This first section is all about getting ready to discover and pursue your ideal career. I am entirely certain that you, no matter who you are, or what the economy is doing, can find a terrific, fulfilling, enjoyable job that will start you on the road to a career that will make you happy and successful. But first you have to believe that itâs really possible. No matter what, donât let anythingâincluding your own thoughts or fearsâinterfere with getting a head start on your bright future.
1. START WHEREVER YOU ARE
Between my own first job search and researching this book, Iâve read virtually every career-advice-for-college-students book, blog, and Twitter feed available. And every single one offers the same opening advice about finding a great postcollege job: start early.
Good advice, for sure, and I wholeheartedly agree. If you are reading this book as a college freshman, sophomore, or junior, then you are in great shape. ButâŠ
What if you havenât started early? What if you have, in fact, started really, really late? What if youâre a second-semester senior? What ifâgasp!âyou are reading this book when youâre already a year or two out of college and you still havenât found a job or a career path?
Iâm here to tell you that itâs okay.
I agree with all of the other books that it is ideal to start thinking about your career plans as early in your life as possible, but I also know the reality is that many people donât do this, and it isnât very helpful to tell a college senior that she should have started doing internships her freshman year. I promise you that this book contains strategies for those who are starting early (Welcome, freshmen!) and those who are starting later.
It is never too early or too late. But one thing is essential: you must choose to start your planning and searching wherever you are right now. The smartest strategy for any job seeker is to accept and embrace your starting point. Your task will be to maximize the advantages of your particular situation and work hard to minimize the obstacles. Virtually every tip in this book applies to job seekers at every stage of the process.
But whether you are a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, recent grad, or not-so-recent grad, there is one thing you must do as the first step of this book:
Starting this minute, commit to starting and having a great career. Therapists and self-help gurus will tell you that happiness is a choice; well, I think that having a great career is a choice, too. You can make it happen. And by taking action on the tips in this book, you will.
As youâll see in many of the stories ahead, if youâre willing to do some work, take some risks, and apply some wise advice, you can and will get a terrific job and build a smart career path. Donât worry about what you couldâve done, wouldâve done, or shouldâve done up to this point. Just get started right now.
Your very first assignment: put a big, fat, satisfying check mark in the box below. The path to your dream career is waiting.
Make This Work for You
Make a commitment to work on your career, starting today.
2. KNOW THE NUMBERS
When youâre graduating and just starting out in the workforce, particularly in challenging economic times, it may seem that everyone is getting a job faster than you are or no one is moving back home to live with their parents. Well, itâs time for a reality check. The truth is that over a million people graduate from college each year, so I promise that whatever your situation, lots and lots of other people are right there with you. Take this quick quiz to learn the real stats about college graduates and the job market.
1. How long does it take the average college graduate to get a job?
a. Less than 3 months
b. 3 to 9 months
c. Over a year
Answer: b. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employersâ 2011 Student Survey, the median time that seniors from the class of 2011 took to land a job was 7.74 months. In 2010 the median was 6.95 months. Be prepared not to find a position overnight.
2. What percentage of college graduates move back home after graduation?
Answer: c. The number of grads moving back home has steadily increased, thanks in part to the global economic recession. According to CollegeGrad.com, among U.S. college graduates, 80 percent moved back home with their parents, up from 67 percent in 2006. The message? Itâs perfectly okay and totally normal to move back in with your parents or parent for a while to save money and get on your feet professionally.
3. How long do most recent college graduates plan to stay in their first jobs?
a. 3 to 6 months
b. 1 to 3 years
c. At least 5 years
Answer: b. According to Right Management, 55 percent of 2010 college graduates said they planned to stay in their first jobs for one to three years. If youâre an average American college graduate, itâs highly unlikely that your first employer will be your last. While itâs commendable to look for an employer youâll want to remain with for a long time, itâs okay to make a decision based on where you want to be for the next few years only.
4. How much more money over a lifetime does a college graduate make than a high school graduate?
a. 25% more
b. 50% more
c. 75% more
Answer: c. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that over a typical, forty-year working lifetime, the average college graduate earns about 75 percent more. So, yes, that degree is worth it!
5. About how many jobs will the average person have in his or her lifetime?
a. 5 to 7
b. 12 to 15
c. 20 to 25
Answer: b. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average worker currently holds ten different jobs before age forty, and this number is projected to grow. Forrester Research predicts that todayâs youngest workersâthatâs youâwill hold twelve to fifteen jobs in their lifetimes.
