Most of these tips are those given to you by seasoned professionals in the workforce but it never hurts to repeat them.

Sunglasses

A great prop for when it’s sunny outside, but remember to take them off during your interview even if you’re surrounded by windows with light shining in your eyes. Employers like to see your face and read your eyes during the interview. If you have sunglasses on they’ll either think you’re hungover, snobbish, or just weird.

Non-dress pants

This means anything with a draw string, jeans, or a jean skirt or sweat pants. Don’t wear anything that you wouldn’t normally wear to a formal family function in a nice restaurant.

A classy t-shirt

Even if it’s a nice t-shirt, it’s still a t-shirt and lacks professionalism.  You want to look like you will take this job seriously.  It’s easy to look like just another college bum without a job, or the desire to have one. Don’t be that guy.  Appearance is everything.

Sneakers

This is an obvious one. Don’t finish off that expensive suit with some old tennis sneakers because you have to walk sixteen blocks to get there or up giant flights of stairs. If you need to, pop in some gel inserts or give yourself a mini foot rub in the bathroom.

At some point in your college career, you may start to think about your career after college.  One place to score a great job or internship is at your school’s career fair.  Here are some tips to make the most out of the career fair.

Get professional help on your resume

The first thing you want to do is update your resume with all of the latest information.  Take advantage of any school resources for helping you prepare your resume.  Have a few people look it over and ask them what you think.  Getting help from someone who is successful and “knows the ropes” can make a huge difference in your resume.

Research the companies

Before you go to the career fair, take a look at the list of companies that are coming to the fair and what jobs they are recruiting for.  Make sure you have at least one or two that you are absolutely interested in and go the extra mile to learn all you can about what they do.  Knowing about the company will set you apart in the eyes of the recruiter, and a lot of times will get you an interview at the least.

Work on your handshake and interviewing skills

No matter what position you’re looking for, people skills will always be important in getting a job.  Work on a solid handshake, eye contact and communication skills before showing up.  Feel free to practice in front of the mirror or with a friend if it will make you more comfortable the day of the fair.  You should also anticipate the kind of questions that recruiters will ask of you and be prepared to answer them.

Take a lap and warm up

When you get to the fair you might feel a little nervous and apprehensive about “putting yourself out there”.  Go ahead and take a lap around the career fair and stop by a few companies that you may not be interested in, just to get warmed up and practice the skills you’ve been honing.  Once you feel ready, go for the few companies that you are really targeting.

It’s hard to create a savings account or even a checking account when you can barely scrounge enough during the semester for a coffee. If you do manage a job either off campus or as a work study, the last thing you want to do is put that money away where you can’t touch it. Here are some tips to manage money without owing the bank any of that hard earned cash.

Establish at least one credit card, purchase one thing on it, and then put it away so you can’t use it. This will afford you an awesome line of credit and more credit card opportunities without breaking your bank. Spend only the amount you have to spend in your normal account and then pay it off right away. Viola, instant money management when you can’t pay right away, but you know in the next week at most, that you can.
Check your daily balance online, over the phone, or at an ATM whenever you can during the week, every week. The age of paper statements is at a close and it’s so much better to save tress then waste them on monthly account updates. However, this means for the most part you have to stay on top of what your balance is yourself through whatever means possible. Nothing is worse than getting overdraft fees that you can’t afford because you spent money you didn’t have in your account.

Save all your change and then find Commerce Bank. They have free coin stars instead of having to pay half the amount you’ve had counted. When you’re a college student you want to save money, not give it away mindlessly and most coin counting machines profit off your laziness. Worse comes to worst, count it yourself and save yourself the trip period.

If you do incur charges that you cannot pay, if you work with the bank, they will work with you. Tell them you’re a college student, answer all their questions, and they will often put a hold on the account and stop charging you fees. It pays to be aware, honest, and face any problem head on.

When you’re under legal drinking age some of the worst paraphernalia to have in your room during room checks are shot glasses. However, instead of hiding them, here are some nifty ways to use them not just for alcoholic purposes.

You can use them to clean your eyebrow piercings. One of the most helpful tips when you have an ever popular eyebrow piercing is to put soapy water in a shot glass and lean it against your head so it will drain through the holes.

Use them as center pieces on a trunk and put candy in them. They’re neat and delightful treats for anyone who visits. You can also bet your friends they can’t eat 3 of them and fill them with nerds; it can be a fun ice breaker for any dry dorm party.

Put incense oil in them to make your own holder instead of spending ridiculous amounts of money on a clay cat. The oil itself is cheap in comparison to the holder. Set them up along your desk with soothing lavender and breathe it in when you’ve had a stressful day.

Use it as a makeshift cough syrup measuring cup when you’re sick. There’s nothing worse for a sick and under the weather college student than having to swig Pepto-Bismol from the bottle. It’s just uncomfortable not to mention unhygienic.

Another helpful use is a ring or earring holder. They are clear so you can see what jewelry you put where without having to take it out and get it tangled with everything else you own.

In college, like in high school and elementary school they have fire drill safety practices. Except there is one major change to what you’re used to, these drills aren’t for safety, they are inspections. Every semester campus safety does at least one going through the whole building and checking every dorm room for anything illegal. This includes anything against school policy or narcotics, alcohol, incense, etc. If you can, the best thing to do is let your RA know you’re in on the secret and ask them if they know when they will be performing it. Odds are they are always told ahead of time so you can hide your candles and other essential bad stuff in the closet, drawers, or any place not out in the open.

The Rule for campus safety is that if it’s out in the open they can check it out and take it down as a violation. They are not by law allowed to open any drawers, cupboards, closets or any private place that is not accessed or left open. This is great for you because that’s where you hide EVERYTHING. Never, never, never hide anything in your fridge! That’s considered campus property and campus safety can go in there at anytime.

As a general rule with anything you have on campus that isn’t supposed to be there, be it before a fire drill or after one, be aware of where it is in your room. Be aware of who sees it. Be aware of if your door is locked when you leave the room and how your roomie feels about these illicit things being in the room. Be stealthy, be smart, and know what you can work around and what you can’t.
If you’re going to break the rules do it with smarts. That’s the bottom line.