“This is controversial, but here goes: if you’re remarkable, amazing, or just plain spectacular, you probably shouldn’t have a resume at all.” — Seth Godin.

Today I’m going to share a story that’s perfect for anyone stuck in credit card debt or in a job that they hate…

I learned something totally revolutionary about Facebook the other day. What did I happen to learn? I learned that you can actually use Facebook for more than just hooking up or tagging your friends in embarrassing photos. You can actually use Facebook to land a killer job. Yes it’s true and I suggest that you continue reading if you want to learn more about this.

This is a story about my friend Bohdan and how he used Facebook to land a new job after quitting a job that he was sick of. He’s not one of those people that uses Facebook as a resume. I’m pretty sure he uses it for personal reasons. Yet he managed to land a new job out of this. He’s very similar to me. We both enjoy to have a good time. Below is a photo of us hanging out on vacation (Cuba to be specific).

How did this 20-something dude find a sweet gig after quitting his job a few months ago?

Be honest about your situation.

It’s totally normally to admit your real situation on Facebook once in a while. You don’t have to always brag on Facebook. It feels like we only post notes about ourselves when we have something to show off about it. You can admit when you’re unemployed or when you’re looking for a job. You can also talk about more than your Friday night. My friend was honest about the fact that he had quit a job he was sick of.

Don’t be desperate.

Just because you don’t have a job it doesn’t mean that you have to beg to for someone to hire you. That’s never going to work.

Let’s look at a more practical example…

Do you ever notice that when you go out looking to get laid it seems to be very difficult? That’s how it usually works. Those that are the most attached to the outcome are the least likely to reach it. If you show that you’re desperate for work on Facebook or during a job interview, you’re not going to appear very attractive to the employer looking to hire someone. You don’t want to date a desperate and single person as much as an employer doesn’t want to hire a desperate and unemployed person.

Show your real personality.

There’s no fun in trying to hide all of your photos and real personality. You don’t have to be all boring on Facebook. While you shouldn’t post pictures of yourself wasted beyond belief puking on the floor, it’s okay to have images of yourself having some fun. A potential employer wants to hire an energetic person. Not someone that’ll bring down the other employees.

List your credentials/accomplishments.

You can always share your accomplishments in your public profile. Your accomplishments will allow others to see what you’ve been up to and what you’ve done. This can include any of the following:

• Education.
• Work experience.
• Remarkable personal stuff.
• Challenges completed.
• Winning Plutus Award for Best Finance Blog for College Students (ME!).

There are so many credentials that you can list beyond your degree. You should list anything that you’re proud of that a potential employer would care about. The key here is that the employer should care about it. This excludes your achievements in the dating world.

At the end of the day if you follow the steps in this article there’s no guarantee that you’ll find a date for this weekend on Facebook. On the bright side, you might be able to land a sweet new gig. In this case my friend was contacted by an employer who happened to be an old friend that had been observing his profile for the past few weeks. It’s funny how things work out.

*****

Now before you jump down my back telling me that it’s delusional to be in a position where you quit your job and you’re not actively looking for a new job, I wanted to express that this is exactly what happened here.

How’s this possible? How’s it possible to be in a situation where you can find a new job on Facebook without actively looking?

Allow me a few minutes to guide you through the story of how Bohdan was able to get into this situation. After college he was fortunate enough to find a gig in his field. He was excited about the potential of working a job that he enjoyed while he moved up the ranks. The excitement soon died down when he realized that he didn’t care much for his job, his co-workers, or the daily commute to work. He felt like he could offer the world so much more, yet he was stuck working in a job that was crushing his soul.

Why was he stuck in this situation?

He wanted to pay off his credit card debt. You can’t pay off your debt when you’re unemployed. He was stuck working his job until he could finally become debt-free. With the added monthly expense of credit card debt you’re stuck trying to figure out how you’ll make your payments.

Debt is mostly emotional as we don’t logically plan to buy things that we don’t need. We don’t think about the consequences of those $200 shoes when we absolutely fall in love with them in the mall. Both guys and girls are guilty of falling in love with clothes (or anything) and doing whatever it takes to buy it. This is how I ended up with my Macbook Air. We don’t think about the harsh reality of paying off this purchase for a couple of years while making the minimum monthly payment.

