If you’re like me and recently graduated college (yay class of 2021!) or you graduated high-school but don’t feel like going to a traditional college, I completely understand how you’re feeling right now. We’ll get through this together. It’s super exciting to have a summer full of nothing but fun ahead of you, but it can feel like you’re constantly being followed by a little grey cloud of adulthood.

That’s the word we’re all anxious to speak out loud right, adulthood? It’s like Voldemort but instead of giving extra power to an incredibly powerful evil being, every time I say adulthood or get asked “What are you doing after college?” my Linked in app opens and won’t let me close it until I’ve applied to three more jobs, lol.

It can be a lot to start you’re journey into a career and a new chapter so I’m here to help you get past the first hurdle with me: Where to begin.

The hardest part of the whole process is getting started. What did you get your degree in or what industry have you always wanted to be a part of? If you have your answer to this (and you should, we all have goals and aspirations and by this point I think it’s safe to say that you should have a general idea of the area you want to work in) you have to ask yourself why you chose this area. If you’re doing it for money alone or because it’s a safe option, you might want to take a step back and try another career. If you chose this area because you genuinely enjoy it and can see yourself working in the industry for a long time, you’re in the right head space. Let’s get started:

First Step, find your niche. If you’re degree is in business or the arts or anything in-between, there are a lot of different areas you can discover and work in. Do some research and find out what exact area you feel would work best with your personality and skill set. Take the salary out of it and Google all of the possible job roles available to you. If you’re a people person and like to be active with clients and be working in the middle of all of the action, don’t look at desk jobs. If you like to read and research and make spreadsheets of everything, don’t go looking for jobs with travel opportunities. I recommend making a list of your skills and what you want your day-to-day to look like and start from there.

Second Step, you’ve found your niche, you know what kind of job you want to work in and what role you want to play. Once you have that, think about where you want to live and your ideal working conditions. Are you a big city type of person and love the non-stop rush of people hustling or are you more laid back and prefer small cities and less traffic? What kind of apartment can you afford and are you comfortable moving to a new place? Find your ideal location and set your job hunting radius to a comfortable commuting distance.

Third Step, Google the shit out of every company that has a role available in your desired areas. Find performance reviews, Employee stories, and client reviews. The office culture is so important and you need to find out what you’re getting into before you apply and get your hopes up. Find out if they expect over-time, if they have remote options available, their vacation policy, their maternity leave policy, and what the office culture is like. Know exactly how you learn and work, are you a verbal communication kind of person or do you need things written down? Do you work well with deadlines or maybe you’re looking for something more lax. The job may be perfect for you, but if the expectations in office behavior don’t match up with your personality type, it can be an awful experience.

Fourth Step, get your resume updated, make a portfolio if applicable, and apply to as many jobs as possible. Know your ideal start dates, your ideal (realistic) salary, have questions ready to ask the interviewer about the office culture, and be ready to compromise. If you are prepared, you’re already ahead of the rest.

I wish you all the best of luck in your job search and I hope you find the perfect positions for you. Next Step: What To Do When You Get The Interview.