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College to Career: Your Guide to Starting Out

10 Posts tagged with the college tag

As someone who spends my days interacting with college students and thinking about their career prospects, I often think back to my own days on campus. I’ll admit that I experience a mix of nostalgia, relief and regret. I enjoyed college, but I also struggled to find direction during those four years.

 

While I know I can’t change the past -- and my struggles transitioning from college to career led me to the work that I do now -- there are definitely some things I would have done differently. For what it’s worth, here are three things I wish I’d known in college that I know now, in my 30s:

 

1. Great teachers and mentors are rarer than you think. I wish I’d taken classes in college based solely on the amazingness of the professors, regardless of the subject of the classes they taught. If there is a “star” teacher at your school, take his or her class, even if you just audit it from the back row. No matter what that person teaches, his or her passion will inspire you and may open your eyes to something you never previously considered.

 

2. It’s okay to fail (or get a D). Those who’ve read my book, Getting from College to Career, know my deep, dark, terrible secret: I got a D on my first test in college. It was a calculus test -- a subject I’d hesitated to sign up for in the first place -- and I thought my academic life was O-V-E-R.

 

Sure, I moved on, but I made many future course decisions based on which classes I thought I would do well in. What a stupid thing to do! Imagine all of the interesting classes I never considered because I thought I might not get a good grade. Never let fear hold you back from trying something new or different. College is a time to explore.

 

3. College is the beginning of your career. A few years after graduating from college I met with a career coach, because I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do with my life. She asked me to describe some of my “peak” experiences, and one of the experiences I shared was my role as a Freshman Counselor (my university’s equivalent of a Resident Advisor). I absolutely loved the position -- advising students, mentoring them and learning about their perspectives.

 

“Why don’t you make a career of that?” she asked.

 

I can honestly say that the thought had never occurred to me. For some reason, I thought that job was just “college stuff” and not relevant to the Real World. Of course now I know that being a Freshman Counselor was my first step to starting the business I have today.

 

As you think about your career, don’t discount all of the things you are doing as a student -- your coursework, volunteering, extra curriculars, sports, social activities and more -- and think about how these might be the seeds that will grow into a future career. Your future is wide open; don't close any doors at this stage of the game.



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On Tuesday night I attended a dinner hosted by the Atlantic Media Company in Washington, DC, to discuss the results of the brand new Allstate-National JournalHeartland Monitor Poll, which offers a look at the economic experience of the Millennial generation.

 

There were about 20 of us at the table, including representatives from government, think tanks, media outlets and labor unions.  The discussion was moderated by Ron Brownstein, who is not only a well-respected journalist and father of a Millennial, but, I learned, is also a fellow fan of Lost. (Yes, he was careful to end the dinner before Tuesday night’s episode.)

 

Here are some of my main takeaways from the discussion and the poll:

 

Job security is trendy. One of the more surprising findings of the poll is that 55% of Millennials say their goal is long-term employment with a single employer. And, when asked to rank their most important workplace priorities, job security was number one (with money a close number two). Personally, I believe this will change as the economy improves. I just don’t see Gen Y-ers sticking with traditional career paths with all of the options and portable benefits available in the new economy. In fact, many of the dinner attendees joked that they don’t even want to work for their current employers for the rest of their careers.

 

The current recession will have lasting effects. This is seriously concerning (and was also the topic of BusinessWeek’s cover story, “The Lost Generation”). Recent research has shown that young people who graduate in recession years are at a disadvantage for a very long time. According to the National Journal, Yale economist Lisa Kahn has found that even at midcareer, people who graduated in tough economic times are more likely to work in low-pay, low-status positions. However, at the dinner we discussed a possible upside — that recession-era graduates might become more entrepreneurial given that they have little to lose by starting their own businesses.

 

Millennials believe in themselves. Despite the recession, the Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll found that 62% of Millennials believe that their own actions (more than events outside their control) are responsible for the their economic well-being. This reminds me of other research findings I hear often: that American students trail many other countries in academic achievement, but lead in one area: confidence. The question is: does reality match Millennials’ confidence? Hmm.

 

Parents’ basements are crowded. According to the poll, 52% of post-high school Millennials receive financial support from their parents to meet their daily needs, and one-third of 20-something Millennials live at home. This is not surprising, considering the average Gen Y-er carrying debt owes over $37,000, mostly in school loans.  What are the consequences of this debt? Here's one: I spoke with a man from the National Association of Homebuilders who told me that in the future we’ll likely see more multigenerational households, which means more new houses will feature multiple master bedroom suites for the different generations.

 

Higher education is in trouble. As with most discussions about Millennials in the workplace, our conversation ended up on questions about education: Should everyone go to college? Does college adequately prepare young people for the real world? Is college loan debt worth it? One of the more disappointing findings of the poll is that 51% of Millennials believe they could perform their job responsibilities just as well without a college education. This may not be all that surprising given the fact that economists say the break-even point for a college education occurs around age 33. Of course, as one dinner guest pointed out, college is about more than job preparation. But should we be concerned that college doesn’t feel all that relevant to many young people? For more on this topic, I highly recommend the new book DIY U by Anya Kamenetz.