The end result is that it’s easy to get stuck in a rough situation when you owe money. This happens to all of us at some point in life.

How did he get out of his situation?

What we need to realize is that debt can hold us back and really limit our options in life. Debt is what forces us to work a job that we don’t like because it raises our monthly expenses. Because of credit card debt we have to spend current income on items that we enjoyed a long time ago. So yes DEBT SUCKS.

Bohdan was able to get out of the job that he hated by paying off his credit card debt and saving up money to cover his expenses in the time that he was unemployed.

Well that’s the simplified version of the story.

One day he decided to get with me and another friend to help him figure out how he can kill his credit card debt. Half the battle with becoming debt free is realizing that you need to make some changes.

Then the work began.

He was able to get out of debt by sacrificing his summer by working two jobs until he paid of his credit card debt and saved up enough money to survive when he quit his current job and explored other options. He also had to create systems to prevent himself from spending any more money on stuff that he didn’t need. It wasn’t easy to say the least. He had to miss out on many parties and good times.

The good news is that he was able to quit his job by the end of summer and be in a position where an employer/old friend found him on Facebook.

*****

What are the key lessons from this story?

Before we part ways today I wanted to pause so that we can reflect on the key learnings in this story. How can you get to the point where you pay off your debt and are able to accidentally find work on Facebook?

You need to figure out what’s holding you back. Do you know what’s really holding you back from living your dream life in your 20s? Why are you stuck in a job that you hate? Is credit card debt holding you back? Are your monthly expenses simply too high?

You need to earn your freedom. Once you know what’s holding you back, you need to start working on earning your eventual freedom. The bad news is that this going to be the tough part. The good news is that nobody has ever drowned in sweat. Are you ready to earn your freedom?

Opportunities come up when you least expect them to. You never know when you can help someone or when someone can help you. That’s what I love about life. From helping you here on Studenomics I’ve been fortunate enough to appear on Fox Business News, a few local newspapers, and to be quoted at a graduation ceremony. This would’ve never happened if I didn’t start writing one November evening in 2008.

Facebook isn’t just for hooking up. Something productive can come out of Facebook. As unbelievable as that sounds, this story is proof that it’s possible.

Do you want to live life in your 20s or do you want to work in a soul-crushing job just to pay the bills? Do you want to make an impact in the world? Are you crazy enough to join us on this journey?

Stay tuned! I promise I won’t let you down.

As I love to do often, let’s finish off with a quote from Warren Buffett:

“It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.”

If you want to learn more about my good friend Bohdan you can follow him on Training Shark as we both crush common fitness myths and have fun writing about a topic that we really enjoy. Sorry ladies we haven’t posted any pictures yet.

Are you planning on finding a job after college? No it’s not a trick question. It’s a real question. Jobs after college are tough to come by. The answer is most likely going to be yes because everyone wants to (and needs to) make money after college.

Our perspective on finding work after college all really depends on our own circle of friends and those that we interact with. We never think about other perspectives. College students usually assume that they’ll be able to find work once they get their degree. Those that don’t find a job right away are usually just lazy, right?

While traveling through Europe I’ve met many college students from Europe that are spending a semester in a different country as part of some multi-country exchange program. The one thing that many of these students have had in common is their lack of faith in finding a job after college. Many students from Ireland, Portugal, and a few other countries are totally positive that they won’t find work right after college. Some even joke around about how they’re only a few semesters away from unemployment.

Do you plan on finding your dream gig right after college?

If you’re a college student, do you have a plan for life after college? Are you planning on finding a job right away? Do you think that you’re going to have to wait until you find any work at all?

I personally didn’t plan on finding any job right away. I actually had a different plan. I wanted to work a part-time gig so that I have an income coming in while I work on my online projects. I’ve given myself a set amount of time to give my online ventures a real shot. I figure that since I busted my ass to graduate debt free from college I owe it to myself to try to create my own job instead of going to a place of employment that I despise.

