Job searches are a skill in and of themselves. Unfortunately, when you most need a job (right after college), you probably haven’t perfected the employment search process. There are a lot of common mistakes students make right out of the gate, so here are few guidelines to help you avoid them. You’re still going to make errors, but you can reduce them. The last thing you want to do is lose a job to a careless mistake.

Clean Up Your Social Media

We cannot stress this enough: make sure your social media is something your mother can show to her conservative friends. Companies will, without a doubt, look you up on social media before they call you in for an interview or hire you. You might be popular on campus with your profile pic set to a bong rip, but it’s not going to make a good impression on future employers. Privatize your accounts or clean them up before you begin looking for a new job.

Start Early

There is no reason you should wait to start looking for a job until after graduation. While it may be tempting to focus on savoring your last moments of academia, you should really spend some of that time making your resume stand out, sourcing internships, networking and researching opportunities. Trust us, graduation will be a lot more fun if you know you have a paycheck coming in after it’s over.

Take Advantage of Alumni Associations

Your college’s alumni association could prove to be an incredible source of mentorship, advice and even job tips. These are people that shared the same college experience you did, and they’re invested in helping you. Take advantage of this resource by joining the association as soon as you’re eligible. You’ll make friends and contacts that could potentially help you a great deal–especially if they work in your field.

Broaden Your Search Horizon

Many students have such a clear idea in their head of what they want to do after college that they can’t see any other employment possibilities. Unfortunately, things don’t always work out the way we plan. If you went to Tufts University with the hopes of working in tech, but it doesn’t immediately, don’t close yourself off to new options. You could continue your education with a Health Informatics degree online and seek out different opportunities, or you could simply embrace what’s available to you at the present moment. If that’s driving for Uber and starting your own dog walking service, you could still stand to learn a lot from that. Any gap in your resume isn’t going to look great for potential employers, so work as often as you can even if it’s not your dream job. Jobs for new college grads don’t always look like you thought they would.