Friday, May 20, 2011

The Friday Five

Last weekend, The Eldest graduated from college. Five bits of advice for new grads.

1. Squirrel your change at the end of the day in a jar or piggybank. Pennies add up.If nothing else, you'll have a ready supply of toll money.

2. You'll have to get a credit card so later on you have a credit record to buy your car or home. Don't get a credit card until you have a steady job and earning decent money. Don't purchase with the card, unless you know you can pay the balance at the end of the month.

3. Develop a thick skin. All those rejection letters stating how your resume will be held on file, are just business not personal.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. Learn to laugh at yourself. A sense of humor will get you through tough times.

5. Once in a blue moon, call your mother. You may march to the beat of your own drummer, but  no one in the world will applaud your achievements as loud or readily offer a sympathetic ear or shoulder than your mother.

What advice would you give to a new graduate?

4 comments:

  1. 1. Moving back home is not an option-- Boomerangs are for Australian Outback hunters. Get a room-mate-- get ten room-mates but get out on your own.

    2. Learn how to cook real meals at home.

    3. Make a budget and stick with it.

    4. Buy yourself some grown up clothes. Ditch the hoodies and the sweatpants that say JUICY on them-- please.

    5. Don't just visit mom and dad to do your laundry. Treat them like old friends. Buy them lunch once in a while-- they've earned it.

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  2. Is Eldest a girl? Because the greatest graduation advice I received was that statistically the first stall in public restrooms are the cleanest. :) My high school counselor passed on that little gem of wisdom.

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  3. Don't take the summer off! everyone else you graduated with is thinking of doing that. Start pounding the pavement immediately, it shows you are keen to find that job! (know this from experience, daughter took the first month or so to go to Ireland, ended up not working in her field at all, as any good, available positions were snapped up in the first month after graduation......tried freelancing and that didn't work out.)

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