Feeling anxious about life after college graduation?

With all the talk of degrees, debt, and no jobs or internships, even freshmen are worried. Hiring managers say that what matters most in a competitive entry-level job market is a visible authentic personal brand validated by experience. Despite all the free how-to advice, concerned families are paying thousands for early career coaching because they know students naturally procrastinate and that without a clear plan, easy steps, and some form of accountability their student won't graduate ready to compete.

Their reasoning probably holds true for most students, unfortunately most students can't afford a coach. That's why we created GradPlan.com.

Introducing GradPlan.com

We are a professional development community for college students. Our members will be entering challeging entry-level job markets and need help getting ready to compete. The shared strategies and goals we facilitate empower them to succeed. A step-by-step plan, intentionally designed volunteer work, and highly interactive Zoom meetups make it easy for members to work together on building up their experience, personal brand, and visibility.

Students have free access to quality how-to advice. What they really need is a framework that inspires them to put it to good use. The unique space we created to motivate students and help them do great work costs less than $20 a month.

Employers value professional development communities and employees who seek opportunities to improve their skills. When they see Gradplan.com on your resume or social media or hear your impact stories in interviews, they'll know your values are aligned and you've been developing the essential and soft skills they're looking for.

Why It Matters

Employers Are Paying Attention

70% of recruiters engage with candidates on social media daily and 89% say social media helps them understand a candidate's values. WorldMetrics.org

73% of hiring managers use social media to evaluate applicants, mainly to confirm cultural fit and verify application details. Resume Builder Survey

82% of hiring managers are more likely to choose a candidate with volunteer experience.

 

85% of hiring managers are more inclined to look past resume flaws when the candidate includes volunteer work, yet only 30% list it on their resumes.

 

92% of employers agree that volunteering improves leadership and professional skills.

Deloitte, Impact Survey

41% of hiring managers consider volunteer experience equal to paid work experience. LinkedIn, Global Recruiting Trends

Volunteers have 27% higher odds of employment, and the employment boost is even stronger for individuals early in their careers. AmeriCorps

Not all degrees lead toward a competitive entry-level job market but if yours does you need to seize every advantage you can get.

The Strategy and Goals that Unite Our Community

A Step-by-Step Plan

Build the Foundation for Your Authentic Personal Brand

  • Identify your values, interests, and story
  • Craft your LinkedIn Bio and Profile
  • Grow your online presence and network

Strengthen Your Brand Through Quality Volunteer Work

  • Align work with brand development
  • Turn class projects into work experience
  • Earn credentials that validate your skills

Practice Telling Your Story and Increase Your Visibility

  • Translate skills to your resume effectively
  • Build impact stories for your interviews
  • Build trust, credibility, and visibility

Quality Volunteer Work

   PeerTakes   

Leverage your personal assets, connections, and social credibility

Work with your old high school or a campus organization to create mentoring opportunities aimed at increasing student engagement and success. Inspire younger students by sharing stories about your own successes and failures.

Skills: empathy leadership, emotional intelligence, communication, motivation, networking, interpersonal skills

   Impact Collabs   

Use your firsthand knowledge to improve student services

Align class projects or form collaborations to improve organizations you are part of, support the work of education and workforce development leaders, or help any program better serve students.

Skills: leadership, problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, networking, teamwork, communication, work ethic

   Teach It Back   

Share your knowledge to help other students succeed

Create your own internship or learn how to use tools, data, workforce development initiatives, or resume and interview strategies to become a stronger job candidate. Then create opportunities to educate and lift others. 

Skills: adaptability, empathy leadership, teamwork, motivation, problem solving, critical thinking, interpersonal skills 

A Job Search Advantage

Essential and Soft Skills

Helping younger students avoid pitfalls and find success, especially those you share a connection with, is highly rewarding. The feeling of pride and success that comes with it will motivate you to continue working on projects that build evidence of soft and essential skills employers are seeking. It's an easy and strategic place to start.

Brand Values and Metrics

Increasing student engagement is one of our country's greatest challenges. The global cost of disengaged employees is $8.8 trillion annually. Adding projects to your resume that reflect engagement is one of your core values helps strengthen your brand. And projects that produce metrics about your impact will give your resume and interviews a boost.

Social Capital and Confidence

Gaining experience and social capital by collaborating and volunteering helps you overcome the anxiety and self-doubt that comes with being a first-time job candidate. Creating your own volunteer work is also great practice for creating gig work. A degree matters, but experience, leadership, and initiative build confidence and set you apart.

How it Works

Use Your Sample Plan as a Guide to Map and Manage Your Strategy

You will recieve a sample plan and resource list based on the questionaire you submit at sign up. Our workgroup facilitators post a monthly schedule of their Zoom events. Each meetup is dedicated to discussing one of the 9 steps or 3 project styles you can choose to work on and multiple time slots are available. Start working your plan and join Zoom meetups for help and to collaborate with others working on the same step. 

Participate in Zoom Meetups to Stay Motivated and On Track

Meetups help you block out time be productive. They don't include a presentation unless noted on the calendar. You'll learn a lot and stay motivated just by listening to students ask questions and hearing the advice the facilitator and other students have to offer. Facilitators also post open office hours you can pop into to ask questions and a library of helpful meeting recordings and video links is always available.

Use Zoom Meetups to Grow Your Network and Networking Skills

Meetups connect students from different campuses, majors, and backgrounds. Interacting is a way to practice skills like introducing yourself at a job fair or networking event. Forming groups and working in breakout rooms on things like interview practice or to collaborate on volunteer projects is encouraged. Signing up for the same meetup again before you leave makes finding a time to work together again easy. 

It’s déjà vu!

We know applying for jobs isn't what you want to think about as you start college just like applying for college wasn't what you wanted to think about in 9th grade.

But if you were one of the students who started early and did just a little every month, you likely earned scholarships and are at your dream school. If you started late and fell short on extracurriculars, you were likely stressed and missed some opportunities.

Start following the advice from hiring managers sooner rather than later. Whether you like to pace yourself, need to catch up, or have to really hustle, we hope you'll join our community so we can help you graduate with a job search advantage.

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