So you have earned your degree and graduated.  Now what? You can spend the summer enjoying some time off, or you can proactively start looking for a job.  A recent post offered some tips on why to stay on top of your job search during the summer.

Since we were in school, summer has been associated with vacations, lazy days and a small break from life. Because of this association, people often forget that’s not how it works in the real world.

While workers do take vacations during the summer months, most people are only allowed a few weeks of vacation time. The rest of the summer is business as usual, as employers gear up for the busy fall and winter.

“If a company has an immediate need for someone, they’ll fill the position now instead of waiting until the fall,” says Eileen Javers, global leader of transition practices for Right Management, a provider of integrated consulting solutions for employment. If you wait, you’ll miss out on these jobs, as well as on the chances of getting ahead of the rest to be considered for interviews in the fall, she adds.

Javers offers this advice for job-hunting this summer:

Do at least one proactive thing per day, such as calling an old teacher or coach for a networking meeting.

Use the time others consider ‘down time’ to sharpen your job-search skills, get ahead of the competition and be better positioned for any suitable openings that occur now and in the near future.
 
Refine your interviewing skills by practicing in front of a video camera

Network with people you meet on vacation and at summertime activities like picnics, barbecues and beach parties.

You might be surprised at how much headway you can make if you start networking throughout the summer.  By fall you should either have a job, or be well on your way to getting one.