How Going Back to School Can Help You Land a Job

Although the past two years of my life have been a whirlwind, I am very happy that I made the choice to continue my education. One of the main reasons I have enjoyed grad school is that it has helped me figure out what I want to do with my life. I have found that although I currently have a job I love, I am now performing even better and also finding new opportunities that better match my interests and skills.
Here are my top 10 reasons why going back to school can help you in your job search:

1. Networking: By heading back to school, you can meet employees of companies where you want to work. Often other employees know of jobs that are available that haven't even been advertised yet. I have referred two of my classmates to my company since I started school. By working with them on group projects, I knew they would make great teammates and this made me comfortable referring them.
2. Promotion: I was surprised by how quickly I was promoted in my current company after a year in school. My management noticed how hard I was working and rewarded me for it.
3. JOBS: If you lose or leave your job during school, most likely you will have access to a great career services office that will help you get placed in another job ASAP. The last two years that I have been in school have been very rough economic times and almost half of my class lost their jobs since we started. Fortunately, my classmates were able to quickly find new jobs thanks to our career services office.
4. Career Advisors: Most schools have career advisors that can help you with your resume, give you interview advice and provide you with an evaluation of your personality to see what career will be best for you. Many schools also provide career seminars where Human Resources Executives provide insights into what employers are looking for.
5. Connections: Your professors are very valuable connections. Usually they are passionate about helping students succeed and won't hesitate to connect you with their network if you ask.
6. Informational Interviews: Grad school is a great time to do informational interviews. If you call someone up and say that you are a student, most people are happy to answer your questions. It is amazing what doors will open just by saying that you are a student.
7. Events: My school holds some type of networking event every day and these events are so important to take advantage of. My favorite event at my school is meeting with my business mentor.
8. Passion: Grad school gives you the opportunity to find out what you are passionate about. You can take advantage of trying new classes and find interests that you never knew you had. These classes can also help you learn exactly what you don't want to do.
9. Salary negotiation: Not only can grad school help you land a job, but it can also help you learn how to negotiate a great salary. I have found that salary negotiation is rarely spoken about in the corporate world so I definitely enjoyed hearing these tips in grad school!
10. Ability and Determination: The most important benefit of heading back to school is that when Hiring Managers see that you finished grad school, they know you can multitask and succeed in a job with large responsibilities. Everyone knows that juggling school, family and work is not easy so this is where you can quickly score a big thumbs up!