In a tough economy, it is never too early to begin searching for post-graduate work and planning for your future. In fact, the perfect time to start is before your first college class.

Being well-prepared for your job interview goes beyond having your suit pressed and ready and a few copies of your resume on hand. There are certain tricks and traps set up in nearly every interview you’ll go on, so it helps to be prepared with some go-to answers beforehand. It’s difficult, but important, to strike the right balance between sounding like a rehearsed robot and looking like a deer caught in headlights without a clue of what to say.

There are a number of things you can do in college to enhance your education and appear more valuable to potential employers. Most students know these things to be internships, work-study, clubs, and campus activities. But you can also boost your skill set by taking a few elective courses outside of your major field to round out your education and add an extra point of view to potential working situations.

The process of preparing for and applying to colleges and universities is a long and difficult one. You must work hard for the four years that you are in high school in order to achieve a sufficiently high grade point average which allows you to gain acceptance into your schools of choice.