I Don T Know What To Do After College

It’s cliché, but living in another country will give you so much perspective. Perspective on your country, but also perspective on yourself. For instance, my time in Medellín, Colombia, was invaluable not only for learning a new language but also for deciding that freelance writing was what I wanted to do.

What to Do After College: 9 Options to Consider

Every day of the past four years has been building to this moment: graduation. You made it, so take a moment to celebrate!

But once the excitement of graduating fades, you may find yourself wondering: “Now what?”

The question of what to do after college haunts every student to some degree or another. If you’re not sure what that next step looks like, this article is for you.

Below, we examine what to do after college. No matter what you majored in, the ideas in this article will help you plan your next move.

Don’t Compare Yourself to Your Peers

If you’re reading this article, you’re probably uncertain about what you want to do after college. During this process of discernment, it’s easy to compare yourself to your classmates.

When I graduated, for instance, I had two friends who seemed to have it all figured out. One was going to start medical school just a few months after graduation. The other was planning to enter a Ph.D. program at an Ivy League school.

In comparison, I felt like I was slacking. I knew vaguely what I wanted to do, but I certainly didn’t have such prestigious plans lined up.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, it’s okay! Don’t worry about what your peers are doing. Comparing yourself to them is unhealthy, particularly if you dwell on it. Everyone is on a different path, and it’s alright if yours doesn’t fit the mold.

Don’t Go to Graduate School for the Wrong Reasons

If you’re thinking about going to graduate school, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. For instance, some fields such as teaching require a master’s to even get a job. In that case, graduate school is the logical choice.

On the other hand, don’t go to graduate school just because you’re unsure about your next step.

You can do plenty of career exploration without spending the time and money to go to graduate school. And of course, don’t go to grad school just to delay paying off your student loans.

Remember: You can always attend graduate school later if you decide it makes sense.

Stick to a Routine

You won’t realize how much structure college provides until you leave it. Once you graduate, you may suddenly find yourself with a lot of unstructured free time. Without a proper schedule and routine, these open-ended days can quickly devolve into an unhealthy mess.

To avoid this, I recommend creating (and sticking to) a daily routine. It doesn’t have to be super rigid, just enough to keep you busy. Here are some things to include in your daily routine:

• Wake up at a set time (at least on weekdays)
• Eat a healthy meal
• Do something active
• Apply for jobs
• Spend time on a hobby
• Hang out with friends (or make new ones)

Trust me, you’ll feel a lot better if you don’t spend your days binging on Cheerios and Arrested Development (though that can be fun every once in a while).

Make Finding a Job Your Full-Time Job

You may have heard this advice, but it bears repeating: When you don’t have a job, finding a job is your full-time job. And you should treat it accordingly.

I don’t think this means you need to spend forty hours per week on your job hunt. But you should schedule time each “business day” to find and apply for jobs. You can also use this time to update your resume, arrange informational interviews, and perfect your LinkedIn profile.

In general, it’s better to submit one high-quality job application per day than several half-hearted ones. The goal is to do something each day that gets you closer to the job you want (or, at least, to something you can do in the meantime).

I realize that moving back in with your family after you graduate isn’t your dream. But in a lot of cases, it can be a smart strategic move.

Assuming your folks will have you, spending a couple of months or even years living at home can help you:

• Save up for a security deposit or moving expenses
• Pay off student debt
• Search for jobs

Of course, you need to set some ground rules to make this work. Establish things such as quiet hours, policies on guests, and whether you’ll pay rent. Otherwise, things could get tense and awkward.

And most importantly, set a clear timeline for how long you’ll live there. This way, your parents won’t bug you about when you plan to move out.

Move to a New City

While the increasing prevalence of remote work is changing things in some industries, large cities still tend to have more economic opportunities than small towns. So if the job prospects in your home or college town aren’t great, consider moving somewhere with more options.

