The year 2011 is almost gone. Now it’s December, the last month!

Whether you’re looking forward to the social events, friends and classes, or sadly saying goodbye to sun, sand and water, the end of August means the same thing for most your age…back to school. And while those of you that are still students will be kept busy with homework and papers while you begin the painstaking but necessary process of a job search, what about those of you that have already graduated?

If you are still living at home while you search for a full-time job I’m sure a concern or two has gone through your mind about your financial and personal future. Maybe you are afraid that you’re not saving enough to someday get your own place? Or getting discouraged that you will in fact find a great job (...which you will!)? Regardless, there are a few tips to keep you on track in your job search and keep you sane while you do it.

I love my lists, so today I’m going to share with you a list of advice from Brazen Careerist writer Patricia Hudak who wrote a blog post entitled Make the Most of Your Time at Home After College. In addition to these 6 points, Hudak also stresses saving as a key component to life at home after school. As she points out in the article, saving money on rent isn’t going to increase your bank account if you’re spending on things like entertainment and technology. On to the list:

1. Signup with a temporary agency. You can opt to take work that fits around your job search schedule, and temping is a great way to find a permanent job
2. Substitute teach
3. Have your parents get out the word that you are available for babysitting, house-sitting, or yard-work
4. Tutoring independently or through a company. Post fliers in and near local schools and colleges
5. Become a dog walker for pet owners who don’t have time. Post fliers where people typically walk their dogs
6. Waiting tables or bartending. They are classic post-college jobs, but great communication skill builders
7. Working in retail. May not be the most exciting work, but there are always store discounts to look forward to
8. Giving your opinions. Call companies that do market research and offer to participate in a focus group. They pay cash and typically meet in the evening
9. Work the phones. Sign up with a telemarketing company that pays you on commission for what you sell
10. Freelance writing. If writing has been a strong point of yours or you have a particular area of knowledge, let that work for you. Newspapers and other publications are always looking for good content and it pays well too

Good luck in your search and come visit us again for some more helpful advice!

"bedroom wall" courtesy otakuchick via Flickr Creative Commons

As a college student, the important things in life may inevitably include parties, roommates, and cute lab partners. Unfortunately, none of those aspects of your college experience will necessarily land you the perfect job come graduation.

Here at ThinkTalk, we've been talking about graduation quite a bit over the last few weeks. With graduations scattered all across calendars nationwide, it has been difficult to judge how many of you have started exams, completed them or moved on. As of Saturday, it was mid-May 2010, which in my book means it's fair game to start talking in terms of summer.

Some of you will find yourselves working harder and getting up earlier than you ever did during the school year while others have been afforded the luxury of sleeping later and finally being able reach maximum chill out levels. Whichever side of the fence you are on, I would like to remind you of the awesome opportunities that summer affords. Yes, there are the internships and summer courses to work through, but there is also this refreshing energy that comes with summertime. Six to eight weeks where you can spend time focused, not on your overloaded class schedule, but on you, as a person, and your own improvement and happiness. So I ask you this question: what is on your Summer Bucket List?

If you aren't familiar with the concept of a bucket list, the brief definition is "a list of things to do before one dies." Just to clear things up, I'm not blogging about death today, but I am talking about the eventual end of your summer. What things do you hope to do or accomplish by then?

I know from experience that the freedom of summertime can very easily slip through one's fingers. I held a number of summer retail positions during my freshman and sophomore years. A lot of times I didn't have to be at work until 1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon which means that more often than not, I slept or lounged around my house until 12PM. By the time I got off work at 9 or 10PM and met up with my friends, my entire day had been spent in a non productive minimum wage fashion. By the end of the summer I felt great about having some extra money in my bank account, but always felt like maybe I could have done more to enjoy my summer or prepare for the new school year. There was sightseeing I could have done in my hometown, interesting articles I could have read, news stories I could have followed, interesting people that could have been met, and of course, some career planning I could have done.

I never made a summer bucket list, but I wish I had. It's been said that "youth is wasted on the young" and I certainly don't want you to feel like that come August. So my suggestion is to make a list, say 25-50 things that you hope to accomplish by the end of the summer. They can be really small or really big. I've always wanted to bake my own birthday cake and build a model car on my own; these are things I think are fine to add to the list.

See, it doesn't really matter what you add to the list as much as it matters how accomplishing the list will make you feel. The summer bucket list is a great idea for two reasons that I can readily think of. First, because no matter how small, having a sense of accomplishment boost your confidence. Setting small goals and getting them done can give you the ego and energy boost you need to tackle the larger hurdles in life. Secondly, completing your summer bucket list will ensure that you will at least get SOME things done this summer besides working on your tan and establishing a summer romance. (Not that there is anything wrong with either).

If you plan on adding something creative to your summer bucket list we would love to hear about it. Leave us a comment, and if it's super cool, you might find yourself mentioned in a future blog post. In the meantime, get out there and start living!

"Hammock 1." courtesy Ashley R. Good via Flickr Creative Commons

For a lot of colleges this weekend means the class of 2010 is graduating. To all of you seniors ready to take that walk across the stage and get your diploma let me say congratulations! This is an extremely exciting time in your life and I wish you all the best.

