Recently, I attended Life After College in Atlanta, Ga. I hardly anticipated the huge lessons I would learn while there. SigEp’s career development program gave me the skills I need stand out from the rest of the competition.
Here are eight lessons I learned from my Life After College experience:
1. How to tie a bow tie. With a little help from our official partner, Brooks Brothers, I learned how to properly tie a bow tie. It’s nice to not have to run to your friend to get your tie tied!
2. Networking, networking and a little more networking. Networking is, primarily, the way to get your foot in the door and put you ahead of the competition. With the most amount of undergraduate students of any fraternity, use your SigEp network to take you places!
3. Always follow up. Maybe I’m the only one with personalized stationary, but following up with a simple thank you card goes a long way. Potential employers are more impressed by handwritten notes than emails.
4. SigEp Headquarters is here to help. As if Carlson Leadership Academy, Ruck, Conclave and the Tragos Quest to Greece weren’t enough, Life After College is the newest program Headquarters offers to its undergraduate members. It’s nice to know that our leaders care about my career development.
5. Mind your manners. Whether your future employer takes you out to eat as part of the interview process or you take a potential client to dinner, simple etiquette rules will take you a step ahead of the competition and also impress your mom when you go back home over Christmas break.
6. Become closer with your brothers who are accounting majors. Budgeting your money and planning for graduation needs to start earlier than later. Being financially sound is a key to success in the real world.
7. The art of the resume. A resume can set you apart from the competition … and a bad one can keep you from landing a job. Take advantage of your university’s career services office to get help with your resume.
8. LinkedIn is “the new black.” Linkedin is the best way to network with people online and to enhance yourself professionally. A good connection on the platform can go a long way. Did you know there’s a SigEp group on LinkedIn with more than 22,000 professionals?
Life After College prepares you for the real world and gets you thinking about your future ahead of time. I am confident that this program has and will help me transition from college into the workforce.
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