THE CAREER SEARCH REDEFINED

CAREER SEARCH CRASH:

REDEFINED & REFINED

What if you decided to just take a job, sign on for an internship, travel abroad, or volunteer at a great non profit somewhere…. just for now?

I say… open up the tight, preconceived career box, take the lid off, and shake it around a bit so you can see what else might be in there.

These side-steps off your preconceived career track have morphed into critical stepping stones toward independence, personal growth, and just getting yourself out into the world. These “for now” jobs are simply dots beginning to line up along your loosely defined future path. These detours have become very common for struggling, post-college graduates. In fact, this phase of exploration and experimentation has become a normal, acceptable, and valued piece of the young adult career journey.

What I think is important is to acknowledge and learn to celebrate these diversions. It's the unexpected surprise we gain from these awkward detours that makes the uncertainty all the more worthwhile. We never know how the dots will connect looking forward, we can only connect the dots when we turn around and look back.

So we need to trust our gut

Trust our intuition

And follow our own passion...

Especially when the logical and sequential career job doesn’t seem to be falling into place.

So deep breath… relax…. and enjoy the ride. The best kept secrets and most rewarding surprises are always found while bumping up against the edges, and far off the well-worn path.

Time to explore the twenty-something career track a little more freely… knowing that all those key attributes for job happiness and success that you identified your senior year in college, may not be neatly packaged and waiting for you at your first entry level job.

Here are a few insights that may help guide you in this career adventure:

1) Take a job or internship where you will have a great boss. To have a mentor to shepherd you through the learning process, and to have someone who will eagerly teach you the ropes will prove to be a great advantage. This relationship will be of huge value, and will serve as a big confidence boost for a young adult just getting started on their career. If you can find someone like this, then you have found a great learning opportunity. Go for it!

2) Choose a job that has a notable brand-name and a strong reputation. Use your job experience here to boost your resume. To be affiliated or directly connected to corporate culture or a business that has universal recognition and appeal (Fortune 500 companies, a well-known non profit, universities, prestigious professional services, etc.) is likely to positively impact your future. The networking connections made here can open doors elsewhere.

3) Follow your passion. Do something you love to do. If you are happy doing something you love to do, the quality of the work you do will be reflected in your efforts. This will begin to make a great name for yourself. Your work ethic will be strong. Your motivation and engagement in the work itself will be high, and you will be happy because you are connected with work that you really care about. Passion is key for sustained happiness.

And of course, if you can find a job that includes all three of these three elements—lucky you -- Go For It!

Leadership Matters

Beginning the Career Search?

On the Internship Hunt?

Deciding on your Future College?

Looking for Summer Work Experience?

Strengthening your Resume?

LEADERSHIP MATTERS

Whether you are deciding on a college, applying for an internship, or interviewing for one of your first professional jobs just out of college, you have heard this over and over again…. Leadership matters!

Leaders get things done. Leaders make things happen. Leaders take charge. Leaders have vision. And leaders have the skills to articulate this vision in a way that motivates others to take action.

When are you at your best? Where does your brightest light shine? What are your natural talents and strengths?

This is an important part of the self-reflective process that quality college & internship experiences, summer jobs, and strong resumes require. If we zero in at when and where we are at our best this can give us clear clues as to the kinds of young adult experiences where our strengths can shine, and we can find our sense of place, connection, and a great fit for own unique skill set.

So here is the task ... Take your own experiences and re-write them with leadership in mind. List all of the activities, classes, jobs, travel, volunteer work, and clubs in which you have been a part of, and then ask yourself some of these questions as you uncover the unique leadership qualities that are naturally your own:

Can you think quickly on your feet?

Are you a self-starter? Do you initiate new projects?

Are you skilled at bringing diverse groups of people together?

Is follow-through a strength for you?

Can people depend on you from beginning to end?

Is public speaking a natural talent?

Are you the motivator or cheerleader in the group?

Is attention to detail where you excel?

Do you remain calm and reasonable under pressure?

Are your interpersonal skills something others often comment about?

Are you a top competitor?

Do you have the latest, cutting-edge expertise in your class or field?

Think about developing your student and career life story in a way that highlights some of your leadership qualities.

Remember... Leaders get things done. Leaders are the change agents the world is seeking. Leaders are tomorrow's future.

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.

UC Berkeley / UC Davis College Tour

This past fall I had the opportunity to travel to UC Berkeley and UC Davis with a group of young journalists from Santa Barbara Middle School. They were there to interview college students and uncover the secrets of a successful transition from high school into college. (see their complete interview coverage @ sbmsteenpress.org)


Here are some of the responses college students gave to the questions that were asked... Think of this as some free college advice ...

Q: What helped you with the transition from high school to college? What do you recommend?
A:
Be yourself
Define your own priorities
And above all else..... get connected, and get involved

Q: What do you wish you would have known or done your senior year in high school?
A:

• Don't waste your time just waiting for your senior year to be over.
  
• Use this time to rediscover a long, lost passion, rediscover who you are and really ground yourself in this awareness, explore some creative outlets (photography, yoga, art, blogging, biking) -- there won't be time for creative exploration or much play once you hit college.
• Leadership matters-- make sure your skills continue to evolve
• Good high school friends will stay good friends -- Don't worry!
  

Q: How did you decide to go to UC Berkeley? UC Davis?
A:
I chose my college based as much on heart and gut, as on intellect and image. This is good advice. Your heart and gut always know what is best when it comes to really big decisions. Listen with your heart.

Q: Did you get into your first choice college?
A:
No, I didn't and I was devastated. It really took me down for a while. Even though everyone around me kept telling me, and reassuring me, that in the end it will not matter. What matters is that you find a sense of home and connectedness on your college campus, so that you can relax and really settle in, connect, and learn. We cannot always connect the dots or make sense out of what life gives us looking forward.... only when we look back can we understand that what was given to us was totally meant to be all along.

