Incoming freshmen have likely heard it all by this point.
By the time they've finally sat down for their first class of the semester, freshmen have probably been bombarded by advice from parents, friends and advisors for the last six months about the right way to navigate college and score an all-important degree.
When I was a freshman, this advice ranged from the obvious; for instance, why you should attend class regularly, to the more specified, such as the million reasons you should avoid that vat of hunch punch your roommate's friend concocted last night.
While this advice is for the most part helpful in guiding students toward a degree, it often ends up being shortsighted of the final goal in earning a degree: landing a job.
With in-state undergraduates paying $39,408 in tuition and fees over four years, it seems to make sense that a student salvage as much value as possible from their investment in earning a degree.
But what good is a 40K degree with no pay off afterward?
According to the United States Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for 2013 college graduates, those ages 20-29 who earned a four-year or advanced degree, was 10.9 percent.
Applying those numbers to the 3,670 students who graduated in Auburn's spring 2014 ceremony, 400 graduates would be left searching for employment despite holding a four-year degree.
That number may not seem too high, but that's one of three graduation ceremonies Auburn will hold in 2014. And Auburn is just one of 629 four-year public universities in the United States.
As important as a degree is, it's really not that rare: 1,439,264 bachelor's degrees were awarded in the United States in 2013 alone, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
While those degrees are scattered amongst fields that vary in availability, competition amongst degree-holding graduates is only increasing as continued growth in college enrollment is projected by the National Center for Education Statistics through 2022.
So, if a degree is no longer the end-all for securing a job, how can a student reap the most from their hefty college investment?
Even though there are few sure-fire ways of securing employment, gaining outside work experience in their prospective field can give students a leg up over their classmates, who may not be putting in the extra work. The sooner you start adding to your resume, the better.
Whether it's writing for local newspapers during the summer, working as a research assistant in the computer science department or simply finding an internship, there are plenty of opportunities to gain a little extra experience in Auburn.
The benefits of this extra experience are incalculable; you won't build individual contacts, on-the-job skills and references in the classroom.
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