As exciting as this time is though, it can also be quite stressful and chaotic. Whether you are moving home, moving into a new apartment, starting a new job, getting your old summer job back, or still looking for anything to provide you with an income, it’s a safe bet that some of you are feeling disorganized and confused.

But have no fear future real-worlders, I have found a blog post from life coach and Career Development Program Manager at Google, Jenny Blake, that will help up your organizational skills and productivity.

Blake relies heavily on Google Docs to keep her own life on track so she has developed templates to organize every aspect of a post-grad life. She has created easy-to-use templates that can be edited and accessed from any computer or phone so you always have your lists, appointments, etc at your fingertips.

Whether you find one or two of these documents helpful or use all eight they will surely help calm the chaos of life after graduation:

1. Prepare for job interviews with the Job Interview One-Sheeter

This template condenses nine key questions into a one-page “Cliff’s Notes” for your next job interview. Quickly articulate and refer back to your answers on nine key areas, including: strengths, goals, work-style, ideas, challenges you’ve overcome, questions for the interviewer and an answer to that dreaded “weaknesses” question.

2. Set career goals by creating a Professional Development Strategy


To succeed in your career you need to take an active role in your learning and professional development. No one else will do it for you. This template will help you set a strategy around your professional development goals by walking you through three areas: Your Vision (short and long-term brainstorm about your desired impact, and what you want to do & have), The What (skills, knowledge, education, experience), and The How (quarterly benchmarks and resources).

3. Track conversations, professional contacts and potential mentors with the Networking Tracker


Use this networking spreadsheet to track names of people you meet that you want have follow-up conversations with. The template eliminates the need to refer back to business cards – people’s information is easily accessible online (and stored in one place). The tracker also makes it easy to skim through your list of contacts every few months and drop people a note if you haven’t talked to them in a while.

4. Get your finances under control with the ever-so-simple Four-Step Budget Template


Most budgets are too cumbersome to be useful (in my humble opinion). Check-out this handy four-step budget: After filling in income, must-have expenses and nice-to-have expenses, you’ll get a “monthly allowance” for you to spend on discretionary items as you’d like, with the peace of mind of knowing that your main expenses are taken care of.

5. Have some fun! Dream big by creating a Life Checklist


The principle of the life list is simple. You list all the things you want to do in life – big and small – then cross them off as you do them. This template will help you create a life checklist of your own. To see an example of my life checklist, click here.

6. Take an overall temperature check of your life with the Wheel of Life


The Wheel of Life is a commonly used coaching exercise. It can help you examine each of the areas of your life and determine where you want to focus your attention. In this template the wheel is clearly a square , and the cells automatically change color based on the values you enter (1-4=red, 5-7=yellow, 8-10=green).

7. Hold yourself accountable for strong health habits with the Fitness & Activity Weekly Tracker


We all love checking things off a checklist, right? Use this template for tracking your weekly fitness activities (or anything else you want to track). You set the target goal for each activity (ex: run twice per week, strength training three times per week), and the spreadsheet will give you a countdown as you check-off various activities. It also totals your minutes per week, with a column for keeping notes and a place for tracking your weight.

8. Set-up a system for managing appointments with the Simple Appointment Tracking Spreadsheet


If you do not have a place to keep track of recurring appointments (medical or otherwise), you will always be scratching your head trying to remember when you are next due – or forget about making the appointments completely. Set up a simple spreadsheet to track all of your recurring appointments and the relevant contact information in one place, then schedule reminders to actually make the next appointment one month before you are due.

"Graduation Cake Guy" courtesy CarbonNYC via Flickr Creative Commons

This will be the last post by our Guest Blogger Jane Lovas. Make sure to go back and check out her weekly Thursday series called “What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Life and Career.”

Do you feel like the stress of exams and term papers in going to do you in? If finals haven't hit already, then they are just around the corner. Raise a hand if you have a 20 page paper due and you don’t know what you’re going to write about. If you’re a senior, it can seem like EVERYBODY else has a really cool job lined up, or at least an interview with a really cool company, and they're getting ready to go start a new life in a new apartment with new furniture and a new car. And you- you’re stuck moving back home, living in your old room and getting your old part time job back.

Now that we’ve aired all that drama, step back, breath and take another look. Not everyone has the perfect job or perfect life; it only seems that way when you’re focused on what you don’t have.

Take a moment and think about all the things you have to be grateful for. You’re almost done with school for the year, or even better you’re just about to graduate. See, it's not so bad. You have to remember that this crazy week is not the end. Finals are not the Finale.

Finals are a door, one of many that you have gone through and that you will continue to go through in your life. A door that will take you from one experience to another. Sometimes that change seems incredibly important, like graduation and starting a new job . Sometimes changes don’t feel as important, like deciding to join a group such as a co-ed sports team or toastmasters. Yet sometimes without realizing it, the small things that you do will have the biggest impact on your life.

The things that have the biggest impact on your life are the people that you meet and the actions you take. So no matter where you are today, and no matter what you see others doing, remember that nothing is final as long as you keep opening the doors to new people and experiences.