To make this work, you need to plan accordingly. Make sure that your new job’s start date gives you enough time to move. Search for apartments before you arrive. And of course, ask your employer if they’ll help with relocation expenses (which can easily run into the thousands of dollars).

For more detailed advice, check out our comprehensive guide to moving to a new city.

Explore Your Options

If you’re not sure what career you want to pursue, there are a few things you can do to get clarity.

First, consider doing an internship. A paid one is ideal, but even an unpaid one could be worth it if you can get some work experience and professional contacts out of it. This article will help you get started.

As another option, set up informational interviews with professionals in fields that interest you.

Unlike a traditional interview, the goal isn’t for you to get a job. Instead, it’s a chance for you to ask someone more experienced how they got into their chosen field.

LinkedIn is a great place to find people to meet with. Just be respectful of their time, and don’t expect them to offer you a job.

Finally, you can spend time researching careers online. While it’s no substitute for on-the-job experience, it can help you figure out what interests you. This, in turn, can inform the internships you apply for or the informational interviews you arrange.

Spend Time Volunteering

If you aren’t sure what job you want to do but know you want to make a positive impact, look into a volunteer program. The most common examples (at least in the U.S.) are AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps.

The details of these programs vary greatly depending on where they send you and what they assign you to do. But in general, they’ll cover your basic living expenses and possibly pay you a small stipend. You may also be able to get your student loan payments deferred during this time, though this isn’t a guarantee.

Aside from giving you a sense of purpose, volunteer programs can help you figure out what you want to do next. You’ll get to connect with lots of different people, potentially exposing you to career paths you didn’t even know existed. You might even decide that non-profit work is your calling.

If nothing else, you’ll have an unconventional experience you can put on your resume and discuss in future job interviews.

My final suggestion for what to do after college is to move to a different country.

Assuming you have a U.S. passport, there are dozens of countries where you can spend months without getting a visa. And if you can get accepted into a government-sponsored program, you may be able to stay for longer.

It’s cliché, but living in another country will give you so much perspective. Perspective on your country, but also perspective on yourself. For instance, my time in Medellín, Colombia, was invaluable not only for learning a new language but also for deciding that freelance writing was what I wanted to do.

There are so many ways to live abroad that it’s impossible to mention them all here. But these are some solid options to consider:

• Teach English. Many countries have special work visas for native English speakers willing to live and teach abroad.
• Get a remote job. If you can get a job you can do from anywhere, it vastly expands the possible places you can move to.
• Go to graduate school. It’s far from the easiest option, but a student visa can allow you to live in another country for an extended period.
• Volunteer. Programs such as the Peace Corps will give you the chance to live in another country for a couple of years. Just keep in mind that they could send you anywhere.

Note: Before traveling abroad, check the U.S. Department of State’s website for the most current info on your destination, including travel restrictions and visa requirements.

Proceed with Confidence and Enthusiasm

As you can now see, there are all kinds of things you can do after college. Even if you don’t know what you want to do, the ideas on this list will help you find the right path.

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Don’t Know What to Do After College? A Practical Guide to Help You Decide

8 options for students without post graduation plans

The following is a guest article. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect policies or positions of Shemmassian Academic Consulting.

Introduction

When you graduate college, everyone tells you things like, “Life is nothing but possibility,” and, “The world is wide open.”

These phrases are supposed to be encouraging, but they ignore the fact that graduating college can be a time of uncertainty, fear, and confusion.

You’ve spent four years with your head down, working hard, focused on getting your degree. But now that you’ve walked across the stage and have your diploma in hand, things can feel quite anticlimactic. “I graduated college, now what?” you’re probably wondering.

I was in a similar position not too long ago, and today I want to share eight pieces of advice that helped me along my post-college journey. There’s no need to do all of the things on this list, but I hope that at least a couple of them will help you move away from fear and toward the excitement that everyone promised would come after graduating college.

1. Move to a New Place

It’s likely that college was your first time living away from home. This meant a new level of independence and many valuable lessons about how to get along with other people.

