The document provides guidance to fresh graduates on how to prepare for their careers. It recommends that students first work on self-awareness by taking career assessments to understand their strengths, interests, and best career fits. It also advises students to explore careers related to their degree, identify in-demand skills, and build their professional network through social media and student groups to better promote themselves to employers.

2. *Recently I was invited for a panel discussion on Careers
in Management at a reputed management institute at
Pune. I got an opportunity to interact with around 250
students who were very excited at the same time
anxious about their careers. Through this article I intend
to provide guidance to Fresh Graduates (from all
disciplines) who are about to start their professional
careers.
*Most students go to college to get a degree and to gain
the skills employers want. Getting good grades is not
enough to impress most employers. Students that follow
the strategies listed below will be better prepared to
promote themselves to employers.

3. *Step 1. Self Awareness
*The best place to start is by knowing yourself. It gives
you a clear idea about your strengths & areas of
improvement. Career assessments can help identify your
skills, interests, values, or other traits. These are then
matched to a broad list of careers. Assessments help you
find careers that fit you best. These days there are
some very effective Psychometric Tests available based
on Five Factor Model (FFM) which have been found
extremely reliable and useful in understanding yourself
and your best career choices based your strengths and
traits.

4. *What Can an Assessment Tell You?
*An assessment is like a mirror and can tell you what may not
have really noticed about your personality traits.
*Take a career assessment to:
*Understand the strengths (or weaknesses) you bring to your
job.
*Find out about specific occupations that are a good match for
your unique blend of traits.
*Learn where your skills fall short of the requirements for
different jobs.
*Decide whether you need more training or experience in an
area.
*Reflect on where you want to take your career, and where
you want your career to take you.

5. *Step 2. Prepare Yourself
*Explore careers related to your degree.
*Don't wait until you are graduating to think
about the workplace. If you haven't already,
research careers related to your specialization.
Do you know what jobs you will be qualified for
when you graduate? To help plan your career
path, conduct several informational interviews
with people who work with or hire people in
your desired career. Ask them if your degree
program and extra-curricular experiences have
prepared you for the requirements employers
expect.
*Identify skills most in demand by your potential
Employers.

6. *In today's world, your people network is your
social power. The more active you are in
your social networking, the more your
chances of being visible and knowledgeable
about the world around you. Today there are
some excellent social platforms like
Facebook, LinkedIn and other students
specific social media platform that can be of
great help to you. Join a career-related
student group, professional associations, or
other groups that can help you to build your
network, including online career-related
groups. When possible, choose college
projects related to trends and topics in your
desired career.