Just pick a general direction and start moving
You live in a turn-by-turn GPS world, where you are used to plugging in a specific destination and receiving explicit instructions on exactly how to get there. Careers don’t work that way.
I hear a lot of angst from college students and recent graduates about starting out on the ‘right' career path. Some forecasts say that you could have as many as 15-20 jobs over your lifetime and three or more separate "careers”. The best you can do is pick a general direction and start moving. By the way, that whole “career path” thing is increasingly being thought of more accurately as a “career lattice”. That’s a whole lot more fun anyway.
You cannot possibly plan out the next 40 years of your life from here, so don’t even try. Most of you will only stay at your first job for less than three years, and that’s OK. You overachievers can plan on five, but anything beyond that will likely have more to do with luck than any plans you’re sweating over now.
We know this is your first job out of college
Don’t bother puffing up your resume with exaggerations and half-truths. Believe it or not, we actually think it’s great that you worked part time as a fry cook for the last two years. Really. You know the meaning of hard work, and you probably had to make quite a few sacrifices to juggle that with your school work and social activities. Listing that on your resume as “Facilitated the efficient throughput of food service orders by optimizing handling methods and downstream processes” doesn’t change your experience, and it doesn’t make us want to hire you.
It’s also OK if you have never held any kind of job. You were in college, Full time. We don’t expect you to act like someone with 5 years’ experience; we expect you to work hard, fit in to our culture and learn a lot in your first few years. Show me you can do that.
Your future is not determined by your past
Your alma mater, your GPA, and even your major will mean less to the outside world in each passing year. This could be great news if you didn’t exactly set the world on fire with your six-year pursuit of a BA in Bowling from the Northeastern Springfield State College of Animal Husbandry. A year or two from now, if you’re exceeding expectations in your job and delivering real value, you are quite likely to get more responsibility and more money.
On the other hand, if you’re not meeting the expectations of your job and you’re not delivering any real value, you might end up really confused about why you are now reporting to the Northeastern Springfield State grad, despite the framed Summa Cum Laude diploma from a prestigious university hanging on your cubicle wall, framed by your honor cords and Phi Beta Kappa key.
Ask for help— in the right way
Believe it or not, the world is full of people who want to help you find the right career and get it off to a great start— if you go about it the right way. You are the most connected generation in history, and one that came of age as a social media native, but quality is more important than quantity.
Effective networking is not simply amassing Connections, Likes and Follows. What you’re really trying to do is have a real conversation with someone to learn about their industry, and potentially get connected with someone who might be in a position to offer you a job. Treat them as the real human beings that they are, not as mere cogs in your personal job hunting machine. There is no ‘secret handshake’ anyway.
There’s more to life than your career
It’s understandable that you’re focused on getting your first “real job”. That’s what comes after college, right? Well, you probably do need to find a way to support yourself, but spend some time on some less mercenary pursuits. Backpack your way across another continent. Start writing that book that burns within you. Volunteer somewhere....:)
Put away the GPS and explore some new paths.
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