We had two months left of our senior year when COVID-19 became an international phenomenon. Initially one week of classes were canceled. A couple days later, two weeks of classes canceled. Eventually the university decided the rest of the academic year would be online, and a couple months later our graduation ceremony would be online as well. To the dismay of most the graduating class, our time at the university was understandably cut short. Our graduation ceremony became four short pre-made videos with footage of previous in-person ceremonies followed by a list of single slides with the names of the graduating class. Some slides with pictures, some without. And that was it. We had graduated. It was time to start our lives outside of university.
Life after graduation for some would be continuing their education, however, for those not continuing their education there arose this daunting question of what next? One major issue I’ve found after graduating is just how little I knew about personal finance and career readiness. To top off this overwhelming sense of not being prepared, we are living in a global pandemic with a dwindling job market. For many recent graduates there’s an overwhelming sense of uncertainty and in an effort to help with this I have three book recommendations that will hopefully help you to fill any information gap you may have.
As previously mentioned one issue I had following graduation is how to handle my personal finance. I found Chelsea Fagan’s book The Financial Diet: A Total Beginner’s Guide to Getting Good with Money simplistic and very easy to follow. She outlines personal finance in fun and engaging way that utilizes more graphics and visual effects to highlight her key concepts rather than being heavily texted based. She focuses on a range of topics from budgeting and investing to career advice and how to balance finance in relationships. I highly recommend this book as a beginners guide to understanding your money and how to prepare yourself for a better financial future.
Following The Financial Diet another great book that focuses on post-graduation advice is I Just Graduated…Now What? By Katherine Schwarzenegger. In my opinion this book is considerably less structured than the previous book, but it focuses on the individuality of each person and is essentially composed of 30 different stories from graduates and how they came about their success. This is a great one to read for inspiration and motivation post-graduation and a great reminder that success does not happen overnight. This book is a great resource to gain insight and advice from those who have been in similar positions as you and how they managed their careers.
One other great book for career jump-starting and advice is Lean In for Graduates by Sheryl Sandberg. I found this book particularly motivating for young female graduates. Sandberg discusses issues of workplace inequality and gives great advice for kick starting your successful career. This book is centralized around femininity and the issues women face in their careers and she gives this perspective from her own experience and that of around twelve other peers, both men and women.
These books are a great resource for new graduates, and another fantastic source for information is at the Williamson County Public Library. There are dozens of titles ranging from career readiness and personal finance to motivational and self-help books.
By Bailey Davidson
The books in this post are linked to Williamson County Public Library’s Online Catalog – you can simply choose to hold them, after signing in to the Catalog with your library card number. Then, wait for confirmation from Circulation and pick up your holds between 9am and 10am Monday through Saturday for minimal contact; or you can come into the Library between 10am and 6pm Monday through Friday and 10am and 1pm on Saturday to retrieve your holds from Circulation. Please note that these are the hours for the Main Franklin Branch, Nolensville, and Fairview Branches only. Please visit Williamson County Public Library’s website for the Leiper’s Fork and Bethesda Branches availability.
