by Bradley Streeter

Created on: May 28, 2008

Congratulations! You are about to make one of the most exciting transitions of your life, from student to professional. The next three to five years promises to be more self-discovery. Unless you are one of the lucky few, you probably have no idea what you will be doing for the rest of your life. And chances are, if you do know what you will be doing for the rest of your life, you're wrong. Remember freshman orientation at college, when your adviser told you that you would probably change your major twice before you graduate? Well, I'm here to tell you that there's a good chance you will change your career aspirations far many more times than that. This is no reason for stress, however. Long gone are the days of working for one company your entire career. Employers do not expect it and even find that employees with varied experiences often bring fresh insight with them. Don't let the five topics below discourage you; instead, keep in mind that you are entering an exciting time in your life and mistakes now are far easier to bounce back from than mistakes later.

1) Get some real-world experience:

The hardest lesson that many newcomers to the job market learn is that a bachelor's degree does not guarantee a job. Experience is worth far more than good grades. I remember thinking how unfair it was when I was seeking my first "real" job that I was turned down from "entry level" jobs due to a lack of experience. Hopefully, you took advantage of internships while an undergraduate. If you've got a semester to go before graduation, hopefully you're considering an internship to finish your college career. And if you are a graduate with no job prospects in sight, maybe you should consider interning or volunteering somewhere, even if it means living at home for a few more months with no pay.

An internship or volunteer work provides you with two advantages. First, it allows you to gain that all-important experience. Even if you ultimately decide that you've interned in the wrong line of work for you, it gives you some credibility when looking for other jobs and it gives you something to talk about during an interview. Second, it allows you to network. Oftentimes, internships turn into first jobs. But even when they don't, they expose you to professionals who are usually willing to send along your resume and a recommendation.

For those of you who did intern or volunteer during college, do not underestimate its importance when drafting your resume. Even if you volunteered

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