How to Deal with the Question – What are You Doing after Graduation?

It sometimes seems as if even before the ink is dry on your college acceptance letter, people start to ask ‘what you are going to do after you graduate.’ While the question can raise anxiety no matter when it is asked, especially  if you are not clear about your plan, it can get very intense as you near graduation. However, as I often note in my posts, the intensity of feelings that are evoked can be mitigated if you are prepared. Here are some ways to address the question that may make you feel better.

• Give a general answer (e.g., finance) and then divert the follow-up questions by asking him or her a question about his/her own career. If you have a sense of a direction, but no clear job title–you may want to offer the field and then try to stop further questioning by asking them about themselves.
• Don’t give a direct response, but instead ask them how they came to choose their own career. As you can see from these first two suggestions, many people like to talk about themselves and this is often a way to get the heat off of you and to hear about someone else’s process, which can be helpful to your own decision-making.
• Talk about an interesting internship, volunteer or club experience. It doesn’t necessarily give a direct answer, but does show that you do have interests and are not just going through the motions.
• If you are interested in graduate school, share that. Though usually if you are planning a graduate school, you do have a pretty clear plan.