Landing that first job out of college can be as demanding and nerve-wracking as getting into college.

The Career Center at TCU encourages students to start working toward their first professional job as early as possible. The Career Center gives students professional development tools, such as resume building workshops. The center’s Frog Jobs program assists students in with workplace prerequisites such as the interview process, internships and connecting with prospective employers.

“Internships are so important because that’s the only time in life when you really get to test an industry and see if you like it or not,” said Jill Whitfield, a career consultant at TCU.

Networking also holds great importance and is a large part of getting a job after graduating.

“Lots of students think that the hard part is getting all of the paperwork and applications filled out and just hoping for that phone call,” said Whitfield.

But she said students shouldn’t overlook networking.

“Networking is crucial now more so than ever because it’s so competitive in the workplace,” Whitfield said. “It’s not enough to just apply for the job.”

Unemployment is not a large issue among recent college graduates, but underemployment can be.

The Economic Policy Institute noted that the unemployment rate for the class of 2016 was about five percent, compared to an underemployment rate of about 12 percent.