Q: What's the best piece of advice you can give incoming freshmen?
A:

• It takes time to settle in, so be patient

• Get involved

• Sign up for classes that interest you early on... don't wait

• Call home once a week

• Study first, party second

• Real education exists beyond the classroom's four walls so experience all that you can in the next four or more years

• Plan to travel abroad if you can-- Travel is the best teacher

• Find your own people

• Balance fun with work -- you need both to be happy
  

Do Scary Things in 2010

I have decided that 2010 is the year to do scary things. That's right..... Do SCARY things! Risk a bit. It the stuff that exhilarating dreams are made of. I am convinced that once you do the first scary thing, that it will lead to the next unexpected thing, the next new adventure, a new dream will be born because of the experience, and before you know it you will be living a life worth sharing and celebrating.

Make the idea of taking chances, putting yourself out there, and being vulnerable an integral part of how you are going to do 2010! And let's face it.... if you're willing to take chances, well sometimes you will win and sometimes you will trip, stumble and fail miserably-- but if you practice RISK now while you are still young, curious and ambitious, the fall isn't as far, and the rebound is usually quick.

So get up right now and do something big, bold and scary.... NOW, I said do something SCARY right now. Go!

Letting Go! OUCH! A Few Tips to Ease the Pain

Parents often find themselves feeling lost, out of synch, and wildly disconnected and alone when their sweet, demanding, often arrogant child finally packs his/her car, their high school yearbook, along with their new bedding and childhood blanket, back pack, and slowly drives away. This is the beginning of a new chapter framed by new independence, personal choice, and a whole lot of unknown risk and adventure.

So really who needs the help and extra reassurance in this situation? Yep, the kid is fine. He/she is filled with that contagious adrenaline and excitement that a new, independent adventure releases. Yet parents too, are filled with their own "adrenaline rush" of sorts, and an anxious level of excitement. However, a parent's experience is more likely to be one filled with worry and concern.

Parents often hear the advice to just "Let go, and allow your child to make mistakes; allow them to deal with their own setbacks and challenges." And guess what? Parents do "Let go" ... eventually, but this too is a process that takes time. So let's be careful to honor the process, and the very real grieving that accompanies this loss and significant change in both the lives of the child and the parent.

Here are few tips that can help parents actively "Let Go" as they support their child through this big transition (summarized from the UCSB New Parent Handbook):

1. Focus on COMMUNICATION vs. CONTROL. Get good at asking those open-ended questions. Ask the kind that invite options, choice, and the free will to take personal control of a situation.

2. Be SUPPORTIVE. Simply listen. Let your child know that you are there, and that you are a solid (but not intrusive) source of constant support.

3. Expect CHANGES. College is a time of questioning and challenging the status quo, trying on new faces and playing with new ways of showing up in the world. Expect resistance (especially when they return home). Try hard to just roll with this this period of experimentation, and to respect their new-found independence.

4. Allow for more FREEDOM. This is a time to explore; to sample the buffet table. Most students change majors an average of three or four times throughout their college career. Keep focusing your support on the "end goal," not each micro-step or detour.

5. Adjust your EXPECTATIONS. College is competitive. College is distracting. 4.0+ high school students may struggle to maintain a "B average." The stress that accompanies a whole new environment may be reflected in your child's drop in grades. College kids are busy making friends, learning how to become independent, as well as juggling their study schedules and academic learning. Consider the value of the whole learning experience.

6. Be PATIENT. Don't panic if your child is experiencing some struggle, stress or challenge during those first few months (or even first year) of school. It takes time to develop and find your own rhythm, time to establish deep friendships, and to deal with the "culture shock" that new college life presents.

Smile! Know that you have done your part to successfully launch your child into this dynamic and exciting world of independence and new opportunity. Keep communication open and supportive, and watch the wonder and curiosity take hold in its own unique way inside your own young adult's development.

Freshman 10

Right now soon-to-be college freshman are already busy packing boxes and suitcases filled with new bedding and linens, personal laptops, boxes of Top Ramen, and their ATM card ready for their first year away at college.

When I work with high school seniors or college freshman we often talk about what this new life chapter will be about for them... sometimes they are crystal clear, while others are more skeptical or unsure as to what their future will bring.

Here are 10 things that I recommend all Freshman pack up in their trunks, suitcases or cardboard boxes -- 10 things that are sure to bring perspective, success, and feeling of empowerment & ownership:

1. Take some time to decide who you want to be in this next chapter-- Which traits or qualities do you want to bring along, and perhaps more importantly, which attributes do you want to leave behind. You choose! You get to decide!

2. Know why you are at college. Be clear about your own values and be ready to set your own priorities.

3. Establish the longer view early on -- Keep your eye on the end game, your end goal and use this benchmark to help guide your decisions.

4. Find a "symbol" that reminds you of who or what you want to be and why you are at college -- Place this symbol or image somewhere that you will see it every day -- on your laptop, on your mirror. Want to some day work and live in New York city? Find an image or word that represents that loftier goal.

5. Get connected to more than one group. Network. This is where you build connections, create your own unique support team; one that will get you through the bumpy parts on this new road.

6. Sample the buffet line-- Try new things! Take some interesting and curious classes! Hang out with a different group of people. Have an adventure or ten!

7. Don't be afraid to take some risks.

8. Learn how to recognize your own stress; how and where it shows up for you. Work to create some stress management techniques that keep you balanced and on your game -- Exercise, talk with friends, get outside, carve out alone time, journal, learn to say no... What else?

9. Balance the weight and responsibility that comes with the academic load with an attitude of lightness and fun. New experiences. New people. New chapter.

10. Call home at least once a week.