After graduation: Five real-world steps to success

With graduation day around the corner, Modern Parenthood caught up with Cindy Brown, author of the book “The Girls Guide to Swagger,” to ask her what her top tips would be for new graduates going off into the “real world.” 

4. Face reality

Stephan Savoia/AP
John Fiorenzo, center, catches a brief nap during the address to the graduates at his Boston College Commencement ceremony while a classmate yawns behind him at Alumni Stadium on the university's campus in Boston, Monday, May 21, 2012. Fellow graduates Patrick Dingham, left, and Brandan Kirby, right, watch the stadium's jumbotron.

This is one for the graduates who expect to run their own company at age 23, or who tell recruiters things like, “I don’t want to work in an office,” or who say that the answer to Tip No. 2 is “I see myself running this company in five years.” 

Calm down, Brown says.  

“You may land your dream job out of college but it doesn’t happen very much,” she says. And that’s OK, she says. If you don’t have the gig you expected — or if student loans and rent are getting in the way of your dream career — take steps to improve your employment profile. Ask for an information interview at a company where you’d like to work, and then really listen to what you hear. 

“This is a lot more helpful than what your uncle is telling you,” she says. 

Volunteer in areas where you’d like to work.

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