Career Tips from Jessup’s Career and Life Planning
Career Tip #1:
In a recent article published by Merrill Edge, the author outlines some of life’s most important ways to ‘adult’ when it comes to your first professional position. Many recent graduates say that they wish they had learned the basics of financial stewardship and debt management while still in school, as they were surprised by all the ways money could make or break their early success in life. Some quick tips in the article include:
• Get out from under debt
• Budget against your take-home pay
• Start building a cash reserve
• Understand health insurance, disability, and life insurance
• See if your employer sponsors a retirement savings plan
Consider an individual retirement account
Jessup partners with CashCourse to assist students and alumni with understanding how to make informed financial choices and start taking charge of their money. This is a free resource and we strongly encourage early adoption of financial fitness habits for lifelong success and biblical stewardship!
Career Tip #2:
Regularly update your resume and LinkedIn profile
Have you recently taken a new class, joined a professional association, earned a certificate, learned a new tech platform or other industry-specific skill? Make sure you UPDATE your resume and LinkedIn profile each time you do!
You might not be searching for new opportunities now, but you will be glad you updated these tools along the way if you want to be in a ‘ready’ position for what might come along!
Career Tip #3:
Making College Count: What Matters Most to Employers
Year over year, studies say the things that matter MOST to hiring employers when they consider candidates recently out of college have nothing to do with what the student did in the classroom. So what are the most important things a student can be doing while in college to ensure they are considered for entry-level professional positions?
• Internships
• Employment during college
• College major
• Volunteer experience
• Extracurricular activities
• Relevance of coursework
• College GPA
• College reputation
Four out of the top five things that hiring employers find valuable have little to do with what takes place academically. They value the experiences that are learned outside of the classroom, because these are where they know students will learn soft skills/professional competencies, such as Critical Thinking, Oral/Written Communication, Collaboration/Teamwork, Leadership, Digital Technology, Professionalism/Work Ethic, Career Management and Global/Intercultural Fluency (as defined by NACE).
Jessup takes these findings seriously and requires academic internships in most majors. We also have added Career Exploration, Professional Competencies, and Career Readiness to our course offerings to offer students practical ways to engage their interests and major in a career area that is unique to each student. Those students who participate in Career & Life Planning activities and courses throughout their time at Jessup have experienced great success in launching well right out of college.