If you’re a college student feeling hopeless about your job prospects post-college I have an answer for you. My solution to the problem of finding a job after college is simple. The process involves two steps:

1. Start looking now.
2. Create your own job.

If you wait until you have that degree in your hand to start looking for ways to make money you’re going to fall behind. If you always rely on someone else for income this could also cause trouble.

Let’s dissect both of these points:

Start looking now.

You need to start making moves while in college. You clearly know what you need to start doing now. I’m not here to give you any magic solutions. You know that you need to start building connections in your field. You know that you might have to volunteer your time in a firm you want to work for one day. You know that you need to fix up your resume. You know that there’s a bunch of tasks that you can do right now to start looking for your first gig post-college.

The issue is that college students will suffer from information overload and do nothing in the end. I want you to stick to one thing. This one thing can be building connections or volunteering, and I want you to stick with it. Instead of trying to do everything at once, you should give just one strategy a shot and see how it works out. You owe it to yourself to give yourself a head start when you got that paper in hand.

Create your own job.

You can also create your own job. The beauty about college is that you can easily start a side business. I’ve written about this many times because I stand by this theory all the way. You won’t always find your dream jog and you might not even find a job right away. This is why you need to create a job. There are many ways you can go about this. I’ll share my favorite posts on this topic:

Why College Is The Best Time To Start A Business & How You Can Make Money in College Right Now.

Now I wanted to ask all college students again– are you planning on finding jobs after college?

The following article comes from Jessica…

College is all about partying, hooking up, and living the sweet life away from your parents. It can be a roller-coaster ride filled with ups and downs, thrills and chills, swooshes and swirls; then you graduate. Reality can be a bummer after you take that final exam and pack your things out of the house you share with 5 other people, and move back to mom and dad’s.

Your life in the limelight is now over and it’s time to move onto the big kid world. You are going to lose some close friends, miss the bars you liked to visit, and even miss class sometimes. Don’t worry though, you will get to keep all of the embarrassing and sometimes damaging photos posted onto your Facebook account.

Social media blemishes can severely hurt your online MBA rankings or put you as a low priority when on the job hunt. In order to become a relevant job seeker, you are going to need to clean up your social media footprint and implement an awesome PR campaign with your accounts.

Grammar Matters.

You might not think about it when making comments or posting on your wall, but people are always judging you depending on what you write. If you are trying to get into a higher level of academia or find a job in an industry with a high level of writing intensive activities you need to make sure your grammar and spelling are impeccable.

It is also important not to post outlandish or outrageous statements, spamming other people’s websites, or having a controversial opinions might make your account stick out like a sore thumb.

Clean Up Your Photos.

A recent survey shows that one in five graduate schools use social media as a criteria for applicants. About 27 percent of admissions officers actually use Google searches to find out information about prospective students. With Facebook’s new photo tagging privacy features it is easier than ever to control your presence on the social media website

Social media sites like Twitter, Flickr, and Tumblr offer photo gallery services which make it easier to control your image. You should also use a respectable photo for your profile image and not something of you at a bar or party.

Create an Interesting CV or Resume.

Having a unique resume or CV online is becoming an important part of finding a job or entering an MBA program. Most employers don’t even print out a paper copy of your resume, they just view it online before deciding whether or not to interview you. Having a .PDF link to your resume will make it easier for you to share it with others.

The website LinkedIn is an excellent way to display your work experience and skills while also networking with other professionals. You can also use its search engine to find jobs all over the country.

Have a Consistent Presence.

Sticking true to your identity is an important part of social media. If someone looks your name up on Facebook and then finds out you have a different persona on another website, they might think you are trying to trick them with a separate identity.

It is also important to control your brand throughout the Internet. Buy a domain with your name in it, make sure no one is acting as your impostor you on Facebook and Twitter, and do Google searches to find out if there are any negative messages about you. According to an article from the International Franchise Association, if you have a large and authoritative presence of yourself online your detractors will look silly and spiteful if they attack you.

The transition from college to real life might seem pretty shocking. If you take the appropriate steps you can increase your earnings by getting an MBA scholarship or landing a sweet entry level job.

