GUIDE TO POST COLLEGE SUCCESS

1. FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO DO  Do you want to be a professional?  Do you want to go volunteer?  Do you want to continue studying?  Do you want to explore the world?  Do you want to start your own business?  This is the hardest choice to make I understand but you really can’t start your new chapter in life without a plan of what you want to do!  If you want to take a year of to travel or go volunteer DO IT! You will never regret it & companies love it when you go and make a difference in the world.

2. DECIDE WHAT SPECIFIC AREA YOU WANT TO BE IN  You want to be a professional?  Do you want to be a marketer? A doctor? A salesperson? A vet?  If you aren’t sure what you want to do then eliminate what you DON’T want to do. This is a great way to tackle this issue head on  You want to volunteer?  Which organization? How long? Where too?  You want to continue studying?  Where? What? You know the drill  You want to explore the world?  Make sure your budget & prepare so you don’t go broke (I know from experience)  Start your own business?  Plan plan and start planning.

3. UNDERSTAND & LEARN WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO BE SUCCESSFUL  How can you succeed at this career?  Will it be long hours and you have to deal with difficult people (lawyer)?  Will it be flexible and you have summers off (teacher)?  Can you grow in this industry?  Is there a need?  Really learn and understand what these careers are like on a daily bases and think to yourself……

4. WILL THIS MAKE ME HAPPY?  THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS GUIDE  YOU WANT TO DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY  SO ASK YOURSELF, can I see myself doing that every day?  Will I love it?  Will I get bored?  Will it make me excited to go to work?  If you don’t even want to do research, don’t even bother. (trust me, you will waste your time)  DON’T JUST DO IT FOR THE MONEY  Happiness does NOT always equal money (it’s a fact)

5. FIND CONNECTIONS IN THAT AREA  Connections are a great way to get a feel for the career!  It can be a family friend, friend, family, professor, etc.  Reach out to them and talk about it!  Do you have similarities?  Do you really want their job?  Does it sound awesome and exciting?  Get to know as much as you can from them! They are the experts!

6 RESEARCH, RESEARCH & RESEARCH  I know this sounds like college, but this will be worth it!  Use GOOGLE to see what comes up and just research as much as you can about the job  Where can you work?  What kind of companies?  What is the day to day like?  What’s the good?  What’s the bad?  Find out EVERYTHING!!!!  I mean seriously think about it, you will be doing this every day, 40 hours a week, pick something that inspires & motivates you!

7. FIND THE CAREER & APPLY  Apply, apply and apply to all the positions you are interested in!  HINT: AIM HIGH  You didn't just work your ass off in college to not get your dream career!  Make sure to always make a cover page (trust me, it will really help and it shows the company you made an extra effort just for that position)  Tweak your resume to the position you are applying for  Use Keywords in your resume that are in the job application

8. PREPARE FOR INTERVIEW  Really show them why you want the job & do your best effort to impress them with your awesomeness.  You totally know what I am going to say here…..  Check out Cheers to Careers Blog Posts for some tips to help with the interview process! 

9. KILL IT & BEGIN YOUR NEW CHAPTER  Frist, take a deep breath  You CAN do this!  I know it can be stressful and sound like a lot of work, but this is YOUR future! Really focus in on yourself & what you want to do!  Just follow each step and you will be heading down the right path!  I wish you luck and good vibes!!  If you need any help along the way, feel free to me at or send me a message through Cheers to Careers to Careers Cheers, Samantha