At a time when a college degree no longer guarantees employment and graduates sorely need to begin paying off their student loans, sound advice on scoring that crucial first job after college is especially important for students — and their parents.

Jeffrey Selingo ’95, a contributor to the Washington Post, provides excellent advice on what it takes in his new book, There Is Life after College. Giving pointers on the skills, attitudes, and experiences employers want in their new hires, Selingo identifies a lack of life experience as a major obstacle for students in obtaining their first job. He urges students to do the usual, such as interning, and the more unusual, like taking a gap year between high school and college. He also emphasizes a particularly desirable trait in college graduates: adaptability.

“Too many recent graduates approach their job descriptions the way they did a syllabus in college — as a recipe for winning in a career,” said Selingo. “The ability to tolerate ambiguity on the job requires people to think contextually.”

Kirkus Reviews calls the book, “levelheaded advice for students and parents on the best path to take from high school to employment.”