Preparing for life after GC

The transition after college can be both exciting and challenging. If your next stop is the working world, the key to a positive transition is recognizing the differences between school and work and being prepared to accept the changes. Even if your next stop is not full-time employment, you’ll still find that many “life skills” are not taught in the academic classroom.

Career Services has developed the Career Countdown Series to assist you in a smooth transition. Through a series of events, you will write a resume and cover letter, practice interviewing, learn about personal finances, and more!

Websites for the transition after college

Relocating, renting, purchasing first home

• Sperling’s Best Places – Moving out of Goshen, but not sure where you’re going? Learn about the cost of living, housing, climate, and crime rate in hundreds of US cities.
• Apartments.com or ApartmentList.com – Search for apartment rentals nationwide.
• Move.com – Search millions of real estate listings (for rent and for sale) from all over the United States
• Moving Back Home After College: Tips to Make The Best of It
• How-to Guide: How to Buy Your First Home – Are you considering purchasing a home? Not sure where to start? Browse this guide from Move.com. Articles include
  – Costs Associated with a Home Loan
  – Buying vs. Renting?

Personal finance

• CashCourse – Great resource from the National Endowment for Financial Education. Learn how to create a budget, manage student loans, finance grad school, and much more.
• Money 101 – Very thorough guide from CNN Money on everything related to personal finance, including creating a budget, managing debt, investing, and insurance.
• Budgeting, Insurance & Investing– Tip sheet from Auburn University Career Center

Job offers and negotiating salaries

• Salary Guides and Guidance – The Riley Guide links to several online salary calculators and offers advice for evaluating the information from those calculators. Also, suggestions for handling salary history requests from potential employers.
• Job Offer Negotiation – Several articles from CollegeGrad.com. Learn how to handle offers, negotiate salary, and understand your benefits package.

Transition to the professional working world

• New Job Proverbs – Collection of “proverbs” from CollegeGrad.com to assist you in entering the world of work.
• On the Job – Several articles from JobWeb.com on topics ranging from communication to cube-tiquette.

Cooking

• The Food Network – New cooks will find the “Cooking” and “Quick & Easy” tabs to be most helpful.
• Allrecipes.com – Over 40,000 recipes! Read reviews and suggestions from other cooks.
• Cooking Light – Thousands of recipes with an emphasis on healthy meals and snacks.