I had my first full time permanent position before I turned 20. I worked hard as an intern for 5 months, working 30 hours a week and setting ambitious goals for myself, and my work finally paid off to a salaried position. I was the youngest full time employee by at least 5 years at a private company bringing in millions in revenue a month. It was intimidating to say the least, but a huge learning experience. I learned a lot more than 5 things, but these are some of the things I’ll keep with me for the rest of my career:

1. Goal setting is crucial to success: I’ve always been a really goal oriented person, but I was never ridiculously strict with them. I would just strive to accomplish them. I didn’t take note of progress towards completing them. When I started working at my job, it was clear that in all departments, everyone had individual goals and team goals to meet every month. We were graded and had to keep track of our progress. Goals were important not only for the success of the company, but it was also how we got out bonuses. Goals are easier to accomplish when you get a reward for making it happen.
2. There’s no I in team: Sure, I knew this already, but my job reaffirmed it. Like I mentioned, we each had individual goals that contributed toward a team goal. I could be doing good on my goal, but if the rest of my team isn’t, we weren’t going to get a good grade. In other departments, people had individual grades. In my department, we decided that whatever the team got was what we all got. Therefore if I was doing good, I would contribute to help my coworkers accomplish their goals if I could. In business, it’s truly a team effort.
3. Management is concerned if you’re not asking questions: One of the things that my coworkers encouraged me to do was ask questions. They informed me that if I was not avidly asking questions, management would assume I would know what I was doing and would expect me to get everything right. They would also take it that I knew everything, and would see it as a sign of arrogance. The fact was I didn’t know everything and I knew I would possibly make mistakes, so I always made it a point to ask questions, even just to confirm I knew what I was doing.
4. Communication is a requirement: When you work in a company, different people have different job functions. Some of your work may overlap, and no one wants to do the same work someone else did. That not an efficient way to use your time. You have to communicate with your coworkers, especially if you may overlap with clients. There’s been situations where I’ve contacted a partner of ours and so did 2 of my other coworkers. It makes your company look like there’s no communication going on, and in that situation, it wasn’t. Be sure to touch base with people you’re working with so everyone can be on the same page.
5. Meet with the top executives: I was fortunate enough to work in a small enough company where I could meet with the president and CEO of the business and talk to them. It was still intimidating, regardless of if they had an open door policy and sat in on our meetings. It did, however, allow me to get to know them, see what vision they had for the company, and see how I could contribute. If you can, try to get a meeting with the president, CEO or head of your company/department. If you don’t work directly with you, they can easily forget your name or who you are. Make yourself relevant and essential to them.

Like I said, I learned a lot more than 5 things at my job but these are things I can take with me at any job I work at in the future. I’m glad I was exposed to the experience so early in life as well.

Carnival Inclusions

Totally Money Carnival #32 – A Flood of Great Articles

Cracked online just recently released an article talking about 6 silly sounding jobs that are way harder than you think. I really wanted to share this list with you guys.

What are these jobs? What are the odd sounding jobs that actually end up being more difficult than they sound?

1. Casino Dealer.
2. Food critic.
3. Golf Caddy.
4. Costumed mascots.
5. Professional Wrestler.
6. Flight Attendant.

I find that it’s never fair to judge any job until you’ve tried it. Sometimes a job that looks to be brutal, ends up being very rewarding and fun. Then on the other hand, some jobs that we all clamor over end up being soul-crushing. You never know what a job is like until you try it out.

There’s one more odd sounding job that’s pretty challenging that I would like to add to this list– Pro Blogger. When we think of a blogger we initially might think of Perez Hilton or some celebrity gossip non-sense. The reality is that being a pro blogger may sound like one of those gigs where you get to lay on the beach all day and make lots of money. It really isn’t like that.

Why is pro blogging tougher than it sounds?

Most bloggers will never earn even $1,000 a month. Most rookie bloggers won’t even last 6 months. Very few bloggers can actually make a real living from blogging (a couple grand per year part-time doesn’t count!). The job can get very lonely as you’re always on your own. The onus is on you to produce superior content and to generate revenue. You have to deal with your own taxes and figure out how to survive when you’re blogs not generating much revenue.

I don’t know about you, but I like to be around people and I’m not sure I could handle all of the pressure being on me.

