Finances: Long and short term

When students graduate, the thought of properly handling their finances might be a little unsettling. However, financial stability is vital right after graduation, and misusing money during this period can have long term negative effects such as debt and bad credit. Having large debt or bad credit can be debilitating for a person for years, and prevent them from buying a house, a car, etc. For this reason, it is imperative to have a spending plan when you graduate. Here is well established spending plan developed by Auriton Solutions. This plan formats monthly expenditures based on monthly income, and is a tool which can be very useful.

Another financial aspect that is often overlooked by graduating students is retirement. When you graduate, you may think that retirement is something to be worried about in 40 or even 50 years, however, the most vital time to start planning for your retirement is when you're in your 20s. In fact, the earlier you start saving, the better. The difference in starting a retirement fund at 20-25 and 35-40 can been tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is a huge difference. Two types of retirement plans that are very common today are the 401k plan, and the IRA. These are both very beneficial options available, and should be taken advantage of. Here is a very useful site created by Metlife to help explain how a 401k plan works. Here is a another website sponsored by New York Life which gives basic background info on how an IRA works. Both of these tools have similarities, such as they allow you to save using a tax differed account, which means you don't pay any taxes on the money you save until you withdraw it, which normally isn't allowed until you are at least 59 1/2 years old.

These are just some useful resources out there that might ease the financial challengers facing new graduates. Graduation is something that should be looked forward to, not dreaded, and hopefully these resources may help lift some of that worry.

Resume Writing

There are many different types and formats. Beginning each resume you send out with a job specific cover letter is an effective way of having your resume stand out from another. Cover letters should show your interest in the company, main skills that can directly benefit the company and also give a brief description of yourself.
When writing your resume out the guidelines you follow are important. Keeping a resume neat and in a specific order will make the resume easier to read and more appealing to the reader. There are many sources you can use to help write your resume. Online Brockport students have the career services page at http://www.brockport.edu/career/ here there is a program "Optimal resume" which assists students with preparing their resume.
Monster.com is another effective resource where you can post your resume, submit your resume to be proofed and receive suggestions to help make your resume more effective. One of the benefits to Monster is that you can apply for jobs, it has world wide appeal, and companies can seek out your resume by searching. If you are looking for a career not having your resume posted on this free service can be considered career suicide, and you are limiting your options.
These are just a couple of the many options out there for career assistance and they can help your succeed in your job search.

Initial Survey Results

I have started asking some of my friends and students around campus some survey questions that we will be able to analyze for our project. The questions I've been asking have just been simple yes or no questions, this way it can be analyzed easily. I have been asking 5 main questions.

-Are you aware of how to handle expenses and different budgeting techniques for after graduation?

-Are you aware of job finding resources such as Monster.com?
-Do you know how to effectively use these resources?

-Are you aware of long term savings opportunities such as 401k plans or IRAs?

-Do you currently have a resume drafted for job applications?

-Do you know how to effectively compose a cover letter?

I have asked around 20 people so far. I haven't put together exact results but so far the majority of people seem like they need help in these areas, so it seems to solidifying our project as something that can be very useful. Let me know if you think of any other questions that I could be asking.
I have also begun to gather information of 401ks and IRAs. I have found that these can get very complicated, so I think it would be wise to just present a basic background on them, just to give students a basic awareness of them and their benefits. Let me know what you think or if you have any tips.

Introduction

Introduction


The topic we have chosen to do is an analytical report to analyze the different obstacles facing students upon graduation in regards to job search techniques, resume building, interview tips, and money management techniques.

We are going to discuss the many options job seekers have for job placement assistance, where to find job offers, and how to pursue unsolicited jobs. There are numerous options to assist students with finding the career they are looking for. The college offers a career services website and counselors to assist students with all aspects of the job search process, and there are also many other options in which we will describe in this report.

Developing a competitive resume is not an easy task, there are a lot of tips and procedures available to assist with the development of a resume and cover letter and we are going to bring them all together in this report.

Interview is the next step to pursuing the career of your choice, your resume will help you in the door, but without proper preparation and a keen understanding of how you can benefit the company and present your skills you are not going to move past this second stage.

Managing your time and money after graduation is going to be what separates you from other contenders in the job market. When searching for a job after graduation managing your finances is important because you need to be able to hold out, and find the perfect job you are looking for. This is going to help with not coming across desperate, and being able to focus on preparing for the interview while not having outside issues coming in the way.

____This is a rough draft of the introduction, make any adjustments you feel necessary and we'll have this completed and ready for the presentation. I am also working on resume building, interview tips, and job search sources.