What to Do if You’re A Senior Who Can’t Apply to Jobs Yet

I’m a senior, graduating in a month, and I haven’t started looking for jobs yet. In fact, I can’t start looking for jobs yet. The field I want to work in doesn’t hire on a strict timeline, like some of the business majors out there may be used to. Instead, I have to graduate and be in New York for a company to even review my application. In the magazine publishing industry, national titles hire within two weeks of a position becoming available.

Unfortunately, when I tell someone new that I’m a senior, they only have one question for me: what comes next?

Here are my tips for answering the dreaded question of what you’re doing after graduation, when in fact, you can’t start looking for a job yet:

1. Assess your situation: Have you had strong past internship experience? Or are you just starting out in the field you want to work in? If you don’t have much access to the industry, you might want to consider applying to paid internships for the summer.

2. Don’t settle: On the other hand, if you’ve already had the experience you need to establish connections in your field, resist the urge to apply to internships. While it’s tempting to know what you’re doing over the summer, you won’t be free to look for jobs until the fall. I made the hard decision to stop applying for internships because I have connections now that may not be as current a few months down the road.

3. Make a plan: As I said earlier, the industry I want to work in is completely in NY. So, my plan is to go to New York and start having informational interviews to find positions to apply to.

4. Know (kinda) what you’re doing:  I’ve boiled down a simple response for when people ask me what I’m doing after graduation. “I’m going to move back to NY to look for a job at a magazine,” is my typical answer.

5. Stop worrying: Honestly, I don’t hate that I work in an industry where I can’t start applying until after graduation. It gives me more free time to enjoy my last month at BU.

6. Make new connections: Know of someone with a position you’d love to have in the future? Whether there’s a job opportunity there or not, reach out for an informational opportunity. Who knows, it can lead to something down the road as well as helpful tips to use now.



This post originally appeared on the BU CCD-ERC Student Ambassador Tumblr.