3 Issues Students Face When They Wait to Graduate to Prepare for the Job Search

Anytime you go through a transition in life emotions and challenges come with them. Major life transitions include parent's divorcing, moving out of your parent's house, moving long-distances, family deaths, and graduating from college, and entering the wonderful world of taking care of yourself an adult. In any of these cases staying finding ways to stay positive makes a huge difference in your stress levels at that time. In the case of graduating with your degree and then turning to the job search momentum is a key factor in staying positive. That said, the best thing you can as a student is to start gaining momentum before you graduate. Most students face one or more of these three issues after graduation from an environmental or sustainability program,

1 - they do not know what types of jobs are available to them and therefore waste a lot of time trying to blunder through the masses of information while needing a job

2 - they feel under-qualified for even the entry-level positions they are applying to

3 - they are so pressured to get a job that they are forced to take the first that they can get which is often not in an environmental career sometimes never to return to the environmental career path.

All of these can lead to Post-Graduation-Stress-Disorder (PGSD), which is an anxiety disorder that causes undue stress and a sense of urgency. It is still not clear to me why students so commonly wait until the final hour to start looking. I personally, tried to take advantage of career services but didn't find them to be all that helpful. Other reasons may be that you believe the job search will be easier than it is, you underestimate the time it takes to find and apply for the right jobs, or no one has ever spoken to them about the importance of getting a head start.

That is where I come in. I am here to tell you today, this minute, that unless you have plans to move back home, backpack Europe, or are satisfied with the notion of taking any job you can get your hands on after you graduate (trust me, it will be agonizing for you to have to take a job at a bank while trying to find volunteer opportunities to keep your degree skills fresh), you should start planning ahead now. 

For more information about actions, you can take now to avoid PGSD read more in this blog post on 5 Simple Steps You Can Take Now.

Stay gold!
-Laura