Student life can be a lot of fun. When you’re in college, your parents might cover your tuition, or maybe you got student loans from the government or a private entity.
If you got student loans, you know you’ll need to pay them back, but that’s probably years down the line. For now, you need to study hard to attend all your classes, but you probably have plenty of time for parties and dating as well.
In some respects, college is like a vacation. Maybe you’re working part-time, but you likely don’t feel the same pressure that you will when you graduate. Then, you’ll need to join the working world, but for now, you likely find plenty of time for video games, bar hopping, and enjoying your youth.
Transitioning from college into the working world isn’t easy, but you can do it if you ease into it. Here are tips that should help if you’re about to graduate and the “real world” beckons.
You Might Look for a Job that Offers Remote Work
Some young people don’t like the idea of going from college into a traditional office setting. Putting on formalwear and sitting in a cubicle might not appeal to them all that much.
If this sounds like you, you ought to know that the average SME currently has 30% remote work. SME stands for small or medium-sized enterprise. In other words, it’s more common these days for small and medium-sized companies to allow their employees to work from home.
The pandemic is part of why businesses are moving in this direction. However, even before Covid-19 showed up in 2020, some companies understood that they would keep their employees happy if they let them work from home.
If you are about to graduate from college and you’re looking for a lucrative job, you might search for a company that allows you to either work from home or else you can locate one that has the hybrid work model. A company that lets you do hybrid work will allow you to work from home some days, but you must come to the office on others.
You might find that much more palatable than having to put on a dress or a tie and commuting to work every morning.
You Can Live Someone that Lets You Have an Active Social Life
When some college students graduate, they might miss the parties or late-night hangout sessions with their friends. It’s tough to get away from that and suddenly face a more stressful situation. You’ll immediately have to think about paying your rent, saving for a down payment on a house, and even saving for your eventual retirement.
If you miss an active social life, you might want to move to a city with a vibrant culture, especially where you can meet people your own age. You may look into cities like Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles. Austin, Texas, has a lot of fun events that younger people enjoy, or you might think about Portland, Oregon as well.
You Can Move in with Some Friends
Socialising can be one of the nice things about the college lifestyle. You’re more than likely living with some people with whom you like to spend time. You’re about the same age, and maybe you have some of the same classes.
You can commiserate when finals roll around, and you can talk to them about music, movies, who you’re dating, and anything else that interests you. It’s sometimes harder to make friends when you leave college and join the adult world.
Nothing says you can’t keep living with some of the same people when you graduate, though. Maybe you have plans to stay in the same city where you went to school, and some of your roommates feel the same way. You can stay in the same apartment together or look for a new place off-campus as a group.
If you move to a more expensive city, like some of the ones we mentioned, you may not be able to afford a starter apartment on your own. You can probably afford it if you live with your friends, though.
You can pool your financial resources, and you have a better chance of getting a nicer place. Also, you can continue to provide each other with a support network, just the same as you did back in college. You can help each other transition into adult living patterns.
