--- title: 3 Gift Ideas to Help New College Grads Up Their Game description: These gift ideas can help new college graduates stay up to date on business news, find a job, or look more professional. authors: - name: Jill Schlesinger url: https://money.com/author/jill-schlesinger/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 24 covers: - Career Advice - Housing - Identity Theft - Investing - Lifestyle - Personal Finance - Retirement - Taxes social: - https://x.com/jillonmoney former_staff: true published: '2016-05-04T13:59:58.000Z' modified: '2016-05-04T13:59:58.000Z' section: Education tags: - college graduation - Gift Guide - graduation word_count: 344 canonical: https://money.com/gift-guide-college-graduation-2016/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![3 Gift Ideas to Help New College Grads Up Their Game](https://img.money.com/2016/05/screen-shot-2016-05-04-at-9-19-52-am.png?w=1012&h=569&crop=1) As the college class of 2016 prepares to graduate, many friends and loved ones are once again scrambling for a gift that can both mark the occasion and help the new grad enter adulthood. Money is an obvious option, but there are plenty of other, more creative options. Among them: **Upgrade their appearance:** Replacing graduates' old knapsacks with more professional ones -- or messenger bags or totes -- can help them feel more professional and put-together at work. Those focusing on more conservative industries like business, accounting or finance may need a wardrobe upgrade -- even if it’s just a nicer hoodie! And many new graduates -- especially those in full job-search mode -- may need to upgrade a smartphone, or swap out an old, beat-up phone case with one that has a built-in battery. **Help them wise up:** When I graduated from college, my godparents paid for a subscription to the Wall Street Journal -- which I maintain to this day. Maybe your graduates would like an online subscription to a relevant newspaper, or to apps or online publications that can help them navigate their new professional life. If you want to give a small token, consider a classic business book. For tech-oriented grads, try Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs or *The Soul of a New Machine --* a classic tech creation story. For wannabe traders, *Reminiscences of a Stock Operator* by Edwin Lefevre, which was first published in 1923, has more to teach about markets and people than years of experience. Know a budding entrepreneur? Try Michael Gerber’s *The E Myth: Why Most Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It.* **Get them hired:** If your graduate has not yet landed a job, offer to give them a resume service, like ResumeMyCareer, or an upgrade for a resume app (like Pocket Resume) that helps users build, design and generate a professional-looking resume -- then lets them send it out directly from their phones. 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