Don’t worry about your finals. Study and do the best you can. At some point, you’ll look back and laugh at how serious you thought this was and how little you knew. Life is full of surprises. Keep opening the doors that you find and enjoy every experience. Nothing is final- really it is only a new beginning.

Have a wonderful life!

Jane Lovas is a career specialist who is the creator of the life changing 12 week tele-seminar “Creating the Life of Your Dreams”. She was also the ThinTalk Guest Blogger for Spring 2010. If you would like to contact Jane, you can reach her here, here or here.

"Race Start" courtesy pdbreen via Flickr Creative Commons

It’s April… for a lot of you seniors out there, your graduation robes are ordered, your classes are wrapping up, your starting to worry about your tan more than that final that’s in 3 hours, and some of you may already have a few job offers under your belt (congrats!).

But whether you have a few options for your first job, or you’re still interviewing and praying for that first offer, I guarantee a lot of you are thinking the same thing… ‘this isn’t my perfect first job.’ Well guess what; according to Alexandra Levit, the perfect first job doesn’t exist.

This May will be my one-year mark from graduating from college and I remember looking at position after position thinking that it wasn’t the ideal first step in my career path (not that I was sure what exactly I wanted my career path to be). For all of you thinking the same thing, I share with you these wise words from Alexandra Levit:

The perfect first job doesn’t exist… A sensible approach is to insist on a single, intelligent first step and look for a job that will allow you to acquire as many transferable skills (project management, sales, marketing, client relations, etc.) as possible so that you will be well-prepared for any career you decide to pursue in the future…

I couldn’t agree more. Experience is experience. Heck, if you want to be a pharmacist but are currently working as a waiter, whether you know it or not you are gaining valuable experience in customer service and an attention to detail work environment.

So take some pressure off of yourself during an already very hectic time in your life, and concentrate on the experience you will get from these first jobs, instead of the actual job title. Take this opportunity to learn as much as you can from everyone you encounter. And remember, you don’t have to be one promotion away from CEO at the age of 25; treasure the time where your minimal responsibilities allow you to focus on excelling in all aspects of the position:

…Don't be in such a rush to be promoted in that first job -- you have a long career life ahead of you to shoulder the heavy burden of being on top…Enjoy this time in which you don’t have to worry about anyone but yourself and are getting paid to learn everything you can.

"My Cubicle" courtesy Scott ISH via Flickr Creative Commons

Dear Blog Readers,

Ah! Do you smell that? Well, if you are anywhere near ThinkTalk headquarters, that smell would be the pollen in the air. It’s cues like this- the smell of pollen- that remind me of the season and the time of year. You see, something interesting happens when you graduate from college. Your life no longer is measured in a time spurt stretching from Winter break to Spring break. Rather, at least for me, it is measured in work deadlines and important life milestones.

A few weeks ago I linked to a report assessing the grim state of '09 grads and jobs. Less graduates than usual have secured jobs as of graduation, and can now look forward to a summer on the hunt, looking for that very first gig.

This morning, while listening to NPR (true story: Scientists have found that as you age, there is a direct negative correlation between time spent partying and time spent listening to NPR. I also think this relates the the distance of your pants' to your navel ... but that data is inconclusive) I heard the story of Emma Jacobs, a recent Columbia grad, and her struggles landing her first job. Emma relates the frustration of rejection, the fear of uncertainty and the self-doubt that come from consistent rejection (a low point was three rejections in one day!)

I highly recommend you take a listen if you have also struggled to find a job. Sometimes the job search isn't just about what you can do to find that next (or first) job. Sometimes it is about knowing that you are not alone in your rejection and frustration. We are in a very tough market - hopefully the toughest you will ever have to face - and there are a lot of very skilled, highly educated and highly qualified individuals who just cannot find work.

It is important to keep perspective in this situation. You are (most likely) not the problem. The problem is one of sheer economics and numbers ... not enough jobs, too many people. Finding a job will prove to take a certain amount of dedication, hard work and just plain luck. But it is important not to let the grind get you down and to realize that there are still jobs to be had.

For advice on finding these jobs, let's turn to The Links ...

Secrets of the Job Hunt Provides: Tips for non-traditional interview setups. This post talks about pre-interview computer screening as well as some hints for handling phone interviews, web interviews and even a bit on video resumes. Good resource to have in case such a situation should arise.

Christine Hassler Tackles: The question of the most important thing to learn in your twenties. Christine attended a Seminar over the weekend and posed this question to a number of successful speakers and got a wide range of answers. Head on over to the Huffington Post to read the answers.

Cheehead Reports: Monster.com is adding a background check. "The background screening services will be offered through an alliance with HireRight, a global employment screening provider. Monster said the partnership will help streamline the candidate background-check process for businesses, increase the quality of new hires and help reduce liability. The service will be integrated with the Monster.com desktop and candidate management tools."

Mashable Explains: How to personalize and brand your Twitter page. Dan Schawbel (one of the post's author Ben Parr's examples) has a very professional looking Twitter page and has made a very successful living at personal branding, so his is as good as any for a reference. This post gives some great examples of how customize your account without looking fake and foolish.