You’ve Graduated. What Now?
So, you’ve just graduated.
First of all — congratulations! Second of all — high-five, mate!
But what now, though?
The study-times of our lives are incredibly difficult, don’t get me wrong, but they’re also quite simple in terms of the near future. Your near future is always pre-determined; you always have school/uni to go back to, you always have very defined deadlines to meet, you always have some sort of a plan, basically.
Once you’ve graduated and are out of the education system, it might be quite jarring — a proper job that goes in-line with your education might be difficult to find at first, but otherwise, you might not have planned it out that well.
Well. Let’s see what there is to do.
Boujee and/or lucky: Travel
Travelling is always solid advice when you have free time. It helps you learn more, discover yourself, try new things, have fun, you name it.
If you’re naturally lucky and ready to couch-surf and hitchhike, then it’s possible even if you don’t have that much money. That, however, also means that it will take you a lot of time to get to some distant Eastern countries of your dreams.
If you have the money to travel easily, then I have no idea why you wouldn’t do it.
Budget: Hobbies
I have a whole separate article that talks about how you could do that, so I’m not going to go off with tips here, but a hobby is always a good thing to have.
You might either try to discover something new, or re-ignite an old passion; regardless, it will help you in numerous ways, from, simply, occupying your time post-having graduated, to granting you new connections, job opportunities and many other things.
Practical: Internships & similar
Finding a job in your field immediately after having graduated might be nigh-impossible unless you’re exceptional and/or lucky. But internships will help in the future.
They give you experience and recommendations, which will help you find more serious jobs.
Side-jobs, freelancing and similar things also count here. Anything that gives you additional experience is wonderful; if it gives you money on top of that then it’s even better.
Reasonable, but time-consuming: Study more
This doesn’t have to be a postgraduate degree, unless you want to study something serious like that.
You could take language classes (practical and important in today’s world in almost any job, so that’s my top recommendation), you could take cooking classes (practical and fun), you could start boxing and/or yoga classes (healthy and tension-relieving), you could, obviously, try applying for a Master’s.
It’s all up to you and the level of dedication you’re ready to commit to, as well as your plans.
Idealistic but potentially big: Start your own project
You have graduated, so why not work on something for yourself? Have you wanted to start a fashion blog, but had no time to? Do you maybe want your own fashion magazine, like I did? Do you have a revolutionary idea on how to improve local business? Or, perhaps, you’re just incredibly good at sewing, so you could sew costumes on commission?
Regardless, this is the time — the time after and before any big, time-consuming dedication. And who knows — maybe you’ll even be able to turn it into your job, eventually. Some of these ventures, like doing things on commission, could gain you a little cash — and there’s rarely anything bad about that.
Not necessarily practical yet feel-good-ish: Connections
Start going out and meeting people more. Go visit your family for a more prolonged time.
It’s hard to do when you’re studying: there’s always something to do, there’s always a deadline, there’s always obligation. Meeting new people, or reconnecting with the people you already know can be beneficial as hell.
Anything from finding love, to resolving inner family issues, to finding more job opportunities in the future. Connections are good.