Do you want to be a blogger or do you just hate your current job? I think that the problem is that many of us hate our current jobs. We then find lifestyle design blogs or read about the idea of working from home and we become instantly hooked. Is it that we hate our jobs so much or do we want to devote ourselves to something that fuels us?

Ask the readers– Have you worked a job that sounded strange, but ended up being very challenging?

I’ll never understand why people feel the need to give unsolicited advice. This especially holds true for career advice. I’ve had way too many random people give me unsolicited career advice the last few months. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m always excited to listen and learn from others. I just don’t appreciate it when people that don’t know me try to tell me what to do without even asking me what I want to do.

This Thursday is my actual college graduation ceremony. The thought of finding a “real job,” and ditching my attempt to build an online empire has hit me a few times. Today I wanted to look at the idea of finding a real job immediately after college.

Do I have to find a real job after college? It depends on the following factors…

You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.

- Tom Brokaw.

Do you have any entrepreneurial visions?

Do you have any plans of going into business on your own? Let me rephrase that– are you willing to work ridiculously long hours on your own projects without any guarantee of income? If you’ve always had dreams of starting your own business, this is the best time to give it a shot. If you have entrepreneurial goals on your mind you might want to hold off on finding a steady job for the time being.

Must read posts on starting your own business:

How You Can Start a Business Right Now With $1,000
Testing Your Ideas to See If You Can Make Money

Do you owe a lot of money?

With the rising amount of student debt held by college graduates, chances are that you’re going to have to find an immediate source of income to start paying this money back. If you picked up a massive amount of student debt, you might want to find a steady source of income, while you moonlight on the side to start your own gig. I don’t want to throw out careless “feel-good” advice because the reality is that you need to pay back your student loans.

For more help:

10 Ways to Speed Up the Repayment of Your Student Loan

How badly do you want to make money?

Some of us are content with not making a lot of money. Others want to make as much money as possible. With a steady job you’ll be given a steady income. You’ll be able to create a budget and work towards your financial goals over time. With a irregular income that comes from freelance work/starting your own business there’s no income guarantee at all. You can have prosperous months. You can also go through really lean times. How badly do you want to make money right after college? A steady job will give you the income that you need. Branching off on your own can be roller coaster.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Five years from now, do you want to see yourself moving up the corporate ladder? Or do you want to see yourself running a successful company? Where do you want to be in five years from now? This should help you decide if you want to find a traditional job at this point in time. Long term goals help you keep your eye on the prize.

It’s really easy to tell someone or to tell yourself that you need to find a “real” job after college. The reality is that we all have different plans and visions of what we want out of life. This inherently indicates that we’ll take different paths. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer here.

Do you think that all college grads should find a real job right out of school? What do you think?

(photo credit: flynn wynn)

Whenever I read a piece from Ramit Sethi I leave feeling sort of stupid. I love it when someone challenges conventional wisdom. It just sucks because the reality is that the truth can piss you off sometimes. Fortunately I’m very open-minded and love viewing common topics from a different angle.

Ramit highlighted four pieces of conventional wisdom on education that are wrong in a post on saving money on education. I want to just highlight two of these points quickly.

“Elite” colleges are simply for rich kids whose daddies got them in, and they coast until they get their 6-figure job

Do anything possible to graduate without debt! Better to go to that state school than the expensive school!

This got me thinking because these are thoughts that I believed at some point in time. That was while I was still confined to the college environment and nothing else. I’m going to move away from these myths as Sethi has done an amazing job himself with crushing them. I want to get into what the guest author had to say about alternative methods for success in the  business world that doesn’t come from a higher education.

The guest author in the same piece goes on to share his advice on gaining real world skills and replacing knowledge acquired from college. The advice is similar to what I’ve preached here before:

Read great books.

Take business courses from practitioners.

Start your own business.

What’s the point of sharing this? I’m sharing this with you guys for a reason. Many of you reading this are debating between higher education and what to do next in life. I want you to make the best decision possible by using all available resources. The nuggets mentioned above can help you with making your decision as to what to do next in life a little easier for a few reasons:

Shift your mindset.

