I agree with you but I'd like to add that I believe a lot of people go to college with the expectation that upon graduation they will be employable because they have a degree. "College shows employers that you can devote yourself to something" is a phrase that is frequently heard, but college is also suppose to provide for you an education which will result with you having the desired skill set for your (broad) major. 3, 4, and 5 I think you hit right on the head. Being an undergrad with a blog which is syndicated through here, with an online personal brand, and an extensive network I can say from experience that it is hard to present those things to other college students; its something I'm trying to get my Greek sisters to fully embrace. I just get made fun of for taking business cards to the bar with me, but hey, I've needed them before.

Hi Jun,

Thanks for the response post! Great point about specializing. People often do think of specializing as a creative or technical area, but it can be much more. For example, through reading, researching and blogging for the past 2 years, I have been establishing a specialty in Human Resource issues, more specifically issues relating to Generations in the workplace, and even more specifically Generation Y at work. Now I don't expect this to be my lifetime specialty and I probably won't end up in HR, but it allows me to stand out at this point in my career and life.

I'm still blown away by the number of undergrads who are scared to share information on a blog, but probably post facebook photos of them partying, without hesitation. I think this has a lot to do with the advice they're receiving from professors and older folks about the dangers of the web. Unfortunately whoever is giving this advice is doing students a disservice and actually hurting their career aspirations before they get started!

Finally, I hated networking when I was in school, and even now, being an introvert, I'm hesitant to do it. But it's absolutely necessary to network with anyone and everyone if you want to stand out from the crowd.

-Ryan

I didn’t learn this until the last semester of my senior year, but the first thing undergrads need to realize is that they’re usually not going to do anything in their major field of study without an advanced degree. For example, I graduated with a degree in business and economics but I’m definitely not an economist and I know I’m definitely not a business. That’s not to say you can’t or shouldn’t play up the transferrable skills you’ve gained through your major to make a connection to the jobs you’re going after.

You start to define your “specialty” by the internships you chose. Recruiters want to see experience that relates to the job for which they’re recruiting. If you want to work in marketing, but you don’t do an internship or do one in an area totally unrelated to that function, you’re going to have a hard time differentiating yourself from other students.

Blogging can definitely be a value add depending on the type of job you're going after but there's no better way to find your focus than to actually test drive the job by doing an internship.

One thing that I usually counsel undergrads to do is pick an interest and run with it. Sometimes it's easier to geta move on and then course correct as you go than it is to stand still and try to figure it all out right away.

For example, I started my career in HR. During my tenure I started a personal blog, learned how much I love blogging, and now that's what I do for a living.