How college graduates and school leavers should set up their financial future during COVID-19, according to personal finance guru Ramit Sethi

• Ramit Sethi is a millionaire entrepreneur and founder of personal finance website I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, college graduates and school leavers should think strategically about their financial future, he said.

• Speaking to Business Insider, he gave four tips for financial and career success, which include picking 10-15 companies where you want to work and being prepared to move for a job.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

How can you set up your financial future during the COVID-19 pandemic? College graduates and school leavers have been asking themselves that very question — and there are few people better to answer than Ramit Sethi. He is a millionaire entrepreneur, a New York Times bestselling author, and creator of the personal finance platforms I Will Teach You To Be Rich and Earnable. 

He told Business Insider that people shouldn't "put a silver lining" on the current crisis: Whole industries may disappear as a result of COVID-19, and the economy could suffer for years to come. But there are still opportunities, he said, as he offered advice for college graduates hunting for a job and school leavers considering a gap year.

Here are his four top tips. 

Make a plan — "Prepare for the good, bad, and worse"

"Don't wait for somebody else to tell you what's going to happen" with your future, Sethi said. Success will arrive if you take the lead and properly plan for it. 

Plan three scenarios: good, bad, and worse, he said. Ask yourself what would happen if both your career and finances go as you hope — start with the scenario in which you maintain a good job and your household thrives. Then imagine the opposite, and ask yourself: What expenses would you have to cut? How long you could survive if you lose your job?

"Since we unconsciously tend to assume things will go well, this plan forces you to acknowledge what might happen if things don't — and make a plan before your back is against the wall," Sethi said.

Focus on 10-15 companies you want to work for

If you're just starting your career, remember that your approach to finding a job is just as important as your skills and experience, Sethi said. 

Rather than applying to loads of companies, you should make a list of 10-15 businesses you want to work for, and tailor your cover letter and résumé for each of them, mentioning their company culture and size. For example, say "I want to work at a business-to-consumer technology startup, with less than 50 employees, as a marketing manager" instead of "I want to work in tech."

"Each of those can be personalised, which means you're going to get a better response," he said.

Be proactive whenever you apply: Waiting for someone to call back after you've hit submit is a "losing proposition," Sethi said. Instead, chase up the application.

Be prepared to move for a job — or make the case for remote working

Landing a job at the moment is tough, so you should impose as few limits on your search as possible. If you have the means to move cities, search outside your local area to widen the potential pool of jobs.

Alternatively, if the job can be done remotely, make the case for why you're the right person to do it in your cover letter. If you have previously studied or worked remotely, use that as evidence to prove that you are capable. "Suddenly you've taken what is a very challenging economy, and you've opened up many more opportunities for yourself," Sethi said.

If you take a gap year, make it deliberate

Gap years are chances to develop new skills and broaden your horizons, but if you're career-focused, you should think strategically about what you want to get out of them, and plan accordingly, Sethi said. 

As an exercise for this, you should write a one page "pre-mortem" — a third person synopsis of what you'd accomplished over the year, highlighting the core skills you want to build and what you want to experience.

If you're taking a gap year simply to avoid getting a job — don't. Instead, start a business, he said. "Young people are uniquely suited to do this. Young people we are digitally savvy. They understand how to reach large amounts of people with very little cost through areas like social media," he said.

SEE ALSO: The college business model is in crisis as more and more students decide they don't want to return in the fall

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source https://www.businessinsider.com/4-steps-college-graduates-finances-future-covid-2020-7