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Examine your Job Prospects

Of course, one of the primary considerations in deciding which job to take is the salary you are going to make.  Salary.com and PayScale.com both have intuitive wizards that allow you to enter almost any standard occupation or industry and a U.S. location, and they will provide you with income projections for both management-track and non-management-track positions in that field or industry in that location.  JobStar.org, supported by local public libraries, is a good consolidator that lists these and other salary surveys you can check.

A second consideration, and maybe even more important, is the job stability of your potential occupation or career path.  The Department of Labor generates national predictions of employment by industry and occupation, but the states also provide a more useful set of projections for their own geographical areas.  The projections currently extend through 2016 and thus should give you a good feel for the underlying employment trends that may affect you.

Finding a job can be stressful or exciting, but it's usually a little of both.  Whatever happens, try to take a balanced approach to the job search.  On one hand, the job you take after college is going to set your career on an immediate path, and decisions you make now are going to propogate with you for the rest of your life.  On the other hand, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the avearage worker changes jobs more than 4 times in his or her lifetime, and this number has been trending upward.  So, it's a good idea to take your job search seriously, but don't overthink the search, as you will have plenty of times to switch jobs if the first one doesn't work out for you.

Good luck!

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