6 Things You Must Do Before Graduation

6 Things You Must Do Before Graduation6 Things You Must Do Before Graduation Youre a soon-to-be college graduate , and youre so consumed with, you know, graduating, that perhaps you havent realized you need to plan mora than the outfit youll wear beneath your cap and gown. In fact, theres a lot to do before you graduate. Weve turned to top college and career advisors for the six things you must do before you walk across that stage.Practice makes perfect - and you dont want to learn how to be the perfect interviewee during a real interview. Joshua Domitrovich, coordinator for career mentoring and internships at Clarion University , recommends that soon-to-be graduates begin participating in mock interviews about two weeks before a real interview.This allows students to reflect on their experiences while messing up, so that they dont mess up with the employer, he says, while adding that many career centers, including Clarion, offer mock interview services. Career c enters will tailor your mock interview to mirror the organization you are meeting and discuss how to develop questions for the end of the interview, he says. Youll walk out of your practice interview much more prepared.A generic resume just wont do, warns Jason Patel, former career ambassador at George Washington University and the founder of Transizion , a college and career-prep company. For example, he explains, a business development or communications graduate might be applying for work in the finance, nonprofit and startup sectors. He or she should look at the common keywords for job postings in each of those sectors, and if they are relevant to their experience, use them on his or her resume. The worst thing a soon-to-be graduate can do in this situation is have pertinent experience for a job but apply with a generic resume.Now that you have a resume custom-tailored for your position or industry, its time to make sure the resume itself is top-notch. No matter how confident you are in your resume, you should still have your resume reviewed by someone else - preferably a professional, says Domitrovich. This is an especially important step if you have a resume thats more than six months old. In that case, there is a good chance processes, procedures and preferences of employers have changed, Domitrovich warns. So use your career center to review your resume and ensure it is up to date and mistake free.An elevator pitch is a quick, rehearsed speech that tells someone what you have to offer as an employee. Your two-minute elevator pitch should answer the always-asked, tell me about yourself question in job interviews, Patel explains. Since this question - or one like it - is asked in the beginning, its important to demonstrate confidence and preparedness by answering smoothly. Your elevator pitch consists of what youve done, what youre doing and where youre going. This means you should discuss your qualifications and degree, what youre pursuing now an d your intermediate goals.If youre not networking , youre not working, Domitrovich says plainly. You never know who a contact is connected to and how far your network can reach. Luckily, you dont have to start your networking search from scratch. Your career center can provide access to a vast network of alumni and employers, Domitrovich says. Tapping into this network can provide opportunities to use pre-existing relationships to get your foot in the door. We encourage students to keep their career centers updated on their job search process. For example, before applying to XYZ organization, reach out to your career center to see if any alumni or a pre-existing employer relationship exists.Creating a portfolio and then putting it online can help you stand out in a major way. For relevant professions, a portfolio is a great way to gain an advantage on the competition, Patel says. Sometimes, your resume wont convey your creativity and transferable skills, but your portfolio can. Co nsider uploading writing samples, photography, designs and any other assets youve created to a single website such as WordPress. You may have to spend some time on it, but it could pay off in spades down the road.