Steve Jobs College Grad Advice

Listen to Steve Job's commencement address to the Stanford Class of 2005 -- some sound advice from someone who despite dropping out of school at age 19 and becoming homeless for short stint has done pretty well for himself!


ADVICE WORTH LISTENING TO:

If you follow your heart + tap into your passion + and jump (risk a bit) = a passionate, successful future will follow.

BOXED IN? BUST OUT of the Conventional Job Search

In today's job search you need to shed the stiff expectations, the obvious search methods, and the conventional choices that lead to frustration, rather than reward. Work to discover and access your own unique skill set, your passion, and differentiate yourself from the millions of other recent college graduates on the job market hunt.

You need a change up!

Quit chasing titles, status, the big money-- as too often the external world and outward marketing ploys tend to focus our thinking and options on the material gain -- Quit chasing the text book job! Bust Out of the Boxed In cubicle chaos.

Something inside of us let's us know when we are not at our best.

Pay Attention!
Listen!

Or
You will lose your way!
You will lose your principles!
You will lose your genuine drive and passion!

Take some time to...
Be quiet
Reflect
Dream

Get Creative
Scheme
Get Busy
Take Action

What can you begin today that is a ....
A smart idea?
Innovative?
A new development?
A new solution to an old problem?
A quality investment of time, creativity, and your own resources?

Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind advocates that right brainers are now primed to rule this next business and career decade .... as we move from the Information-Technology Age, to what he has termed the Conceptual Age...  Pink feels that the keys to success in this next decade will rely on two broad skill sets:  Design and Empathy.  Adding aesthetic, creativity, color, and immagination to the automated, sterile, big box products coming out of the Tech era is going to be a skill set that is valued and lucrative in the next career market.  As well, possessing the emotional EQ to demonstrate empathy, tolerance, understanding and acceptance are going to be essential, required "people skills" as we work to build a more interactive global community.

Pink gives credence to the value that six sensibilities will bring to the future workplace: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning.  He believes these traits will be necessary to keep people passionate, motivated, innovative, and productive in this next generation. 

(For a faster read, try Pink's adult comic book:  The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You Will Ever Need.  He highlights the "6 Career Secrets No One Ever Told You."

With these ideas in mind, how can you radically change the direction in your job search today?

Remember you choose where you go from here. You can change direction, change your strategy, change your own location, change your focus any time you want.  And you can do this as many times as you want!

What is meaningful to you right now? 

What can make a positive difference in this world?

Are you a business guy? Start a company.  Become an entrepreneur.

An educator? Find a job or internship in a high-need neighborhood.  Volunteer at your public library, Boys or Girls Club, local elementary school.

Do you think like an engineer? Jump into the Green Revolution.  Design, retrofit, invent, train environmentally-sound operations and people.

Trained in health care or nursing? Care for our aging population.  Tap their energy, their wisdom, their creative reservoirs-- make their final life chapter one worth celebrating. Outward Bound for Seniors!

Do small things. 

Do big things. 

Find somebody or something to be successful for.... 

Ahh! Now that's the way to put personal passion and your unique skill set to work in the world!

You are Incredible; and the Earth is Hiring

Stop with the job search whining already.... Jobs DO exist for anyone with ambition, an entrepreneurial spirit, a creative eye, a sensibility toward "green commerce," and the guts to put themselves out there.

The GREEN revolution is happening-- so why not make your own place in its evolution?  Get creative!  Get bold! Get moving!  The questions that "green entrepreneurs" are asking themselves include: "What 's urgent? What's futuristic? What will the world need in the next 5-10 years?" These questions are your own wide open invitation on the road to becoming a successful, bold, green entrepreneur.

Here is how to find HOT, GREEN jobs in a COOL, BLUE economy:

1.  TURN THAT SHIRT INSIDE OUT - Don't be afraid to try your skills on in a new arena.

2.  BOXED IN? BUST OUT? - Carry an open mind with you everywhere you go.  Enjoy the idea of an unexpected job change, a new career path, open up to new possibilities, and think about how you might repackage your skills.

3.  NETWORK LIKE A CRAZY MAN - Let all kinds of people know you are looking. Everyone becomes a new opportunity or resource eager to be tapped.

Start by researching these potential environmental job clusters:  

• Renewable Energy (wind, solar, alternative fuels) 
• Building green, Building efficiently 
• The science and engineering behind biofuels, bio-genetics and green farming
• Transportation and alternative fuels
• Environmental law, compliance, and regulations
• Green function and design (clothing, food, shelter, everywhere)

This economy and environmental job market needs environmental engineers, chemical engineers, computer and electrical engineers.  We need construction management teams, architects, and builders to retrofit, design, and build resource-efficient buildings. We need creative  designers to add the aesthetic to the function of eco-building. We need farmers and scientists to genetically maintain the growth and integrity of whole, healthful foods. We need innovative and strategic land use city planners to help us think through ways to conserve and limit our use of space and resources.  Artists and creative spirits are needed to breathe life, passion, and color into this new way of being and thinking in the world. They are needed to soften the sharper edges of science and function necessary for this evolution to take hold and stick. Educators, trainers, and researchers who can reach and teach others about green innovation are in high demand in every career cluster.

So whether you specialize in practical skills, hards skills, soft skills--All skills are in great need as this green revolution takes the earth by storm. So... Get creative!  Get bold! Get moving! NOW!

So no more whining -- "YOU are incredible, and the EARTH  is hiring!"