Before graduation, I used to joke with my friends and say that for the first month after college, all I was going to do was lay on the couch, drink some beers and watch baseball. I never believed that I would actually do that, but guess what I wound up doing for the first month after graduation...I laid on the couch, drank a couple of beers each day and watched my Detroit Tigers turn it on right before the All Star break. I would occasionally get up to check the job boards and see about some interviews, but the majority of my time was spent relaxing.

(For the record, neither myself or anyone at CollegeRecruiter.com is telling you to lay on a couch and mooch off of the parents for a month after graduation...it just so happens that this is what I did.)

Alot of you graduates are probably already wondering how I plan on justifying this. Before I do, let me throw this thought out there: you can't beat preparation. What does preparation have to do with a couch, beer and baseball? Everything.

Step back and look at your college career objectively. You just spent anywhere between 1 and 10 years battling gradebooks, professors, 1.5 mile walks across campus, sleep deprivation and the occasional hangover to get that piece of paper that says you have conquered the college experience. You have the right to be tired. It's like any person who runs a marathon...even the best are exhausted when they cross the line. But after all of this, the lesson you should invoke is that decision making suffers when you are tired.

WIth this is mind, it's a tall task to graduate, move out and try and find a job the next day. If you have expectations, chances are they will go out the window because you just want to find a place to work.

This brings me to the justification point of the couch, beer and baseball: I used that time to recharge my batteries and prepare myself for the next phase of my life. You should do the same. It doesn't have to be a month, or even a week. Maybe you only need a day or two to take a few deep breaths and get yourself relaxed and prepared. Whatever it is, do it. A close friend of mine understood this, but was still in a money crunch. So he went to the local grocery store and got a job as a bagger for the first month. It wasn't the "ideal" job for him, but he used that time to prepare himself for the opportunities he really wanted, all while making some money. He would talk to everyone that checked out and used those casual conversations as preparation for future interviews. After a month of bagging, he bagged an interview, bagged a job and bagged a paycheck working for one of the top marketing firms in the country. He knew that the grocery store wasn't a long term solution, but it gave him the things that he needed to in order to be prepared: time to think, confidence to speak and monetary compensation.

What I didn't tell you is that while I was on that couch, I was making mental lists of jobs that I would like, thinking about areas I would like to live in, assesing my strong and weak points and figuring out how to best present myself to the people who might potentially hire me. Did it look like I was being lazy on the couch? Sure. Was my mom getting tired of me being there? Probably. But I trusted my gut and the fact that I have had 23 years to figure out what I need to give myself the best chance for success and I went with it.

I went to four interviews within the first week and at each one, it was easy to see the candidates that wern't prepared. Sloppy resumes, sweaty palms and poor eye contact were among the things that didn't get them invited back. They needed that job, even if they didn't like it, and it showed. In my case, I was offered a position at all of the interviews and I politely turned them down. Why? Because even though the people were great, those positions didn't fit with that list of jobs I had in mind while laying on my couch.

Lert me wrap it up with this: I know that everyone has different circumstances surrounding their job hunt and needs. I am only offering some guidelines that I think might help you. In the end, trust your gut and make the decision that works best for you. Even if that means sitting on a couch, drinking beer and watching baseball for a month.

"The beginning is the most important part of the work." - Plato

Talk to you soon.

Chris