Thursday, March 29, 2012

I Just Graduated from College: How Do I Prepare for a Career Ahead?


Graduating from college is both an exciting and anxiety-filled time for students. It’s actually a relief for some to wear their robe for graduation and graduation hood because they won’t have to deal with homework, essays, college professors and research papers anymore. Getting that all-important college diploma is definitely an accomplishment by itself.

However, being out of the university also means that you become a full-fledged adult. Along with this phase in your life come the responsibilities of living your own life outside of school and your parent’s wings. You can consider it both as a challenge and a blessing. As long as you know how to prepare for a career that you will build ahead of you, then you should be able to accomplish your goals after your college graduation.

Career Preparation Tips for Fresh College Graduates

To get you started on the right track, here are a few things that you need to keep in mind when preparing for a career after graduating from college:
·         Be prepared to get accepted for entry-level jobs.
While you are sending out your resumes, keep in mind that even if you graduated summa cum laude, you still would have to start at the bottom of the corporate ladder. No matter how stellar your academic achievements are, you are still inexperienced in the real world. Before you can even think about getting promoted or being voted as CEO of a company, you naturally need to get accepted for a job position first – and entry level is always the way to go.

·         Increase your network of professional contacts.
No matter what industry it is that you are in, it always pays to increase your network of professional contacts. These are the individuals who you’ll never know might be able to help give your career a boost in the future.

·         Grab the opportunity to expand your experience.
You really cannot apply for a job position which requires experience until you actually obtain that experience. Attend as many trainings, skills improvement sessions and everything else that will help give your resume a boost. The more valuable your skills are, the more you can contribute towards the improvement of a company.

·         Make plans, but be flexible with them.
You might have a ten-year career plan which you have always wanted to follow. It is perfectly fine to have such plans for the future but when something better comes along, make sure that you can go with the flow and adapt to the situation.

·         Don’t easily get frustrated.
One of the biggest challenges that you will face as a fresh college graduate is competing with other new graduates. The competition in the job market is quite stiff, so prepare for rejections and plenty of disappointments. Remember that it is experiences like these which will make you grow stronger as a person, and prepare you for your trip up the corporate ladder once you start building a professional career for yourself after your college graduation.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Giving Value to the most Memorable Educational Event


Have you ever wondered what makes a graduation ceremony so aesthetically appealing other than the synchronized action and the orderly events that take place? It is the uniformity of the graduates’ dresses. The academic regalia is one of the most important aspects to take care of when thinking about attending a graduation.

The gowns worn on these occasions are very specific. They are tailored to perfection, according to specific needs and designs. They symbolize mostly, a celebration on the successful completion and end of a certain level of education. The materials that are used to make these forms of apparels vary just as the designs vary. There are specific and strict rules regarding the hood, gown, length, lining and trimming exercised by the American Council of Education but when it comes to the materials of the dresses, the rules are very lenient.

Other than meeting the specifics of designs that are required by the specific schools, the other thing that must be probed on must be the material of the clothes that makes the apparel. Especially when it comes to kindergarten graduation gown, children can be very choosy and picky. They would not like being stuck in something that is not comfortable to wear.

The only rule that needs to be followed when it comes to the material of the gown is uniformity and the fact that the hood, regalia and cap must all be made of the same material. It is no rocket science when it comes to figuring out that places with hot and humid weather usually go for a very light material because it does have to be worn over clothes, and heavy material would be extremely uncomfortable or even unbearable. The places situated in cooler areas have a wider range of choices to choose a suitable material from.

Among the fabrics that are chosen for the regalia are rayon, silk, cotton poplin, broad cloth and silk. Cotton is one of the most widely used choices for such an outfit. The attributes that make it so suitable are its softness, dept and its non wrinkle nature. Ironing it is no big hassle and can easily be done by the student or the student’s parents, so no need for an expensive dry cleaning job. Silk is mostly preferred over cotton. This is so because silk is not rare, it is quite easy to spot it and bargain for a right price. Moreover, it is of a better quality than cotton and an outfit made of silk would look far more regal and sophisticated than that made of mere cotton.

Broadcloth was initially just made from wool; it had a dense woolen texture. Modern broadcloth though is a different story. It constitutes of cotton, silk or polyester. It can not be described as extremely comfortable to wear but it is not unbearable to don either.

Rayon has a very interesting story. It is manufactured from a plants internal part; cellulose. It has the ode of being the first manufactured fiber created by man. It was created as an alternate to silk. So, these were a few materials that you can select in order to design your academic gown.