When you think of nature’s natural hunters, which animals come to mind? Perhaps you’ll think of one of many fierce predators out there, like lions, sharks, or eagles. Yet, one of the most remarkable hunters does not rely merely on its physical abilities to survive. Many spiders can use their ability to make long strands of silk in order to build expansive webs. These thin, yet sturdy webs can then entangle unwitting organisms that fly into them, allowing for an easy capture. But you know, many college graduates are also like hunters in a sense – at least when it comes to finding opportunities for work. Their plans for employment often entail using their degree to find a specific job that matches their field of study, then gradually settling into their career and becoming proficient. But why limit one’s options so much? Rather than using their degree to perform a single task, students should stay flexible and adapt the ways of the spider.  

But what worthwhile characteristics could students glean from a simple spider? What valuable traits should these students emulate?

Patience. Spiders that use expansive webs to catch their prey need to practice incredible patience every day. Not only do they need to spend the time to create the web in the first place, but they need to survey it periodically and repair it when it is damaged. Like the spider, students seeking opportunities after college need to spend lots of time seeking out beneficial opportunities. This process can take a different amount of time for each person, depending on their network and methods used. And even after opportunities are found, students should steadily work towards a goal in mind, or at least something they can achieve in the future. Such actions require a lot of time and dedication, and doesn’t always come easily. But practicing patience in one’s professional career can transform one’s path in incredible ways. One other thing about spiders is that, despite utilizing energy in creating their webs, the effort is never wasted; spiders can consume old strands in order to create new ones. Likewise, students should never see their attempts of advancement as failures, even if nothing directly comes out of it. Simply reaching out and putting forth an effort will lead to new opportunities, and any kind of work you do benefits you, even if you later realize that you dislike it.

Versatility. A spider’s web is a creative application of one of its natural abilities. Many spiders have the ability to create silk through the spinnerets on their abdomens. However, only some spiders are able to build webs. These spiders resort to physically hunting in order to get what they need. Many college graduates are like the spider that has the ability to spin webs, but choose to forego it in order to directly pursue their prey. While a direct, premeditated plan-of-action can be effective, it would be optimal to simultaneously build a network and keep your options open as you hunt. In the real world, actions such as reaching out to professionals and participating in miscellaneous events with other people are examples activities that can lead to beneficial opportunities for you. And even if opportunities you could take may not immediately fit in with your expected plans – like a strange, unknown insect getting caught in a spider’s web – they can still be worthwhile endeavors that you shouldn’t quickly dismiss. These experiences can even snowball and lead to an opportunity that you actually grow to enjoy.

Opportunity-seeking. A spider’s web expands outwards to cover many different areas. Like the spider, college graduates should treat their degree with the same level of versatility, expanding the scope of their expertise and what they can accomplish. They should stretch what skills they’ve learned to the absolute limits in order to find as many worthwhile opportunities as possible. Yet, many graduates simply view their degrees as simple, one-use tools. It would be like a spider making a large, expansive web just to use it like a rope, travelling between two specific areas. Instead of using their abilities in the most productive ways possible, they needlessly forego beneficial opportunities to chase after a specific goal. By expanding one’s skill set outwards, graduates will have the opportunity to learn new skills over time, making them more knowledgeable and attractive to potential employers.

By putting all of these characteristics into practice, graduates become self-motivated, adaptable candidates on the job market, looking into many different jobs and opportunities to find something that they can utilize their skills. By doing so, they can steadily expand their own personal network, connecting with other professionals that can lead them to other opportunities in the future. Instead of rigidly hunting for one particular outlook, adopt the way of the spider and let the opportunities come to you.