Hey, 2014 graduate WITH a full-time job already lined up! For starters: congratulations. You have been fortunate to leave college with a degree as well as a steady salary and benefits, which you will enjoy once you report to work in the fall. You’re not going to be part of the 8.5 percent of your peers who are unemployed, or the 16.8 percent who are underemployed. But your impending good fortune doesn’t mean you should put off thinking about your new career until your first day at work. You can use this summer to make yourself a more desirable employee come autumn—you can bet your unemployed and underemployed peers are!

How to polish your professionalism over the summer:

• Create a professional persona online. You’re leaving your college days behind, and your online presence should reflect that. Comb over your Facebook, Instagram, and other social media profiles for any photos that might not earn you respect in your new professional role. Now, you can either remove any suspect photos altogether, or you can make sure they are set to private for only your friends to see (but you never know when your boss or coworkers might ask to become part of your social media network…). After your existing profiles are cleaned up, consider creating profiles on professional networks like LinkedIn, BranchOut, or Meetup, and beginning to build an online network.
• Network, network, network. You did network in college, right? Well the networking doesn’t stop when college does. Use the summer to check in with your existing network, including college professors, past employers, key coworkers, and college friends, and to give them an update on what city and company you’ll be heading into come fall. If you’ll be moving to a new city or state for work, get a head start familiarizing yourself with the area and its people. You’ll have less to worry about when you start work!
• Research your industry. By the time your loafers cross the threshold of your new office building, you should be up to speed on your industry’s trends. You can probably learn a few trends from your burgeoning network, but you should also do some research online. You can track articles relevant to your industry through sites like Feedly and Inoreader—just select your favorite industry-related websites and follow the RSS feeds all in one place.
• Start your new routine. Of course you should celebrate your last summer of “freedom,” but you won’t be able to party until morning and sleep until noon once fall hits. Fortunately, you can use the summer to transition to the sleep, nutrition, and exercise habits you want to carry into your career life. Don’t wait until your first day on the job to expect your body to fall in line! Settling into your new routine in advance will give you one less thing to worry about when you hit the ground running.

This summer can pass you by before you know it! By planning ahead to make your summer a professionally productive one, you’ll be sure to be at your A-game once you report to work this fall. Good luck, graduates! And for you recent graduates who will be looking for work this summer, tune in to next week’s YES! Your Human Resources Solution blogfor tips on how to make your summer job search sizzle.