What is a job opportunity after college? Is it a job posting on Monster.com or on your school career services site? I would consider these all job possibilities, not opportunities. There is a chance or a small possibility that you may get a job with the company you want in the position you love, but the odds are slim to none. You may have an excellent resume, a phenomenal cover letter, and the answer to every interview question in the book, but what you don’t have are serious job opportunities after college because of all of this. There are several reasons why the odds are completely against you when you are applying for a position blindfolded, which is when you don’t know anyone in the company and/or have never worked or interned with the company.

The reasons are obvious, but people try to put them to the side while looking for job opportunities after college. Let me divulge.

Your buddies (your competition) dad works for the company- Come time for the first round of interviews, this guy will get one, which is one less spot for you. Your chances have declined.

Another one of your classmates just met a high level executive for this organization at a networking event last week- One more spot gone, wow this is getting ugly, but how many people could actually have connections like this? Way more than you think

The slacker in your Finance class has a fraternity brother who interned with this company last summer, due to his brothers internship the year before that. He knows exactly what the recruiters are looking for in a candidate.- That is not fair! Um…yes it is. This person is playing the game and you are sitting on the bench waiting for people to hand you a job opportunities after college on a silver platter, via a web site that everyone in the college uses.

Unfortunately, this is the reality of the situation. Most of my buddies who had a full-time job offer after college either interned with that company the year before or knew someone who knew somebody in the company. These people had legitimate job opportunities. Okay, so it is now the time in your life to create these opportunities out of thin air. Here are some helpful hints on how to create meaningful job opportunities after college and the recurring theme will be networking.

Talk to as many people as you can about your dreams or goals- Talk to your parents friends, your friends parents, your teachers, the guy your playing golf with on Saturday, chances are these people will know somebody who could help you out. Be careful though; do not come across like you are using them. Just let them know what you want accomplish and if they think they can help you out, they will bring it up.

Use your schools alumni network- Alumni love to help out people from their school, so contact the alumni association and ask them if they know of anyone in the field that you are shooting for. Contact them and ask them if you could pick their brain and ask them some questions about their career path. Do not ask for a job.

Everyone you meet is a potential job opportunity in disguise; if you can distinguish the opportunities from the possibilities you will be able to increase the chances of working in a field you are truly passionate about. Get into the game and start creating your job opportunities after college today.

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College grads are swimming in a sea of rejection letters. According to a recent survey by the Association of Colleges and Employers, a mere 20% of 2009 college graduates who applied for a job actually got one. So what are the options for the other 80%? Well, many are setting up shop back home for the time being, and as depressing as that may sound, it could actually be the best thing that ever happened to them.

That is because although opportunities after college seem very few and far between in this bleak job market, being young and unemployed actually opens up a staggering amount of opportunities, that is of course, if you’re willing to operate a little  outside of the box.

Entry Level Woes

Sure, there is always the opportunity after college of taking a menial entry level job (assuming you can even find one), stare at a wall for 50% of the day, pretend to work for another 25% while bitterly stalking the lives of much happier people on Facebook, then finish your simple work in the last hour or two on the job.

Or you could finally do something you’ve always wanted to do but never had the time, master that said something, and get creative enough to make money while doing it. Even if its something you can’t possibly make money doing, look at it like a personal investment, a means to polish your personal brand and set yourself up for future opportunities. It’s your choice, now more than ever your future is truly in your hands.  Most people have nothing  to lose but boredom, a stressful search for a low paying job, and extra TV time, so why not go for it?  Making money doing something you love is the ultimate dream and the first step to achieve that dream is obviously finding something you love.

If you’re not sure where to start looking for opportunities after college, here are a few broad starting points to get the good old creative juices flowing:

Creating Opportunities After College:

• Learn how to program, you may be surprised at how much you enjoy it. Not to mention the fact that if you can program well, the word “unemployed” will be quickly wiped from your vocabulary: here is a great free resource to learn everything from the basics and beyond.
• Travel: Eat a lot of Ramen, only buy cheap booze, and tough it out in that menial job we spoke of earlier and it wont take long to save up enough for a trip to somewhere you’ve always wanted to go. If college loans are weighing you down a little too much and this is just unrealistic, look into one of the many programs that assists people looking to work or volunteer abroad. There are a whole slew of ways to get paid to travel such as becoming a group travel organizer, a travel writer, teaching abroad, or working on a cruise as a waiter or bartender.
• Draft a Business Plan (or two): Your young, you have less responsibilities (and bills), and you’ve got the time and energy to make it happen. Once you have a decent business plan together, you will know what resources you need to rally to turn those words on white paper into a reality. Best case scenario: you succeed and become a millionaire ON YOUR OWN TERMS. Worst case scenario: the business fails miserably, you learn a whole lot, and you just put your personal brand on steroids, employers will be impressed.
• Create a personal website, blog, or online community: Wordpress is the golden standard for starting a blog and a personal website is a great way to both create opportunities after college and do some soul searching to uncover your unique and valuable personal brand.
• You’ve got boats of time now, why not volunteer? To get started, check out something like Volunteer.gov which has a search-able database of volunteer opportunities.
• Work on a specific non-profit project of your own design that you can be passionate about for 15-20 hours a week.
• Learn a new language: Rosetta stone baby!

Opportunities after college are truly endless and although it is easy to feel like the safety net just disintegrated beneath you, there is really no better time to shoot for the stars. Opportunity is a knockin’, the worlds in your hands, the only question now is: just how are you going to shape it?

Evan Watson

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