4. Seek professional development.
There are a number of professional associations that allow students to join. The organizations can be a good breeding ground to network and get a few things about the profession. You can also venture into a self-development path by taking an extra course or class. Some students have learned coding or design on the side, opening unexpected doors after campus. The research shows only 29 percent have received career and job help from career services at their university while just 22 percent belong to professional development or industry-related groups.
5. College students are active in social media, but not in a career-oriented way.
Almost all (95%) have Facebook accounts, and nearly half have Twitter and/or Google+ accounts. But only 34 percent have LinkedIn profiles. Other social media sites used include: Pinterest (30%), Instagram (28%), MySpace (26%) Tumblr (17%), Foursquare (14%), and WordPress (11%). The low presence on WordPress indicates that few of these students have created their own blogs.
“College students are missing out on a very valuable resource by not leveraging LinkedIn. Internship opportunities, and the ability to network alumni or gain incredible insight into a company, are all there, waiting for students to take advantage.”
– Dean Tsouvalas, Editor-in-Chief, StudentAdvisor.com