Still, college is very much a bubble. The world beyond is much broader (even if you went to college in a large city). But if you stay in your college town or home town, it can be difficult to see this.

That’s why my first piece of advice is to move to a new place. This could be for a new job (more on that in a later section), or it could mean taking some time to backpack and see a lot of different places. It could even go along with an internship or volunteer opportunity.

Regardless, there’s great value in moving to a new place. Whether it’s one state over or across several continents, getting out of your familiar surroundings will expose you to new ideas, people, and ways of living. Even if you end up moving back to somewhere familiar, taking a few months away can provide valuable experiences to discuss in a job interview or a personal statement.

2. Don’t Be Afraid to Live at Home

I know I just told you to move to a new place, but I also want to address something that’s a great source of anxiety (and even shame) for many new college grads: moving back in with your parents.

While it’s more common than you might think (31.4% of U.S. young adults 18 – 34 live with their parents, according to a 2014 report from Pew), there’s still a stigma around living with your parents. It can feel like you’ve “failed,” that you’re not truly independent.

While I don’t advocate living with your parents forever, there’s nothing wrong with moving back home for a few months (or even a couple of years) while you hunt for a job and otherwise figure out what you want to do next.

Assuming your parents are comfortable with it, living at home offers two valuable opportunities.

First, it’s a chance to build up your savings. Unless you were exceptionally scrupulous with your finances, it’s likely you left college with minimal savings (not to mention student loan debt).

When you live with your parents, you don’t have to worry about the same expenses you would if you lived on your own. This is an opportunity to start saving up money to use for a deposit on an apartment, living expenses during graduate school, or just money for emergencies.

Second, moving back home offers an opportunity to get to know your parents as equal adults. This is an entirely different dynamic than when you were a kid, and you might even find that your parents are pretty darn cool (especially when they pick up the tab for dinner).

Ultimately, living on your own should be your goal. But while you’re laying the groundwork for that, moving back home can be a smart financial and personal move.

3. Spend Time Networking

While the saying, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know” isn’t perfect advice, there’s some truth to it. When you’re competing against the same graduates with perfect GPAs and prestigious schools on their resumes, the best way to cut through the crowd is just knowing the right person.

And to know the right person, you need to get out there and start meeting people. The best way for you to do this depends on your personality. If you enjoy going to formal networking events, then I absolutely recommend it. You get to meet a lot of people at once, and you never know who might be there.

If big events aren’t your thing, though, you can still network successfully. More introverted people tend to do better one-on-one, so you need to seek out opportunities to connect with other professionals in a more intimate setting.

My favorite method is this: Seek out people who are doing things that interest you and offer to buy them lunch. You can send an email (or LinkedIn message) stating that you’re a recent graduate interested in learning more about [BLANK FIELD].

Never underestimate the power of the phrase “I’m a recent college graduate.” People like to help out those who are younger, as it can, by extension, make them feel young again. And offering to buy the meal shows that you’re serious (not to mention courteous).

4. Get an Apprenticeship

A lot of people will tell you that getting an internship is the best way to break into a particular field or industry. While internships can be very valuable, there’s another, potentially more powerful method that people often overlook: apprenticeships.

You probably associate apprenticeships with vocational education, but apprenticeships are certainly possible in “professional” fields as well. They offer a variety of advantages that internships do not:

• The ability to learn directly from an experienced professional.
• Avoidance of much of the drudgery and busywork that come with traditional internships.
• A chance to accelerate your learning with real-world experience.

There are a couple of ways to go about getting an apprenticeship. The first method is to simply ask a professional in a relevant field. You can offer to work for free or very little, helping them to do whatever tasks they’d rather not.

While this method can work, it can also be intimidating to make such an ask. For this reason, I recommend looking into a resource such as Get Apprenticeship. Get Apprenticeship works to match motivated individuals with companies look to fill entry-level roles. They focus on jobs at startups, meaning you get to work in a fast-paced environment with opportunities for quick advancement.

