Ten years
ago this year I graduated college. Now that university graduations have wrapped
and high school ceremonies approach, I thought I would list a few things I wish
someone would have told me when I graduated. A Shot of Brandi commencement
speech if you will ; )
1. If you
want to get a job in your major, it’s easier when you stay in your
major-related field. Before I landed my first full-time PR job, I had FOUR
internships. One during college, one during college summer breaks, one for a
YEAR after college and then I accepted ANOTHER position at the PR agency that
ended up hiring me full time. No, it wasn’t easy to make $1,000 a month or $10
an hour, but I found a way to make it work.
If you
accept a job right out of college working at say a payroll company, chances are
when you want to make a change, you will need to stay in the payroll field or
start back up from the bottom at your desired company to get to your current
salary. And after two years at the payroll company, you are 25 and want to go
into say advertising. You are now competing with recent grads that will likely
have several internships under their belt.
Get
creative and make sacrifices to let you stay in your field. If you have to keep
taking internships, find something else to help pay the bills (i.e. retail at
night).
2. You need
to do internships. And that’s internship with an S meaning more than one. I was
talking to someone the other day about a college student that is about to be a
senior and is looking for a summer internship. The person said “Well, they’ve
only had one internship.” Some would consider one internship after your junior
year a good thing, but the more you have the merrier - or more impressive it
looks on your resume! Oh and not only do internships give you experience in
your field, they can also lead to husbands. That’s how I met mine!
3. You can’t
compare yourself to others. Especially if you’ve picked a non-traditional
profession. Finding your first full-time job isn’t always as
difficult as it was for me. I chose to work in PR and there are many paths for
PR professionals – that’s what makes the search rather difficult! But say you
have a friend that majored in accounting. There are clear jobs out there
looking for accounting professionals. So for some of your friends, the job
search may be easier. Once you actually land that job, people are going to move
up the ladder quicker than you, people are going to get married before you and
people are going to buy a big house before you. You can’t compare yourself to
others. Learn to find balance – a way to be happy with your current position
and situation, but still stay hungry to achieve your goals.
4. Walt
Disney was right – it really is a small world. Be nice to people. I can’t
tell you how many times I’ve crossed paths with people in which we have mutual
friends. Or even how many times a friend has called and said “What do you know
about XX…they applied for a job here and you two are Facebook friends.” Don’t
burn bridges and remember the golden rule – treat others like you want to be
treated.
A few
other random things I wish I would have known 10 years ago:
·
The
job that you accept after college won’t likely be the same job you have 10
years later. While I was at one PR agency for 8 of the last 10 years, I still
had five different jobs in the last 10 years in three different cities.
·
You
are going to send out A LOT of resumes. After college while I was working at
Virginia Tech, I applied for 111 jobs. I still have the list and I show college
students. I stopped counting the number of jobs that I applied for in the last
10 years. I can’t believe how many times I’ve been rejected!
·
If someone says: “Send me your resume…” Send them
your resume! And be prompt! They may forget your conversation!
·
Learn about what a 401K is in college. A personal
finance class can help too! Real world jobs have a lot of paperwork!
·
When someone (a parent’s friend, aunt, uncle, etc.)
talks to you about a job opportunity, don’t automatically say no. Entertain
their offer. Sit on it for a few days and then politely decline if it doesn’t
interest you. If you are quick to say no (and you don’t currently have a job),
you can come across negative or unmotivated.
·
Finally,
when you pick a place to work – pick wisely. Pick a place that is a good
company, but also select a place based on the people that you will work with.
You spend A LOT of time at work, so you may as well like the people that you
are working with. All of my jobs have allowed me to make friendships that will
last a lifetime.
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