Before you read this article make sure you check out the first four articles in this series.

How to Be Guranteed a Job After Graduation

Freshman Year Career Plan

Sophomore Career plan

Junior Year Career Development Plan

This is the final installment in a five part series on How To Be Guaranteed A Job After College. The entire series can be summed up in two words, Experiential Education. As a review, experiential education is nothing more than college students getting work experience while they are in school outside of the classroom. It is a great idea to do as well as you can in your college classes, you need that high GPA, but what is nearly as important is the amount of real life work experience you have once you walk across that graduation stage.

We live in a very competitive job market with a 95% employment rate. Yes I know we always hear about the unemployment rate but to switch this number around we are living in a 95% employment rate. That means only 5% of the population is without work. 95% of the population is working. Of those 5% who are not working many of those chose not to or cannot work for one reason or another.

Since we have such a high employment rate I would suggest you do everything you can to set yourself apart from your competition. One of the only ways to do that while in school is to get as much real life work experience as possible.

The first four articles for this plan have focused on 13 different ways college students can get some great real life work experience and practical knowledge about their potential career while they are still in school.

• Consulting with Career Services
• Career assessment tests
• Meeting with your academic advisor
• Local company visits (company tours)
• Job shadowing experiences
• Writing a resume
• Company Research
• Summer Internship
• School Year internship
• Job fairs
• Networking events
• Short-term project work
• Co-Ops

Here are a two more items to consider during your senior year in addition to the previous 13 opportunities.

Read career articles on the Internet and in respected publications such as Career Journal, Justin Driscoll.net, Monster.com, WetFeet.com and others. I would even recommend reading blogs from corporate recruiters. Many of the large companies are blogging. You can find out more info on this via their online career center.

Attend Career Events – I participate and plan many career information events for college students every year. I know they are happening on your campus. These are not job fairs but panel discussions and specific events for your major. Talk with you professors or career center professionals to find out more info. Last year one of the career events I planned gave a student who attended an opportunity to land an internship with a local advertising company. They work!

In closing, here is what it takes to get a job… HARD WORK. Very few people who have a job ever get that job by walking into the hiring managers office and walking out with an offer.

Once you find a position you are qualified for it is a long process to make sure you are a good fit with the company and the company a good fit with you. It is very expensive to hire the wrong person. That is why so many companies are taking such a long time to hire new candidates; they don’t want to make a mistake.

If you do your hard work up front while you are in college you will be more than educated on the type of opportunities that are available to you when you graduate. In fact you may have an offer in front of you months before you ever walk across that graduation stage. If you do multiple internships or co-ops or job shadows you have a much better shot at landing a position before you graduate. I would go as far to say that if you follow these 15 steps during your college career you will be guaranteed a Job After Graduation!