No. 1: Starting salary

Students across the board seem to be a bit confused regarding what salary they will be earning when they first receive a job, Associate Director of MSU Career Services Network Gross said.

“Many students feel that they don’t have a good grasp on the current market in terms of salary and what they are going to make,” Gross said. “Students generally think they’ll make more when they graduate.”

According to MSU’s 2011 Destination Survey Report, the reported average annual salary for students after graduation is $41,380.

While keeping this figure in mind, Gross encourages students to prepare for life after college by developing a personal budget and remembering most parents did not step out of college with the income they make today.

Consulting a financial planner is a great tool for successfully managing finances after graduation, Gross said.

No. 2: Unsure students should go to graduate school

Although according to Gross graduate programs have seen a large increase in applicants, students should make sure they really are passionate about pursuing a higher education before enrolling in graduate school.

Interdisciplinary studies in social science senior Kiara Maton is unsure exactly what her path will be after graduation and has been keeping graduate school in mind if she cannot find a job right away.

Gross advises unsure students to first consider talking to someone in career services to explore all options before committing to a program with a hefty price tag.

No. 3: The real world isn’t much different from college

While in college, skipping class or failing a test can easily be brushed off with an “I’ll get ‘em next time” attitude. But when alumnus Adam McKay entered the real world, he found the lifestyle to be very different from what he experienced in college.

“You have to be ready to adjust,” McKay said. “When you’re in college you have deadlines, but they don’t really matter that much. The world won’t end if you don’t do good on a test, but (in the) workforce a lot of people are depending on you.”

Alumnus Ali Agel experienced a similar shock in 2011 when he started working in Seattle at Microsoft as a software development engineer. He found after graduating, he entered the workforce and felt like a freshman again.

At first, he said he only had a handful of friends in the area and was so homesick he flew back almost immediately. But after the initial shock, Agel was able to meet new people and transition smoothly into adult life.

“I was fresh out of college and (everyone else) had been here for a long time,” Agel said. “What really shocked me is how much I still needed to learn to be productive.”

No. 4: A degree alone is enough

Many students believe by getting their undergraduate degree they are set to get a job after they graduate, but career experts said this isn’t always true.

Students are competing with a large variety of people with many different degrees, and a degree alone is no longer enough to impress employers, Gross said.

Gross said employers largely are interested in skills and knowledge students have taken from that degree. Students need to be connecting the dots and figuring out how they can contribute the skills they have learned in college in a work setting.

No. 5: By applying on many job boards, good job offers will appear

Students often think by getting their resume on as many job boards as they can, such as Monster.com or Yahoo! Careers, they eventually will come across a job that suits their interests, Gross said.

MSU Career Services Network advises students to first figure out what kind of employer they want to work for based on their values and goals, then start the search from there. By figuring out what type of employer students want to work for in the beginning, they can better focus and prepare to make a case for that employer.

In the 2012-2013 MSU Recruiting Trends report by MSU’s Collegiate Employment Research Institute, employers reported the resumes they have been receiving are not tailored enough to the specific job.

They also reported it’s obvious many candidates are not researching the company and not preparing for the interview. This type of mistake can be avoided by starting the search at employers instead of just applying for as many jobs as possible.

No. 6: Networking isn’t that important in college

Taking advantage of career fairs sometimes can be more rewarding than landing a job or internship.

Career fairs can be a chance for students to network as well as meet potential employers.

Alumna Molly Good found the importance of networking was one of the biggest surprises she encountered after landing a position with the Bradford E. Brown Student Internship Program and being assigned to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s salmon task force in Orono, Maine.

“People always tell you to do your networking, get to know people, and that isn’t easy for everyone to do,” said Good, who graduated in May 2011. “Once I got into the professional workplace, I didn’t realize how significant those relationships are and maintaining them. Once people open up to you, their whole network opens up to you.”

No. 7: Major equals career

Many students graduate thinking the major they chose in college will directly correlate to what career path they end up on.

Students, especially for liberal art majors, should be open to different types of jobs when applying after graduation, Gross said.

MSU alumnus Adam McKay was a communication major but found with such a broad major he was prepared for a little bit of everything. He is now the marketing director at PrezentMe.com.

“It really taught me to be open … (And) how to handle people and situations,” McKay said. “It’s not like you’re learning facts and data. It just prepared you to work in groups.”