After years of late-nighters, all-nighters and the constant stress of being in school, the finish line is in sight: graduation! Unfortunately, what comes next can be as stressful as all your years of education combined. Your first job might be the hardest one you'll ever hunt for. Without experience, it's hard to convince an employer to take you on, since you have no track record yet.

There are many aspects to consider when you're searching for prospective employers. Not only is there the matter of salary, but the company might not have an opening in your locale — how do you know if a job is worth the move?

Fanshawe Career Services consultant Wendy Lycett had some great advice to consider when choosing a new job: first and foremost, "do a self-assessment to set your core priorities and values, because that's what you're going to look for in an employer." Every graduate is looking for something slightly different in a job and in an employer, she said: "Ten people could take the same program and have 10 different areas or different personalities in terms of what they value or what's important." While some people value vacation time highly, others may be more interested in a job that pays into their pension. It's up to you to set these priorities before embarking on your job hunt; whether or not your priorities are realistic could be a different story.

"Once you graduate, you kind of have the first five years of your career that are important that you're trying to get entry level jobs, developing yourself and getting that core level of experience." Your first few years in the job market should give you a wide range of experiences and opportunities to develop new job skills. More so than your time in college, these formative years will familiarize you with the expectations of that workforce, typical compensation rates and positions within the industry. Lycett put it best when she said, "The important thing to look for when you graduate is jobs that use and develop skills to work towards your goals."

So what if you can't find a job in your area of expertise? Lycett explained that working a part-time job after you're finished school isn't a bad idea because you can take the opportunity to volunteer on the side to build your portfolio and maintain those all-important job skills. Beyond these volunteer positions, you have the option of an internship after — and sometimes during — your program. "It gives you a really good chance to try the job out, get to know companies and find the expectations of a workplace. Students who are in co-op programs experience the best benefit of internships. Most internships last for six months to a year, and even if you can't find a paid internship, it's worthwhile to see if there's any way you can do volunteer work that will help you develop skills."

When you're interviewing for prospective jobs, there's a pretty standard mechanism for calculating benefits if you're going to work in a unionized environment. "They have standard pay, standard benefits and standard privileges, so to speak. For private companies, the wage can vary and benefits are often negotiated." For the most part, there is a benefits package associated with your 'level' within the company. Within those packages there is room for personalization as you'll generally have a discretionary fund for items like massage therapy or acupuncture. According to Lycett, "Once you start to develop expertise or experience in your field, you start to know what the going rate is, what the packages are and stuff like that."

When you're looking at taking on a new job, remember that there's often more to think about than just the dollars to be made. Starting out isn't always going to be easy, but taking these factors into consideration will help you to make a smooth transition into the working world.