Some Good Career Advice from College Career Counselors

US News lists five things college career counselors wish students knew as follows:

1. The career center exists.
2. Counselors know you are new at this.
3. Professional skills take practice to develop.
4. Students must take responsibility for their professional development.
5. Excellent networking can make the greatest difference in jumping ahead professionally after college.

IMO, this is some decent advice, especially #3-5. Here are my thoughts on each:

1. The career process begins with why you pick a particular college. Hopefully it's because that college has proven itself to place graduates in the field you are studying. If not, then you are off to a bad start from the get-go.

2. Not much to say about this. Kind of a throwaway tip to me.

3. Yes! Practice makes perfect! Where it makes the most impact is during interviews, so develop a plan to practice and you will ace your interviews.

4. Of course. Again, this begins at the start. Picking a college is the first step in your 40-50-year career.

5. Networking is a skill that will help out of college and throughout an entire career. It's one of the seven steps anyone needs to take to grow their career.

One extra piece of advice: I'd suggest high school students check out the career centers at colleges they are considering and take into account each center's abilities/successes as part of their college selection decision.

Comments

[Jon @ Be Net Worthy]

This is solid advice and in particular #5. I was never much of a networker, but it makes such a difference. It pays to push yourself out of your comfort zone in this area if you want to increase your chances of excelling Like anything else, it gets easier with practice.