Hey students! You need ROI, and here’s how your college experience can help you achieve it!
Return on investment, or ROI, is just as important for you as a college student as it is for a billion dollar business. Just as a business invests assets in order to gain a profit, you are sacrificing money, time, and other resources for your education. Don’t you want it to pay off? Yes! Trust me, you want the best return on investment that you can get! College can be an important stop on your career journey, and it’s important to make the most of that investment. Here are some ways that you can make sure that your education will lead to some serious ROI down the road.
Get organized! The habits you form early on in your educational and professional life will set the foundation for your career. To contribute to ROI down the road, make sure the habits you establish are effective. There are a couple of significant ways to look at organization. First of all, organize your things. What’s your system? Do you have stuff piled up on your chair, or is it in drawers where you can pull it out a second after you realize that you need it? How do you track your school assignments? Do you have a planner, or set reminders on your phone? What about the files on your computer? Find a way to organize things that works for you. Achieving organization in this manner will help you become more efficient and productive, which will lead to the ability to achieve more down the line. Even more important than organizing things is organizing your schedule. Time is very, very valuable. Have you heard of opportunity cost? That’s the value of something you give up to gain something else. For example, if you choose to attend college full-time and not work, the salary you don’t earn during that period is your opportunity cost. Even though it’s a cost, it’s not necessarily bad. If you invest in your education, you can qualify for a higher paying job that will earn you more money in the long run. Although it may be tempting to enjoy the freedom and fun of college life, and I certainly did myself, remember that some of the time you spend playing video games may take away from building the professional network you will need after graduation!
Get involved! Find ways to get involved on campus that connect with your interests and passions. Are you an athlete? Try intramural sports! Do you love to help others? Get involved with a charitable organization or campus activity does volunteer work in the community. Want to put that knowledge you gained in class into practice? Join the marketing association! Getting involved will pay off big down the line, because you are building relationships, skills, and experience. Those are three of the most important ingredients you’ll need when trying to land that job after graduation. And that, my friends, can put you on the fast track to ROI!
Get to Career Services! The best time to explore the career services department on your campus is when you step foot on campus, not the last semester of your senior year when the realization finally hits that you will be in the real world in a few short months! All career services departments have resources that are helpful for new students, and many are developing programs designed just for freshmen and sophomores. To make the most of what your career services department has to offer, visit them early and often. The help you’ll receive with things such as interview skills, networking, resume development, and internship opportunities will prepare you for life after college and that important first job. Studies have shown that it’s much more effective to study for a test ahead of time rather than cram at the last moment. The same applies to developing your professional and career skills. Your campus has a sure fire way to boost your future career ROI, it’s the career services department, so check it out!
Getting organized, getting involved, and getting to your institution’s career services department are all important things to do while in college. They will help you build skills and gain experience that will help you outshine your competition in order to land that job that will put you in the fast lane for career success. And that is where you will cash in your ROI!
