Regardless of what college you're attending, do you know what the one commonality among ALL college students is?

Being broke.

From Ramen noodles and cans of Chef Boyardee to having the bare necessities, it's no secret that college students are broke and it doesn't help that colleges in America are extremely expensive. You have to consider the costs of tuition, room and board, textbooks, and other course materials, the price of an education is no cheap thrill. In fact, most college students end up taking out loans just to cover all costs.

The more damaging aspect of an expensive education is the fact that most college graduates don't even work jobs in the fields of their college major... talk about a waste of money. According to Next Gen Personal Finance, only 27% of college graduates work in the field of their major. So the reality for lots of Americans is that they've accumulated all this college debt only to work a job that's not what they went to school for, and that job pays considerably less than the field they went to school for.

But just because that's the reality of many, doesn't mean it has to be your reality. As a college student, you can take full control of your future today by taking measures now that will help you in the long run. Here's how you can take charge of your future while in college.

Helpful Tips to Invest in Your Future While in College

Work on Your Interviewing Skills

As important as interviews are to landing the job of your dreams, it's oddly not taught in school. This is also something most college students fail to think about while in college. While in school, your focus is on getting to class and learning, all while trying to maintain a well-balanced social life. It's not until you graduate and land your first interview that it hits you that you're not really well-versed for an interview.

Things like appearance, how you articulate your words, your posture, confidence in your voice, eye contact, and remembering to smile all play a role in landing any job you want. Unfortunately, this isn't offered as a college course. There are indeed a multitude of different resources online for you to read and watch videos about. 

So just because you're still in school, that doesn't mean you can't start training yourself how to ace interviews.

Choose Your Major and Explore Your Career Options

Choosing a major is one of the biggest decisions you'll make as a college student because it's the very thing that will shape the course of your college career... any changes to your major could potentially set you back, requiring you to take different classes. So finding the right major is ultimately something you want to try and get right the first time.

Let's say you have a major interest in investing... So in choosing a major, you're probably asking yourself will having a degree in finance will make you an investor? The answer to that is no. There's actually no formal education options available related directly to investing but with a finance degree, you will be provided with the necessary tools to become well-versed in investing. 

You'll be able to take classes in accounting, managerial finance, and corporate finance, as well as economics classes. A degree in finance will certainly open doors for you in many areas of finance but not specifically related to investing. In fact, you don't even need to have any type of formal education to become an investor.

If you wanted to get into real estate investing, you wouldn't need a finance degree for that but a finance degree would be very beneficial in making you well informed about rental loans for rental properties you want to invest in.

Start Building Your Resume

In the job market, your resume is the very thing that tells your "worth" as an employee, so to speak. Your resume tells employers your level of education, your work experience, and any special skills you have; It's actually the first point of contact an employer has with you and ultimately, based on what you have on your resume and the organization and appearance of your resume, it's going to determine whether or not you get that phone call or email inviting you for an interview.

You'll want to start volunteering or even applying to certain jobs in your field of study to get the experience that employers are looking for. Even if a job isn't specifically in your field but some of the job responsibilities are in your field, it's going to be very impressive to employers. So start building your resume in every way you can to give you a bigger chance of working the career of your dreams fresh out of college.