Four big tips for college graduates

Congratulations! Now that you have a newly minted degree, use these four tips with your Lumia to put the best foot forward in your career.

Be financially responsible

Pay your bills on time and be frugal. Don’t try to live beyond your means and rely on credit cards. You’ll only rack up (probably more) debt early in your career that you’ll pay off later along with interest and fees.

Keep track of your personal finances with free Windows Phone apps such as Smart Budget, Budget Buddy, or my personal favorite, Mint. These programs can help you manage expenses and stick to a budget.

For more advanced financial planning, try Money Tracker Pro ($4.99). It allows you to track your cash accounts and stock portfolios, and schedule, analyze, and project your expenses months, or even years, into the future.

In India, Paytm (free) is a popular way to pay bills, transfer money, and recharge your mobile phone service.

Build a winning CV and cover letter

Easier said than done, right? Here are a couple of tips to get you started:

• Tailor your resume and cover letter to the position for which you’re applying. It’s okay to have more than one CV!
• Incorporate key words that show your knowledge of the industry.
• Be specific when describing your accomplishments, especially when quantifying results.
• Proofread! Get someone you trust to read your résumé/CV for errors and readability before sending it out.

The Office Hub on your Windows Phone gives you access to Word documents on the go, meaning you can revise your resume and cover letter on the fly.

Get connected

Applying for jobs online isn’t enough these days. Jump-start your career by networking for potential opportunities through friends, family, and professional associates.

Making contacts is best done in person, but online resources can help you maintain them. LinkedIn (free) is the premier professional networking site, boasting more than 259 million members worldwide. Not only can you link with contacts and post your work experience, LinkedIn also recommends jobs that may interest you.

It’s worth noting that many employers ask for a link to your LinkedIn profile in their employment applications, so it’s worth the effort to set up an account.

You’re bound to collect quite a few business cards on your job hunt. Store and manage all this paper clutter digitally with CamCard, a free app that allows you to scan cards with your Lumia camera and share your own via QR code.

Search smartly

Searching for a job can be a full-time career all on its own. Luckily, Windows Phone has resources that allow you to search and apply for positions from anywhere, even on your way to a job interview.

Indeed (free) is one of the most-used job sites in the world, with more than 180 million unique visitors every month from more than 50 different countries. getHired (also free) provides job listings from eight different job search engines, including Indeed, CareerBuilder, and USAJobs.gov.

An excellent source for entry-level position postings is Craigslist. The free 8list for craigslist app is a full-featured Craigslist client that automatically remembers posts you’ve already seen and tells you the number of new listings every 30 minutes.

What did we miss? Tell us how Lumia prepared you for life after college in the comments below.