Monday, August 1, 2011

Make Money While in College - Part I

Being in college typically means that you are most likely financially strapped or flat out broke.  But you are okay with it, because you believe that, with your education, there will be a high paying job waiting for you.  Wouldn’t that be nice?  However, a lot of times this is far from reality.  Now your degree will significantly increase your chances of getting a better job.  But, this is not always a guarantee, especially depending on the competitiveness of your field.  When comparing candidates, most companies will give the competitive edge to the individual with the most experience.  Therefore, you must constantly look for ways to increase your value.  One of the ways you can do this, and get money at the same time, is get real work experience now.   This can be accomplished many different ways, but here are three:

1)  Get an Internship.  An internship is an on the job training program for college course credit.  Not only will this be experience to add to your resume, but the credits will help you graduate slightly sooner (typically from 3 – 9 credits), you will gain another reference or contact to use when you apply for another job; and you may potentially get a little income if it is a paid internship.

2)  Get a Summer or Part-Time Job.   Even if you do not do an internship, you still should strongly consider getting a job, whether in your field or not.  Not only will this provide you with income, but when you graduate, you will find that companies will most likely hire you if they see that someone else was willing to hire you, especially if that employment worked out great.  This is due to the fact that they know that “general” work experience (following directions, working with others, dealing with customers…etc.) is just as valuable as specific job training.

3)  Start a Business!  Okay this initially sounds very hard to do.  However, with the internet and the many available and free social media platforms, this can be easier than you think.  We all know the story of Facebook, and how one college student’s idea turned into billions of dollars.  But did you know that there are hundreds of successful examples of students who started their own business while in college?  Inc. Magazine (www.inc.com) just recently released their 2011 “America’s Coolest College Start-Ups” report (http://www.inc.com/coolest-college-start-ups-2011/index.html).  With host services and packaged sites such as, Hostgator, GoDaddy, Social Engine, Rsitez, Wix, and Blogger, you could have your own company up in running within 30 days and for a cost of anywhere from $0 - $5,000.  That’s right $0.00!  So why wait?  If your business fails, you at least have another thing to put on your resume, plus a story to tell.  If it succeeds, you may just become a millionaire.  If you do become a millionaire, just remember to thank Flinkey for the motivation.

Next Topic:    Make Money While in College (Part II)