas trips.  Remember “compounding interest” from Econ class?  The sooner you start saving, the better.

Health insurance should not be considered optional. Just because you’re “young” and “healthy” doesn’t mean doctors are irrelevant.  One ill-fated attempt to open a can of Campbell’s Chunky soup with a bread knife and you won’t be feeling so “invincible.”  Too many grads think that if they didn’t land a job with benefits then they are screwed.  But there are plenty of ways to get health insurance on your own - look into options like short-term “emergency” plans, the Freelancer’s Union, and telling your parents that you might “die without it.”

The best four years of your life are NOT over. Graduating college can feel a bit ominous when all the talk is about jobs and the “real world” and the end of your “glory days.”  But while the transition can be overwhelming at times, life after college also brings with it a whole new level of personal freedom that can be pretty awesome.  Pursue your interests, read books that weren’t assigned to you, and take advantage of what your city has to offer.  Also, remember that the same people who said “college is the best four years of your life” are probably now claiming that “life begins at 40,” so take it with a grain of salt.

For more essential tips for life after college, visit Gradspot.com or buy The Gradspot.com Guide to Life After College, available for $14.95 or as a free e-book at Gradspot.com/book.