This article was written by Mary Sherwood Sevinsky, career and occupational consultant, on behalf of the Happy Grad Project.How do you find career happiness? Find out how this author's first client found it after college.
New grads are often stymied by the influence of the well-intentioned, more established, and older adults in their lives. Often, when working with college-age clients, I find that they are unwittingly following a path established for them by their parents or other influencers. Worse, they are comparing where they are in their young lives to those more mature who have worked for decades to achieve what they have. This can be very disheartening, to say the least!
To be truly happy, we all must know what makes us happy – in our careers, sure, but also in our lives. Think about what you enjoy, what you truly love to do. Start by not considering earning potential, job availability, or training. This reality check only includes you. What do you want for yourself?
If you are a recent grad, you are a step ahead of a lot of other folks, even if you find that, after four years, you may not like your major much or don’t really know what you would like to do. If you are a recent grad who loves the major you have declared and know exactly what you want to do – great! Either way, consider how you want your days to be.
Do you love the idea of commuting into the big city and working your way up from a cubby to a corner office? Do you want an open floor plan with a team of co-workers at your elbow, everyone kibitzing and solving the world problems? Do you love being outdoors – forget buildings altogether? What floats your boat?
Knowing this will keep you focused on your goal and make you stand out from other candidates, from the first application to the final interview, and to every promotion you earn or business you start. Knowing what you love to do and why will also allow you to see opportunities you might otherwise miss. This secret knowledge will also keep you going through some of life’s curveballs and allow you to find the solutions you need to forge your path.
I still remember my first client – a young woman of 20 years. Originally a business major, she had taken a literature class as part of her basic course work. After reading and writing an essay about The Metamorphosis by Kafka, the instructor called my client to the side to explain the B+ grade was for the writing, but that her insights had a very psychological bend and wondered if she had considered it for a major.
The next semester, my client took a general psych class and became hooked! She read the entire textbook, including the appendices that explained what one could do with a career in psychology and how much one could expect to earn. It quickly became clear to her that she would have to get her Master’s degree and not just a Bachelor’s as she had planned.
Excited by everything she had learned about the field and having a new passion, she shared it with everyone she knew. Abashed, she found that many of her friends and family counseled her to be more practical and work at something realistic that she could do with a bachelor’s degree and make more money.
Wisely, she was not deterred into following the recommended path and was able to identify career opportunities she would have not otherwise seen. While she has veered somewhat from what she initially envisioned, she knew that she loved working with people and understanding what makes them tick and helping them through her interactions. Today, she has had many fulfilling years working with people, and is a successful Career Coach who never lost sight of the importance of loving what you do and what it can get you.
In fact, my client has the opportunity to share the powerful message of the importance of choosing to do what you love every day... I know. I was my first client!
My best wishes to all the new grads, young and old – you are starting out on a long path that is unique to you and only you can decide where it will take you. Good luck!
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Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
BigstockMake a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
- How did I learn about this job?
- How did I apply for the job?
- Did I earn an interview?
- What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
BigstockAre you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
Let's start with resumes!
Every resume should be tailored to the position in order for it to stand out to recruiters and hiring managers. It may seem like a lot of work, but it's actually less work than submitting the same resume over and over again and never hearing back.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
BigstockYour job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
- Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
- Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
- Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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