I came across an article initially posted on PR daily back in September 2011. It has some great tips for people starting out in school, and how to maximize their time while not at class throughout the day. Have a look through these tips that are guaranteed to help in obtaining that coveted position out of school.

Work part time. Balancing school, social life, and a job will teach you time management. You’ll spend the rest of your life trying to strike a work/life balance, so the time to practice is now. You’ll make some money, gain experience, and still have time to party; you’ll also have to be more focused and disciplined when you focus on homework. If at all possible, make that job an internship related to your field. It’s never too early to gain relevant experience.

Attend (at least) one networking event per month. Join a student organization, attend an event hosted by a professional organization in your industry, attend a conference, arrange a lunch with a professor or mentor, travel to the city you want to live in when you graduate and meet with alumni from your school, attend a career fair—the options are endless. Try to schedule events to get you out of the house and into a situation to meet people with something in common.

Make time for fun. You know that as a student your top priority needs to be your schoolwork. Don’t slack on the grades. Work hard, learn as much as possible, and take college seriously. It will pay off once you hit the workplace. But make time for fun, too. Unfortunately, too many college students sacrifice their social lives to stay on top of overwhelming class workloads. Find a balance. Meet new people. Spend time with friends. After everyone graduates and parts ways, it’s harder to spend time together, so don’t waste the time you’ve got.

Find a mentor. Reach out to someone you think can give you good advice and will be able to teach you something about the career path you want to take. See if that person is willing to grab lunch, a drink, or have a phone call every few weeks or so to talk about current events, case studies, job advice, or anything else you think will help you along the way. Having mentors throughout your career will be valuable. It’s never too soon to start.

Go to an industry conference. Find out whether any conferences in your industry of choice are happening locally—or close enough to drive—and find a way to attend. If registration prices are out of reach for your professional development budget, contact the organizers to find out if there is a student rate or whether they might waive your registration fee if you help with the set-up or by checking in attendees. You can also ask a professor or student organization leader if they can help you find sponsorship to attend on the organization’s behalf and be prepared to come back and share what you learned. You will meet professionals in your industry, and you will probably gain valuable information from the speakers. It’s great fodder for interviews when you’re inevitably asked what you’ve done beyond your course work to prepare for a position.

Do something on your bucket list. Seriously, use your spring break to travel somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit, start that side project you’ve been meaning to get around to, learn a new skill, jump out of an airplane (with a parachute, please)—do something that will totally energize you to do what you want with your life.

Become a student of your industry. Learn about different agencies or companies you think you may want to work for. Learn who the big players are in the industry. Follow the news. Educate yourself about technologies and trends that will someday affect your work and your clients. Train yourself to be constantly learning about what will make you a more valuable employee.

Build a portfolio. Keep track of work you do along the way, and set it aside so you can easily build a portfolio when you need it. You don’t want to throw together a sloppy set of work samples you compile at the last minute when an interviewer asks for it. If you stay organized and create work with the intention of showing it to your potential future employer, you’ll have more options to choose from before you need them.

This brings me to a recent encounter with an acquaintance of mine. She… well,  let’s call her ‘Margarita’ for writing’s sake. Margarita had reached a point in her early twenties where she had just graduated school and had no idea what to do with herself. Parents experience empty nest syndrome after youth leave the home, and it’s my firm belief that youth have a similar sort of symptom soon after graduation. This was certainly the case for good old Marg. You see, Margarita has worked the odd job, and even has some fantastic opportunities on the horizon. Her problem? She wasn’t sure if the path she’d paved so far was one she wanted to continue on.

I think this happens to many of us early on in discovering what the world has in store for us. I jumped from job to job for many years – in fact, I can probably walk the streets of Toronto and recall a place of employment within each kilometre of travel. The truth is, everyone moves at their own pace when trying to get from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’. The important thing to remember is: the alphabet has 26 letters, and it’s ok if ‘A to B’ becomes ‘A to Z’.

If there’s any advice I’d be able to give to people in this situation, I think it would be this:

We constantly think that we’re in a race. A race against our peers, our family, and ourselves. We make these master plans that map out exactly how we’re going to accomplish the aspirations we have in life, yet we rarely are actually able to follow these detailed scripts. Take your time, make mistakes, and have some fun – opportunity is always around the corner but don’t just jump into it because you think you HAVE to. It’s ok to take a step back, wait tables, bartend, or work in retail for awhile just until you get things figured out. Sometimes you just have to live life until the right opportunity presents itself.

Please don’t interpret any of this as an encouragement to lose your ambition and drive, because by no means do I think that people should become complacent or simply settle. This is directed at those who know they’re destined for greatness in the world – but have yet to figure out how to unleash their strengths. Have a plan, but don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t materialize in the time period you sought out. Practise and patience mixed with progressive behaviour and positivity will take you to your destination. Many of the most successful people I know have arrived where they are after something that wasn’t in their ‘plan’ somehow bumped them off course. As it turns out, sometimes a detour is the faster way to get to your destination.

As for Margarita? I poured her another cocktail, and told her to follow her gut.