This article is part of a series called Graduating? which focuses on personal finance advice for fresh college grads.

Your exams are done! You’ve received your shiny (and very expensive) piece of paper - the one that tells the world you’ve got a head full of knowledge and a bright future ahead of you.

Time to get a job. The one that will start your career.

1) Clean up your act.

Guess what? The internet is the internet, and nothing is private. So clean up your social networking pages. Prospective employers DO check Facebook and Myspace, and they DO Google for your name. Maybe you’re lucky and have an extremely common name, but you should still Google yourself and see what comes up. And don’t assume that just because you’ve marked your profiles as private doesn’t mean they can’t be seen.

This is step number one, because you want your online image cleaned up before anyone looks for you! I know it might feel like you’re censoring yourself, but that’s a decision you have to make based on the industry you’re applying for. Think like an employer and look over your profile - what jumps out at you as a red flag for irresponsible, unethical, or lewd? Take it out.

2) Resume it up.

You’d be hard pressed to find someone who hates writing her resume as much as I do. Seriously. But I found a pretty handy guide on writing your resume, which I suggest you read through while you polish (or start!) your resume.

3) Think small, think local.

Big companies that you know the name of have a big draw, but don’t forget the little guys. Most of America is run by small businesses. Many city newspapers have their classified listed online now, so check the listings and Craigslist for the areas you want to live in.

4) Be persistent.

Send out your resume to a lot of companies - but be sure to follow up, especially with the ones that really excite you. Most advice on writing cover letters instructs you to write that you’ll call within a week. Do it. Hone all of you efforts into one goal: getting the interview.

5) Be frugal.

It might seem like you have to spend a lot to bridge the gap between graduation and your first job. But be smart about it. If you don’t have a job yet, move back home with your parents while you search (if you can). If you have to spend some money that you don’t have, credit cards may be the answer. BUT keep your spending really, really low. You don’t need the nicest suit in the city for your job interview, you just need one that’s clean and fits you well.

Even if you do have some money tucked away to bridge the gap, be smart with it. Just because you’ve got some cash on hand doesn’t mean these rules don’t apply to you! The more of your stash that you can hold on to, the better off you’ll be.

Some more resources to check out:
CBCampus’ Articles on Job Hunting
FastWeb on Job Searching

The next Graduating? topic will be preparing for taxes and evaluating benefits as you decide which job offer to accept!

Photo by thinkpanama

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be running a series of posts on Poorer Than You - personal finance advice for the many of you that are graduating from college right now. Go ahead and feel special - you’re in the spotlight!

I already have a list of topics I want to cover, but I would really love it if you would weigh in. If you…

• Are graduating and have questions
• Graduated recently and are struggling with something
• Will graduate in the next few years and want to get a head start
• Graduated in the past and remember things you wish you’d known
• Have advice that you’d like to contribute

Then please leave a comment on this post with your ideas or questions! If you’ve got a big, long, well-thought-out idea, I’ll also accept guest posts for this series. Let me know! (You can also use the contact form to send in questions or ideas, if you’d like.)

The first post in the series hits the site tomorrow morning!

Photo: Mortarboard by J0nB0n

My phone is broken. I’ve managed to smash the glass cover for the camera lens and the battery won’t stay charged. I’m plugging it in nearly once a day now, and it beeps angrily at me when I try to make phone calls. The juice is gone - it has been since July.

I have a saving grace: according to Verizon it’s time to upgrade my phone. We all know what that means - deep, deep discounts on new phones to bait me into renewing my two year contract. And I took the bait - but I didn’t make the same mistakes this time around.

Just a little refresher - here are the five mistakes I made when buying my last phone:

1. Not asking myself “Do I need a new phone?”
2. Not carefully evaluating what features I needed and wanted.
3. Rushing in.
4. Not checking reviews.
5. Charging it on a credit card that I couldn’t pay off.

Did I end up totally screwed last time? No, but those mistakes did hurt me. I ended up with a phone that soon went out of production, and was never able to find a replacement battery for it. And I could have had a cute LG Chocolate for the exact same price.

Determined not to be a silly goose this time around, I deliberately avoided all five mistakes. Sort of.

Ok Steph, do you need a new phone?
Yes! A bit. Well, “need” is an interesting thing. I do need my phone for work and in order to keep using it I need either a new battery, or to switch to a different phone. In the end I got a new phone - but only because it was free.

Features!
The sole reason I upgraded last time was that I was sick of being the only person without a camera phone. Dumb reason, right? Especially since I’d just bought a new digital camera a few weeks earlier. But having that phone for a year an a half taught me what I do (and don’t) use in a phone. All I really need is a phone that calls and texts, and I like to have the camera function, but it’s not necessary.

Rush In!
Opps. Failed this one. I spent less than day and a half debating phones, and never stepped foot in a store - I did it all online. What can I say? I’m impetuous.

Reviews!
I checked the reviews on CNet this time. In fact, they’re the reason I picked the Samsung Juke (free) over the Motorola Krzr K1m ($20). The Juke has far better reviews (and did I mention the free part?).

Credit card? We don’t need no stinking credit card!
Free, with free shipping. My mom decided to get me the $5 belt clip as a gift. Booyah.

Bonus: Declined the insurance plan. Because it’s basically a scam.
$5 a month and a $50 deductible on a phone that retails for $80? No thanks. Not when I have two old backup phones sitting around.

Oh Mr. FedEx guy, I can’t wait till you bring me my new phone tomorrow!

Finally free from student loans and textbook costs (until August, anyway), it’s time to start seeing some upward mobility in my net worth again. How did I stack up this month?

Change: $143 or +0.41 %

Up, but possibly not as much as I’d have liked. Although I started my on-campus job again last month, I only got one paycheck for it in April - the rest I’m getting this month. Mostly, that meant I didn’t pay as much into my credit card as I would have liked - I’ll have to make up for that this month.

I have high hopes for summer - new job, no tuition or textbooks sucking away all of my money… I can’t wait!

For a look at my assets and liabilities, check out my NetworthIQ for April. For an explanation of the categories I use, check out the bottom of my entry about February’s net worth balance.

Those of you who advised me on whether or not I should buy a bike (and what kind) will be happy to know that I bought one! I answered a listing on the Facebook Marketplace about a bike for sale, and paid $20 for a women’s bike with a bent wheel. I’m going to have to replace the wheel, which will be another $30, but I’m content with that.

I looked several places, including Craigslist, and made plans to visit some bike stores and ask questions. But then the listing for a $20 broken bike popped up on my Facebook page, so I made an appointment to check it out. I took my boyfriend, who very un-helpfully shrugged at me most of the time (even though he supposedly knows more about bikes that I do).

But the bike is in good shape (aside from the back wheel!) and looks good for what I need, so I bought it. Hopefully we’ll get it in working order before summer “vacation” hits, so that I can take advantage of a more lax schedule.

I absolutely recommend, if you’re a Facebook user already, that you use the Marketplace feature for both your “wanted” and “for sale” classifieds. I’ve bought and sold textbooks on there before, and it works pretty well. The nice thing is that it puts the listings in your area, and it pops up on your friends’ pages, so you might just be able to make a transaction with someone you already know!

I’ve got a bike!