College is not some job making factory. Just because you earned a degree in one field it doesn’t mean that you have to spend the rest of your life working in that field. College also doesn’t guarantee riches or even a job for that matter. When I was in high school and someone told me what program they were applying to I would ask, “what job will that be?” I just didn’t know better.

It’s also important that you shift your mindset when it comes to attending graduate school. If you hate your current job or if you feel bored with your current situation, more education is not always the best option. You can try one of the three ideas from above: read different books, take practical courses, or start some sort of a business on your own.

There’s more to college than just  the classroom.

You shouldn’t be afraid of putting the books down and leaving your dorm in college. You do need to do well in your courses and it helps to understand the material thoroughly. Once you take control of the academic side, it’s wise to get out there and meet some people. If you don’t take the time to use college for the networking opportunities that come your way, then you might struggle once you’re out of the college environment.

Focus on self-education.

Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.

- Jim Rohn

Just because you have this piece of paper it doesn’t mean that your work is done. You can learn so much on your own that no textbook can every teach you. Through reading personal finance books and trial-and-error I learned more about money management than any of my finance courses ever thought me.

I always love when someone challenges conventional wisdom, especially when it comes to education. What conventional wisdom would you like to challenge about college?

(photo credit: svadilfari)

This is a guest post from Edward at Entry Level Dilemma. Edward moved to Colorado after graduating and discovered that all the people he knows on the East Coast are worthless for finding a job in the Rocky Mountain State. When not working on his cookbook,  he writes about entry level job searching.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard about looking for a job is to attend industry events. With this in mind, I recently participated in a workshop on strategic thinking hosted jointly by two area industry associations.  Not only did this give me a chance to get an inside look at some of the common problems and challenges that companies in my area face, but I also got in some great networking with people who work at the places to which I’ve been applying.

This was pretty much the first time I’d ever gone to any sort of convention, conference, workshop, or other interactive gathering.  I wasn’t sure quite what to expect and was a little nervous. Aside from the notes I took for the actual workshop, I also detailed my thoughts on the experience itself to share here.

Pick something that will be well attended by a good cross-section of your industry.

After I registered for this workshop, I discovered that there was another workshop dedicated to young professionals. At first I was disappointed that I picked the “wrong” one to attend. But then I realized that the young professionals session was unlikely to be attended by anyone with any power or clout in hiring decisions.  Other workshops available would have been specialized in other ways and probably not have been attended by the companies I’m most interested in.

Always bring your receipt.

This was a joint workshop and the organization I registered through didn’t provide a list of names to the other organization for check-in. Actually, the second didn’t even know that the first had also done registrations!  Getting past the front desk may have been a lot more difficult if I hadn’t brought proof that I belonged there.

Dress appropriately.

I was the only person in the room wearing a tie. Given the somewhat blue-collar nature of the industry, it really wasn’t surprising that jeans were worn by approximately half the attendees (and one presenter). Business casual would have said that I can look and act like a professional but not out-dress the people I wanted to impress.

Don’t mention the “J” word.

Most people will be interested in talking and helping you out. Until you ask about jobs.  When you ask if they know of any present or upcoming openings, they will clam up and just refer you to the company’s website. I asked one person about openings and they gave the old song-and-dance about everything posted on the website; after the workshop, I overheard him mention a problem his company was facing and told him that I thought I could solve that problem. THAT is when I got his card.

Listen to other conversations.

Don’t eavesdrop or butt into others conversations, but keep an ear out to what others are saying, especially in line to talk to the presenters afterward. By doing this, I now have the possibility to performing a contract with a local company if not an out-right job.

Ask about the company.

I’m scratching one company off my target list because I found out that growth (and therefore need for more employees) wasn’t even on their radar for the next several years. I gained insight at what kinds of skills are sought at another company.

Don’t wait until the last minute to network.

Sure the presenters stayed to talk and answer questions, but many of the attendees left as soon as the workshop was over, if not sooner. I missed out on a couple of people I wanted to talk to because they left before I even attempted. Talk to other attendees before the start of the event and during breaks. The nice thing about how these types of things are set up, everyone is wearing a name tag so you know what to call them and what they do. Take every opportunity to introduce yourself to others.

DO offer to help.

