Advice for new graduates

mapmaker.curtrosengren.com

In my work, I help people find passion in their careers. Typically my clients are making a mid-career change after realizing they're not on the right path.

At a time of year when new graduates are up to their eyeballs in what-do-I-do-now, I have some advice for them to help ensure that they never need someone like me.

What is it? "Don't worry about making the 'right' choice as you launch into your career - because you probably won't."

You can imagine that raises some eyebrows. Of course there's more to it (read on for that). I just like to say that because it gets people's attention.

The reality is, most recent students entering the work force simply haven't had the real world experience to be able to accurately say, "This is the career I want for the next twenty years." I was no different. Thinking back on my days as a new graduate, I shake my head at what I thought I wanted out of my career.

I see it in my clients all the time. I find that people don't start coming to see me until their early thirties (and often older, of course). I call the first ten years out of college the incubation period.

Coming out of college they have this rose-colored, sexy view of what they think they want to do (or what they "should" do), and it takes a few years of real world work experience for them to really start to clue into the fact that "somethin' ain't right here," and, more importantly, "Something needs to change."

So, on to the rest of my advice...

It's really unlikely that your career is going to follow a straight shot trajectory based on the step you take right now. So don't stress about that step as defining your career, because it's almost guaranteed that it won't.

Rather than trying to make the "right" choice right now to launch you into a career for the next twenty or thirty years, look at the next five years as a big R&D project. Spend the time to really get to know what lights you up. Find out where you really feel energized.

Pick a direction that appeals to you, and then treat your life as a big lab experiment. Along the way, keep asking yourself, "What do I love about this? Why? What is it about that that's so fun? What drives me nuts about this? Why? What is it about that that rubs me the wrong way?"

Spend the first years of your career really figuring out what makes you tick.

The fact is, success is going to come a lot more easily for you if you are on fire about what you're doing. So spending the time to really understand what that is can be one of the best career investments you can make.

And investing in that kind of awareness (and committing to basing your decisions on what you discover) will ensure that you never have to come see somebody like me and say, "This path is SOOO wrong. I need to change, but I don't know to what, or how." 

You'll be too busy loving your life.

--

 

Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

Comments

[Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com]

Outstanding advice, Curt. Far too many grads get paralyzed by the fear of making a mistake. They often ask for guidance because they don't know what they want to do for the rest of their lives. I advice them to try to figure out what they want to do for the next five years and not worry about what comes after that. Their lives change so much in those five years that to make plans further into the future is almost pointless.

[Eric]

This is excellent advice!

I went to college for music education. I then decided I wanted to get my Masters in Recording Engineering. After realizing that I was not willing to starve for a decade, I moved on.

After several years of writing music, I started teaching myself how to program a computer.

That led to my 16 year career in IT management and owning a business.

I think I have at least one other career insode of me!

:)

[Aarthi]

Wow thats gives me a lot of encouragement! thanks

[Whitney]

I'd recommend keeping a professional journal or day-runner -- or the electronic equivalent -- to record thoughts and feelings about the jobs you work in and the projects you work on. Record your likes and dislikes even if, at the time, they SEEM like they might be specific to a person, project, or company. Record your a-ha moments -- those moments of clarity and revelation that seem to come out of nowhere.

If you do end up having a "quarterlife crisis" in your 30s, this kind of journal will prove to be invaluable as you work -- alone or with a coach -- to answer the question "Where do I go from here?" With the power of hindsight, you'll start to see patterns that you didn't see when you were living and working in the thick of things. These patterns will show you when you were -- or were not -- living with authenticity...and will give you the clues you need to define what your authentic life is for the future.