OK, so you graduated. Now what?

Below are some questions to consider when trying to decide what you want to do. We most likely will ask you some version of these questions in an interview, and would hope that you would be able to answer them honestly, and not just feed us a line.

What kinds of interactions do you want to have?
There are all kinds of people in the working world. Would you want to work with businesspeople, technical people, artistic people? Do you want to deal with executives, business owners, upper management, or people in the field? Do you want to spend money? Do you want to sell? Do you like working on the phone? Giving presentations?

What skills do you want to learn?
In the business world, there are all kinds of skills to have: financial, strategic, marketing, sales, management, computer, even people. What are your strengths? What areas might you like to improve? What skills do you want to develop?

What level of decision making to you want to achieve?
Decisions, decisions, decisions. What level of challenge are you looking for? How accountable do you want to be? What is at stake for you when you make a decision?

What level of leadership do you want to achieve?
Do you want to manage others? Do you want to be managed, and if so, to what level of detail? If management is a goal for you, what kind of manager do you want to be? Do you want to direct people at a detailed level, or set general goals and help your staff along? Do you want to manage a team of peers, or a team of underlings? What would be a fair measure of your success as a manager? What criteria would you use to evaluate those people you managed?

What level of accountability do you want?
Some people are only motivated when the project bears their names. A low level of accountability usually means that you are a helper and if something goes wrong, someone will come in and help you solve the problem or solve the problem for you. A high level of accountability means that you will be that someone who has to solve the problem.

How much exposure to technology do you want?
In the computer industry, this is a particularly important question. To what degree do you want to know technology? Do you want to know what it does, or how it does it? Do you need to know how to run it, or simply how it is run? Do you like to be challenged with technology, or is it just something you need to know at a minimal level to do the rest of your job? Would you rather know a little about a lot of things or would you like to know a few things in-depth? Do you feel confident when you know only a little about something or do you need to know everything about something to feel knowledgeable?

Do you like working on a team or prefer working alone?
This is the question every interviewer asks! The official answer is that you are happy either way, you can work well on teams, but you are self-sufficient and happy defining your own work. As you spout out that answer, think about how you really feel about teamwork and independence.

Are you comfortable working by yourself? Are you able to meet deadlines and maintain quality without others against whose work you can benchmark your performance? If you like working on teams, what kind of people do you work well with? What role would you want on the team? How do you feel when others on the team drop the ball? How would that affect your happiness and productivity?

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