When your industry’s association puts on an event, they talk to a lot of companies and tend not to have a lot of hands available. After the event is over, ask how you can get involved and help out in the future. Helping shows prospective employers that you are engaged and will put a face to that resume you send in later.

(photo credit: certs)

[Note From MD: The following post was an exclusive to readers of my private newsletter. As I promised earlier, I will be sending lots of exclusive content out to my mailing list. This will be the only time that I re-post something from the list on here. I just wanted to prove to some of you that have been on the fence about signing up that you really have nothing to lose. You can sign up at the bottom of this article.]

As you work on business ideas, attempt to start your own business, try to get a new job, or work on moving up in your current company, you’ll find yourself going to many business lunches (or at least trying to).

One of the most important things I’ve learned in life is the need to seize opportunities when they appear. College internship opportunities are not much different. Four years ago, just before I was ready to graduate university, one of these opportunities popped up – the chance to spend three months working in my field of study in an internship position.While the initial thought of working for three months, unpaid, was a bit depressing, I realized that doing so would ultimately help me land my dream job down the road.

The internship processes was quite simple – I was responsible for reaching out to local companies seeking interns, and attempt to secure an interview, and ultimately an internship position. While a lot of other students set their sights on the larger more ‘prestigious’ companies, I went a different route, and went after smaller ones, as I wanted to have the broadest experience possible. To me, being a part of a smaller team would force everyone (including an intern) to wear more hats, thus, allowing for a variety of tasks and responsibilities.

After interviewing at a couple different companies, one of them offered me the position, and I accepted.  My internship started off fairly easy – the first couple weeks were focused on reading up about the company’s services and clients. This allowed me to better understand their business environment and ask a lot of questions, while expanding my knowledge outside of the classroom. Shortly thereafter, the company landed a major project requiring a very tight turnaround. Instantly, I was thrown into the middle of it and was given the chance to prove myself. At that point, the days instantly became much longer – instead of leaving at 5, we were staying until 9 every night to meet a deadline. I didn’t mind, as this is was part of my career path. After several weeks of hard work, the project was finally complete, and turned out to be a huge success. Not only did I get to see a major project from start to finish, I was able to make it focus of my resume. At that point, I seemed to have “proved” myself, and was given a variety of other projects for the remainder of my internship – all of this, allowed me to build my skill set further.

When I reached the end of my internship,I had a decision to make – do I thank them for the time and try to pursue my dream job, or do I ask for the chance to stay on as a paid employee? Before even making up my mind, my boss ended up offering me a full time position. While the job in itself was very junior, with low pay and long hours, it was ultimately a job that would look great on a resume. I ended up accepting her offer – and before I even graduated school, I had secured myself a job that would help solidify my career path.

The internship experience ultimately proved to be extremely valuable to me – not only did I land a job out of it, I got to be a part of a wide range of projects which allowed me to build up both my resume and my professional network. All of this was because I seized the opportunity several months prior.

Looking back on my internship experience, several years later, there are a few important pieces of advice when taking on a challenge such as this:

Look for broad companies.

When seeking an internship, look for companies that offer the broadest range of opportunities within it, rather than just a fancy or “fun” company.

Enjoy the experience of an internship.

No internship is ever “perfect” and some tasks and assignments are just going to suck. Grin and bear it, and chalk it up to a learning experience – this is true even when you’re being paid.

Network your butt off.

Get to know your coworkers as they bring a wealth of experience to the table, and are usually more than happy to share – most of which, will be directly related to your career path too! Plus, they probably have a network of connections that could prove valuable in landing your next job.

Ask questions!

Keep asking questions – any company that takes on an intern is more than happy to provide guidance, advice and feedback. The more engaged you are, the more valuable you become.

Leave gracefully.

Leave with a good reference – even if you hated it, make sure your company knows you valued the opportunity and learned something. This reference can easily make the difference between landing a job or not.

This is a guest post from Twenty Something Money. TSM is a twenty-something year old guy living in Canada, and blogging about his financial journey as he tries to build wealth through budgeting, investing, paying off student loans, and shopping for a home – all while trying to find his purpose in life. You can follow him on twitter for updates.

(photo credit: usdagov)