If you’re interested in going directly into a field that doesn’t require a more advanced degree, apprenticeships are one of the best ways to get started.

5. Pursue a Volunteer Opportunity

Spending a year or two doing volunteer work through an organization such as Teach for America, AmeriCorps, or WWOOF has become an increasingly popular way for recent graduates to gain life experience while figuring out what they want to do next.

And for many students, this can be a great option. After all, you may not graduate college with much work experience or many connections, but you do have several crucial qualities: you’re young, energetic, and (likely) unattached.

This makes post-college the perfect time to spend a year working on a farm or in an underserved urban community. You’ll be able to absorb new ideas while also developing a strong work ethic and making new connections across the country or even the globe.

6. Consider Graduate School (But Only For the Right Reasons)

Whether it’s law school, medical school, or even a master’s degree, going to graduate school can be a great way to gain new professional opportunities while boosting your earning potential. But you should only go to graduate school if you have sound reasons.

It’s tempting to pursue a more advanced degree while you figure out what you want to do with your life. However, using graduate school to postpone career decisions is a poor use of your time and money.

From a time perspective, the opportunity cost of graduate school is significant. The 2-8 years you spend getting that degree is time you could also spend making professional connections, earning/saving money, and learning on the job.

Not to mention, graduate school can be quite expensive. The average student loan debt for recent M.B.A. graduates, for instance, is $66,300 (according to data from Credible). For law school and medical school grads, the average debt is even higher, at $145,500 and $246,000, respectively.

If further education will help you earn more and pursue the career of your dreams, then the time and money can be worth it. But think carefully before you commit, and don’t be afraid to take a gap year (or even several years) to work and gain more experience while you decide if grad school is right for you.

7. Try Working for Yourself

So far, I’ve focused mostly on advice that applies if you want to work a traditional office job. While there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s worth it to look at other employment options. One such option is self-employment.

The popular image of working for yourself involves getting investors and growing a startup. While that can be an exciting, fulfilling path for the right people, working for yourself can also mean freelancing or starting a small online business that you can run remotely.

While your parents may balk at the idea of you stepping away from the safety net of a big, stable company, working for yourself also offers a level of freedom and mobility that can be difficult to find at a corporate job. At the very least, it’s a way to make some money while you hunt for other jobs.

8. Just Get a Job (It Doesn’t Have to Be Forever)

For my final piece of advice, I want you to consider just getting a job. This could be an entry-level job that feeds into your larger career goals, but it could also be a part-time job in the service industry or retail. While this isn’t as “sexy” as some of the other options on this list, it can still be a useful move.

To start, getting a job means you’ll be earning money. If you’re still living at home, this offers a chance to save up the funds you need to get out of your parents’ house ASAP. You could also use this money to fund a trip or other valuable learning experience (see point #1).

Additionally, there can be value in having a job that’s less than ideal. It teaches you how to remain calm in the face of unpleasant circumstances, as well as how to deal with people (a valuable skill in both work and life).

At the very least, having a job you don’t love can motivate you to do the work to find a better job, whether that’s through networking, further education, or any of the other avenues I’ve discussed.

And remember: your first job does not define what you do for the rest of your life. You have plenty of time to find your dream job, and it’s unreasonable to expect that it will be the first job you get out of college.

It’s Okay to Be Uncertain

No matter what I tell you, you’re probably still anxious and uncertain about what life after college holds. But I hope this article has shown you some options that will help you be a little less uncertain and a little more excited.

No matter what, just remember that you won’t get through uncertainty by sitting at home and worrying about the future. Instead, you must take your future into your own hands. You must take action. So pick something from the list above and start making things happen!

About Our Guest Contributor

Ransom Patterson is the editor-in-chief at College Info Geek, a site that helps students study more effectively, become more productive, and get great jobs after graduation. You can learn more about how College Info Geek helps students here .