What advice would you give?
My work often brings me into contact with college students — undergrads and grads — who are 10+ years younger than I am. Sometimes they, in all their wide-eyed naivete, ask me for career advice. Usually, in all my megalomania self-assurance, I give them some.
“Pursue the opportunity that you think will best set you up for the most interesting work later,” I’ll tell them.
“Start saving your money when you’re young, while you can live on the cheap.”
“Travel as much as you can before you settle down and start a family.”
“Do the best work you can do on each project, but along the way be sure to figure out how it is that you do your best work. Then try to replicate those conditions for each project.”
“What you get out of an experience is more important than how good the line on your resume looks, but don’t be naive — Harvard looks a lot better than Podunk State, and it will open more doors for you. That’s just the way it is.”
“Work with the people who are producing the most fruitful results, and who have been doing it for a while. Copy them.”
So, let me turn it over to you:
If a bright young person asked you for career advice,
what would you tell them?
~
(Images: dykstranet [CC-Share Alike], David Farrell, Kapungo [CC-SA], cekrypton2, the prodigal untitled13 [CC-No Derivative Works], Matt Schilder [CC-SA], Duchamp)
Category: The working lifeIf you liked this post, please consider subscribing to the RSS feed so you can receive future articles delivered to your feed reader.
8 Comments so far
Leave A Comment
“Life is not fair… but we must all proceed with the faith that over the course of all our lives, it will be more or less equally unfair to all of us.”
A few top-of-mind practical nuggets from college and early working years:
-Pick an interesting-to-you major. Unless you’re going into something very specific where you need a very specific background on your resume, you’re better served by seeking out engaging work/ research/ volunteer/ entrepreneurial experience outside or alongside the classroom.
-Get a job and work while you’re in school, even if you don’t need to.
-Graduate early if you can. You won’t miss much and the momentum helps.
-Debt is the great inhibitor and destroyer of dreams. Avoid it.
-Study abroad is great, but you may get better bang for your buck with travel during summers or after graduation.
-It pays to be nosy about the workings of your business. Invite yourself to high-level conversations, or start them and listen.
-*And especially*: Ask for feedback/criticism regularly. Even if you don’t get any, people will like that you asked.
I’m not too long in the tooth, but one of the most valuable things I learned in my first job out of college was knowing what you don’t know is vital in a new industry. It leads to asking the right questions and avoiding an impression of arrogance or presumption.
Things that have worked for me so far (I’m only 25):
1. Stay out of debt. I can’t stress
this enough. I went to a good state school and left with no student
loans and great credit. Freedom from financial burdens means you
can pursue work that is meaningful to you, work that won’t leave
you wanting to put a rope around your neck.
2. Save as much as you possibly can. Take your
paycheck, however meager it might be, and automatically, every month,
take out a percentage for savings. You’d be amazed how much
it accumulates merely through the passage of time. My wife and I
have only been married for two years, but through good savings,
we now have enough for a downpayment on a new house.
3. Take a year off after undergrad. I know so
many people who went to grad school because they didn’t know what
else to do. Bad idea. You’d be better off travelling, working odd
jobs, doing soul-searching without exams, papers, or student loans.
4. Learn the web and develop and maintain an online presence.
Find your passion and blog about it. Make sure that when people
Google you, the first thing that comes up is examples of your work
and what you do, not drunken Facebook pictures. Don’t put anything
on the ‘net you wouldn’t want your employer or random strangers
to see. You don’t need a resume when you have an awesome website.
5. Read good books. I recommend The Adventures of Johnny Bunko for a fun
pep-talk and guide to how to approach your career path, and Do What You Are for
a good general overview of what type of work you might be well-suited for.
Don’t be afraid to stumble a few times. It can take years, decades really, before you find your passion. So enjoy the ride, get the most out of every experience you can, and get to know yourself, your strengths and your weaknesses.
I’m bookmarking this post =)
I’m 21, a junior in college, and hear much of this advice from my parents every so often. In fact my mom told me just yesterday to start saving my money (for the like 100th time haha).
Great post, and invites conversation to the readers with the engaging question.
Thanks Tim
Mark Larson said “Pick an interesting-to-you major.”
I can’t stress this enough. Many of us get a degree in something and end up with a career in something else. (e.g. I’m a programmer, writer, web specialist with an MS in Microbiology.) Much of the value of College is learning to study, do research, interact with people, handle assignments, meet deadlines.
I’d add:
At the end of the day, go home. Have a life. So many bright-eyed new employees want to make a Good Impression, thinking I should Stay Late and Work Hard. Sadly, overwork tends to be rewarded by people assuming you will overwork. And nothing protects you in a layoff.
Be diligent, careful, and productive. Don’t slack. Ensure that you do quality work. But, at the end of a good 8-hour day, it’s OK to go home. Come bak tomorrow when you’re fresh.
Many years ago, I was in a staff meeting in early December. Management was looking for volunteers to work the week between Christmas and New Years – a company holiday week. A freshly minted coworker said “I have plane tickets to visit my family. What should I do?” I said “You should get on the plane.”
There will always be more work than there are people or hours available to complete it. Learn early to balance your job with the rest of your life.
Good advice, Vicki! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we interact with the constraints in our lives. We ARE fundamentally constrained — in time, in money, in attention — regardless of how well we admit it. Far better to grasp this NOW and use the knowledge to help us focus on what’s important, rather than chasing the fantasy that we can always stuff more into our days.