Moving from school to the real world is a huge transition. For the first time in your life, your success won’t be determined by grades, and time won’t be measured by semesters. Your slate is clean. YOU decide what you want your future to hold. YOU decide what the road should look like. YOU decide the outcome.
While you are no longer a college student, you’re not quite part of the working population either. What may help is to start thinking of yourself as two separate people. One is the personal side, and may not change much from what you are now. The other is your professional side, the one you exhibit in a professional environment. There are certain ways you may conduct yourself in personal life, or while you were a student, that would not fit into your professional life…. and vica versa. Along the way, those two sides of you may blend but for now, you can start creating the ‘professional you’ and how you will ‘market’ that person.
TIP: The ‘professional you’ will drive the creation of all the tools you’ll need to succeed. Think of them as your professional toolkit: resume, LinkedIn profile, business cards, professional introduction, interview skills, etc.
Susan Caplan is the go-to MARKETING YOURSELF expert. She is an inspiring keynote speaker, consultant, teacher and author of the Marketing Yourself to the Real World™ book series.
Hire: keynote speaker, resume writing, career coach
Purchase Books: Marketing Yourself to the Real World™
Contact: info@SusanCaplan.com