3. AVOID THE BIGGEST MISTAKE IN
CAREER PREP AND JOB HUNTING
Remember how the nicest grade-school teachers always said, âThere are no stupid questions.â Well, I would add that there are no stupid ways to gain experience and look for a job. The only stupid thing you can do is to do nothing.
Thatâs rightâthe worst mistake you can make is not to take any action at all. How do I know this? Because I did it. As you learned in the introduction, when I returned from graduate school in Australia and moved back into my old bedroom in my parentsâ house, I spent about a month under the covers. I did absolutely nothing, except sprain my ankle when I finally ventured out jogging one day. That led to another month of doing absolutely nothing.
By not taking any action at all, I pretty much guaranteed that I wouldnât find a job. Once I started making some phone calls, meeting some people for lunch, and sending out my rĂ©sumĂ©, I built momentum and began to find opportunities. The minute I took actionâany actionâthings started happening.
Whenever you are stuck, frustrated, nervous, clueless, confused, discouraged, or overwhelmed, in my experience the answer is always action. Just do something. Thatâs why this book is arranged in action-oriented tips. Every page includes a way for you to move forward, no matter where you are in the career planning process. And I recommend taking at least one career-related action every single day.
This is a great mind-set to keep with you at every stage of your career. As long as youâre not standing still, you can rest assured that youâre moving closer to your goals and dreams.
4. EMBRACE YOUR STEREOTYPE
I know that youâre a special person with many unique qualities that we will explore and expand upon throughout the tips in this book. At the same time, you are also totally generic. What I mean by this is that you are in no way the first, the last, or even the fifty-millionth person to be in your current life stage.
Along with the burping baby, the blushing bride, and the midlife crisis man with a brand new sports car, the I-am-readyto-take-on-the-world-just-as-soon-as-I-figure-out-what-I-am-going-to-do-next-year-and-for-the-rest-of-my-life graduating college student is a familiar American stereotype. Everyone knows itâs challenging but also exciting to go from a campus environment to the Real World, but hopefully you can take comfort from the fact that almost everyone who has gone to college has experienced this in some form. Youâve probably already realized this from the number of times adults have said to you, sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way, âBoy, I sure remember what it was like to be in your position!â
Instead of rolling your eyes every time someone says this, my advice is to take advantage of it. Whenever youâre telling anyone, from a relative to a professor to a random stranger in line behind you at Subway, that you are looking for your first job and that personâs response is something like, âWow, Iâm so glad Iâm not in your shoes!â or âWait until you have three kids and a mortgage, kid. Youâll be dying to go back to this time in your life,â donât just smirk. Instead, smile, take a deep breath, and then treat the situation as an opportunity. Ask for some free advice. I bet youâll be surprised at the responses you get and the detailed ideas or real job leads you might pick up. As long as you ask politely and with genuine interest, most people will take a few minutes to help an earnest young college student or recent grad.
What exactly should you ask in such situations? Here are some good, simple questions you can pose to anyone and everyone who seems to take an interest in your situation:
- Whatâs your best job search tip?
- What was your first job, and do you think it was a good choice?
- Who do you think are the best employers in this area?
- Have you heard about any young people with really cool jobs during or after college?
- What do you wish you had known when you were my age?
By asking questions like the ones above, youâll start collecting tips, suggestions, and warnings that can really make a difference for you. For instance, if nine out of ten people tell you that they wish they had learned more about their career before jumping into it, then you might want to take that advice quite seriously. If your parents, your older brother, and your three cousins from Ohio practically cry when they talk about how much they regretted procrastinating finding a job after college, then youâll be much more likely to start as soon as possible.
Remember, no-cost research opportunities are literally everywhere, including on the phone thatâs probably sitting right next to you as you read this. There is an enormous amount of information, experience, and expertise out there that you can tap into at every stage of your first job search and for the rest of your life. So, start asking questions, listening to the answers, and taking copious notes.
Besides getting some good information, this exercise is important for another reason: you want to get into the habit of regularly talking about your career planning, job search, future goals, and networking needs so they become a more and more comfortable topic of discussion for you. This will come in handy later when we start to talk about the importance of networking.
To give you a head start, I surveyed a hundred professionals in a variety of fields and asked what they wish they had known at your life stage. Here are some of the most revealing answers, and youâll find more in sidebars throughout the book: