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As a recent college graduate, I can reflect on my last year in college and think of various ways that it could’ve been better. During that time, I was tired of being in college and honestly didn’t want to be bothered with anything happening on campus. It all felt like I had “been there, done that”, even though it was not necessarily true. I spent a lot of time in my previous years being active in clubs and making a lot of connections with people, but my attitude in senior year didn’t favor me, and i’m hoping this guide filled with college senior tips will make you succeed better in your last year.
1. Get active in clubs & organizations
It’s not too late to join organizations on campus! There’s a misconception that the only times to join clubs are freshman and sophomore years, but that’s not true at all. Most clubs are open to accepting new members despite their classes, so sign up for a cultural club, environmental society, entrepreneurial group or any organization that aligns themselves with your interests. Most organizations and clubs determine the student leader for the school year the semester prior to their tenure, so you may not be able to lead in an official capacity. However, you can still be very active and participate on smaller committees such as fundraising or community service committees. A good number of my invaluable friendships made in my time in college were with people who were in my organizations, so make sure you don’t miss out on that.
2. Attend Career Fairs
Career fairs can be intimidating to a lot of college students. Dozens of companies set up tables in a hall and you have mere seconds to show the recruiter your resume, speak about your abilities and get them interested in hiring you. Don’t limit yourself to just the career fair on your campus. There are various job fairs held in major cities, so depending on where your school is located, you might be able to attend those and increase your chances of making a good connection with a recruiter or finding out about a company you might not have heard about. Even if you’ve decided on your career path at the beginning of the school year, there’s no harm in learning about other companies and industries. You can never know if you find a new interest and develop a different career plan.
3. Secure an offer in the fall semester
The aim shouldn’t be to secure a job by graduation, it should be to secure one before the end of the fall semester. My major reason for saying this is because the last thing you want to be in your last semester of college is to be STRESSED. Your last semester should be all about enjoying your last moments as an undergrad and not chasing after job offers. There are different ways to get a job besides applying online (I’ll need to dedicate a whole post to this) but really you want to focus all your energy on getting the job in the fall while there are still many options out there. Some companies even have deadlines for full-time roles as early as October so really take note of that and start researching companies as early as August (assuming you’re a May grad).
4. Utilize LinkedIn connections
As a college student, you are probably not using LinkedIn to its fullest potential. I didn’t even join LinkedIn until the beginning of my senior year. All I knew was that it was a place to search for jobs. A little under a year of being on LinkedIn, I have come to understand that I was wrong because that is not all it can be used for. I now view it as a place for sharing insight, making impactful connections, finding job opportunities and showcasing your skills through your profile. Before graduating from college, it is important to utilize the benefit of being a college student reaching out for mentorship or guidance. If you reach out to a LinkedIn influencer or someone higher up in a company, they are more likely to respond if you’re a college student so make sure you use this wisely. You won’t get a response if you send a random message so you have to carefully curate the 300 character message invite. No matter your job search status, make sure to start growing your connections on LinkedIn and fully utilizing the website.
5. Get to know your professors
If you haven’t already figured this out in your previous years at school, it’s not too late to realize how useful office hours can be. Depending on the size of your school and major, you might find yourself in a huge class with no way for the professor to know you based on regular class communications. The solution to standing out from the rest of your class is to attend office hours. Besides standing out, you also get to learn more course content and can skip trying to find a tutor to help explain things to you.
Depending on your plans for after college, you might need letters of recommendations and professors can’t and won’t write you one if they don’t know you. If you haven’t already built relationships with some of your professors, it’s not too late as you still have a whole year left in school. Start going to office hours at the beginning of the school year so they know you’re actually a dedicated student and not someone who shows up at the end of the semester trying to get extra points or get the grades curved. Whether you need recommendation letters or not in the future, it is important to be close to some professors because you never know what you might need from them, even if it’s mentorship.
6. Leave the campus bubble
As you’re getting closer to graduation, you’re also getting older and wiser. You can’t keep focusing all your time and energy on only campus related events. If you’re lucky enough to turn 21 early in the year, you can look out for professional happy hours and networking events to increase your network and mingle with young professionals in the area. Facebook, GroupMe and Twitter are good resources for finding those type of events and most of them are free with RSVP. I can’t emphasize enough how important networking is! You never know what you’re going to need or what you’ll have to provide in the future, and having a large network of people is always going to be a plus in your life.
7. Hang out with your friends more
A lot of people move after graduation (some even move internationally). As a senior, you might have less time because you’re focused on trying to make the right grades to graduate, applying and interviewing for jobs and maybe working part-time jobs. Trying to juggle these can be tough, and your free time might not match those of your friends, but it’s still important to find time to make it work. No matter how hard it is to make your schedules work, it will be much much harder planning things after graduation especially if you are in different cities trying to figure out how and when to meet up.
8. Get GOOD GRADES
Nothing much to say on this but PASS YOUR CLASSES. You’ve come too far to not graduate because you failed a class your senior year. Even if you do all the things above, as long as you don’t pass your classes, you won’t graduate.
You can only have one last year of your first bachelors in college, so make sure you utilize that time to its full potential. Before the school year starts, reflect on all the time you’ve spent in college and continue doing the things that have made you enjoy your college experience and cut off all the things that have left you in regret. College should be fun and exciting. Make sure you graduate with no regrets.
