I was approached today unexpectedly by a freshman college student who was confused, stressed and unsure about what career path to take and what she should do. I could tell she was on the verge of tears as she told me she was having problems outlining her schedule and that she didn't know what would be most beneficial to take.
Not sure why I was the go-to on that, as I am definitely not spokeswoman material for blueprinting your future ambitions. I am actually probably more of a powerpoint telling you how not to venture into the real world. But I have been there. And I have failed. And I have been rejected repeatedly. I have been one glance short of interviewing with my sweater inside out and one Band-Aid short of bleeding all over a prospective manager's office after a shaving catastrophe. I was a mess.
Some things I learned:
1. "All about who you know" doesn't mean you're tight with the CEO. Look at me, rhyming up a storm over here. But really-- I started to realize just how many people I didn't know when I began looking for a job. People I knew who flunked school were getting these wonderful careers because they knew someone with a rich dad.
I told a sweet older lady at church that I was looking for a job. She prodded me over a year ago to talk to the HR executive at this bank. Every Sunday I would disappoint her when I reported back that I had yet to make that call, thinking it was a waste of time since there were no job openings. But I did it as a favor. And wouldn't you know that Liberty Bank remembered me and gave me a chance when a position was available? Look for big hearts instead of big pocketbooks.
2. Don't Be Annoying: "Following up" is not interchangeable with "act like a crazy girlfriend who wants to define the relationship."
"Apply online" is not code for bust up in my office unexpectedly, hand me a 3-D resume and have your grandpa call to affirm that you are indeed a brilliant, sweet girl. Do you want to meet your eHarmony matches before seeing their profiles? Um no. Neither does your prospective boss.
3. Pick a career that you could enjoy, but one that can be readily found: If you love to paint, but you don't want to be an elementary art teacher someday, you may want to go with plan numero two. If you want to major in Literature, but shutter at the thought of teaching Hamlet to a bunch of adolescents-- to be or not to be shouldn't even be a question.
I don't mean to sound ugly here, but passion will only take you so far if you are miserable in the search for the perfect criteria. After a while, you may even begin to resent it for the course it has yet to take you on.
4. Say Goodbye to the Benjamins: Fresh off the college coo-coo farm, I once told an interviewer that I was hoping to make around $35,000 starting out at this entry-level position. I thought I was low-balling, too. The sad truth is that a lot of managers don't even make that. If they see you coming in with an unrealistic picture they can never meet, they'll probably just ride you off as too high maintenance. So do your research. Find what the going pay is, what you need to live on and start with that.
5. Choose high school and college part-time jobs wisely: I wish I could tell you that keeping score for the community center's softball league benefited my life greatly; that seeing old man catcher crack night after night placed me on the road to success. But I can't. Kids who began to be bank tellers in high school and college, however, gained enough experience to advance in banking by the time they hit their mid-twenties.
6. Don't Fall for Online Scams: I don't know why people would prey on people desperate for work, but they do. If an offer seems shady or too good to be true, avoid it or do more research. Companies you really want to work for aren't going to go out of their way to contact you out of the blue or ask you to meet them right away.
7. Wash your Facebook mouth out with soap: Even if you think your online self is wholesome, think about the impression your words and pictures create unintentionally for those who have never met you. Justin and I got in a tiff when I was looking for a job because of a sarcastic comment I made on my blog. After reading it from the standpoint of someone who doesn't know me, I could see his concern and re-worded. Even something as simple as posting 57 iPhone self-portraits of yourself in a row could speak volumes to an employer looking for a certain level of maturity.
8. Don't eat Mexican food before an interview. Just take my word for that one with no elaboration.
9. You're not a Superhuman: When they ask you if you have ever had to handle a conflict with another person, don't suddenly forget that whole there-was-only-one-perfect-person thing you learned in Sunday school. Conflict is inevitable. Mistakes are inevitable. They want to see a genuine display of resolution rather than a blank stare. So spill it, Mother Teresa.
10. Fact- No one really likes to work: I guess I pictured every future job like Santa's workshop. Whistling, artificial snow, happy kids. Career happiness truly occurs when you realize that everyone is just trying to get by. So make some friends, make some dough and don't feel restrained by the fact that you don't feel like singing "Jingle Bells" at 8 a.m.
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