By Catherine Kastberg
It seems like only yesterday you were that starry-eyed, rosy-cheeked freshman wandering onto campus for the first time; the world was yours for the taking. No curfew, no parents — that freshly mowed campus was your oyster and you were going to live. Every. Second. Of. It.
Now that senior year is upon you, with real life waiting for you at the end of your graduation march, you find yourself asking — why was I in such a rush to grow up?
In order to soften the blow of what will eventually be adulthood, I’ve listed out the following so you will fully take in, and appreciate, these last few glorious days of freedom.
Jobs:
The earlier the better. For those of you who are lacking job offers (myself included), it is important to remain calm. You have all year to go on interviews and send out your resume. As long as you have an idea of what it is you would like to pursue after college and are actively searching around, you will be fine.
An important life hack when it comes to job searches, Career Services is the best place for you to start. There are also a ton of job search engines out there, like LinkedIn, Monster.com, and even local job listing websites (if you manage to type in the right key words to find them). Also if there is any company you are actively seeking, or want to apply to, usually if you go to the very bottom of the page there are tiny, itty bitty words about all the boring stuff people usually don’t want to click on, like the company’s 10K and the Career Page. That is a good way of finding jobs in a specific company.
As a side note, when you do apply for a job, follow up a week later and ask about your status. It shows you are interested and responsible, and are doing more than resume dumping. It is also important that you frequently visit the career links websites on the Fordham webpage. And for all of you who went out and walked away with 50 friends, CONGRATS! You know how to network! A huge step in paving the way to your career, networking opens many doors that may have been otherwise closed to you. It is also important to remember not to burn any bridges. Always be professional and make sure you occasionally keep in touch with any contacts you may not speak to on a daily basis. You never know if a job will come up that they will think of you as a good fit for and tell their manager or HR department.
Apartment:
I am going to impart a secret only those who have recently graduated know, but don’t want you to know because they want to appear “independent” — they live with their parents. Sorry to burst your bubble. Finding a reasonable apartment your first few months after graduating is hard, and it ia definitely a lot less stressful when you initially settle into a job if you don’t have to worry about finding a place to live as well. One of the benefits of living at home is that you will manage to save the money you would have spent on an apartment, and build up a nice little nest until you are ready to go and strike it on your own.
Like everything, there are ups and downs. The biggest scare of that unknown world called After Graduation, is there are tons of new things you have to learn on your own like taxes and which doctors are under your insurance. But on the upside, you are officially your own person. If you strive and claw your way through the first couple of years you will be a millionaire before you know it.