 

As with many good discussions, I left the dinner with more questions than answers. But it’s gratifying to know that many smart, thoughtful people are working on these big issues.

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on all of these topics. Check out the Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll and the National Journal’s special report, and share your thoughts in the Comments section!

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Have you ever wanted to know what goes on inside the mind of a campus recruiter? Here's your chance!

 

Listen in on my conversation with Joy Schwartz, a former campus recruiter who is now a university career counselor. She'll share the inside scoop from the other side of the job fair booth, answering such questions as:

 

  • What are some of the biggest mistakes students make in the campus recruiting process?
  • What can students do to stand out in the recruiting process?
  • What is the most important question in a job interview?
  • What is the best way for candidates to follow up with recruiters?

 

Click here to listen to this podcast, and please share your thoughts in the Comments section below. You can also check out Joy's blog at JoySchwartz.com.

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Today I spoke with Jordan Friedman, a nationally recognized stress management expert and creator of www.dotcalm.me.

 

Don't miss this great opportunity to learn how to keep calm and stay healthy, even during the stresses of college, job hunting and building a successful career. Jordan answers many important questions, such as:

 

  • What is stress anyway?
  • Isn’t some stress good?
  • Are today’s college students more stressed than students in the past?
  • What’s the best ways to reduce stress, short-term and longer term?

 

Take a few deep breaths and listen to the podcast now!

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Come listen in on my conversation with Pete Kistler, the founder of Brand-Yourself.com, who was named one of Entrepreneur magazine's Top 5 College Entrepreneur of 2009. He joins me to talk about personal branding as it relates to college students and young professionals.

 

In this podcast, we define personal branding, talk about Pete’s own personal branding process and explain why students and young professionals need to think about your personal brand -- especially the image you’re projecting online.

 

For more on this topic, here are two great new resources that can help you create and enhance all aspects of your personal brand:

 

PricewaterhouseCoopers Personal Brand Week - a terrific collection of downloadable worksheets to help you create an elevator pitch, express your passion, build a network, promote yourself online and more. PwC is also collecting free personal branding advice on Twitter with the hashtag #pwcpbw.

 

Student Branding Blog - a new resource expressly designed to help college students with personal branding. This site was created by Dan Schawbel, who also launched the Personal Branding Blog.

 

Click here to listen to this week's podcast.

 

How have you approached personal branding as a student or young professional? As always, I welcome your comments below!

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What are the major hiring trends on campus this year? What are the best strategies for finding an entry-level job? What are the biggest mistakes students make in the job search process?

 

To answer these questions and more, I spoke with with Trudy Steinfeld, Executive Director of the Wasserman Center for Career Development at New York University, and Manny Contomanolis, Associate Vice President and Director of Co-op and Career Services at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

 

Don't miss the opportunity to hear top tips from two of the best career services professionals in the country!

 

Listen to the podcast interview now.

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In this week's podcast, I'm thrilled to present an interview with Manisha Thakor, financial literacy expert and co-author of two great books on personal finance, On My Own Two Feet and Get Financially Naked.

 

In this 15-minute segment, Manisha answers the questions on the minds of today's college students and recent grads, such as:

 

- What are the most important financial steps to take in your 20s?

 

- What are the biggest mistakes to avoid in your 20s?

 

- How can college students make good decisions about how much student loan debt to take on?

 

- What are the best ways to save money and live on a budget?

 

- What are the important financial steps to take when starting a new job?

 

Don't miss this essential information for you and your wallet! Listen to the podcast now.

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On Tuesday evening I gave a talk for students visiting New York City from American University. Besides the fact that I got to speak at a very cool venue – the stage of Caroline’s Comedy Club in Times Square – something else cool happened. When I asked how many students were on Twitter, almost half of the audience raised their hands.

 

Granted, it was a room of students seeking communications careers, who are more likely to enjoy the hyper-communication of Twitter. But, it was the first time I’ve seen so many college students involved in the three-year-old micro-blogging site.

 

If you haven’t yet checked out Twitter, you should. If you’re not familiar with Twitter, it’s a free social networking site that allows only 140 characters per announcement or “tweet.” Get rid of any preconceived notions you might have that Twitter is a waste of time where people post silly messages about their cats and what they had for breakfast. While some people do tweet about nonsense, there are many, many other people whose tweets can be incredibly valuable to your career.

 

My philosophy is that I follow people on Twitter for three reasons:

- I follow people I admire or whom I want to work with someday, so I can learn what those people are thinking or talking about.

- I follow people who tweet out great career advice and help me learn something new.

- I follow people who share interesting news, articles and announcements that help me stay up-to-date in my industry or the world in general.

 

You can follow this same strategy by following professionals you admire, companies you’d like to work for someday, career advisors who provide free advice and news outlets that will keep you up-to-date on current events. While there are hundreds of people I could recommend, part of the fun of Twitter is making your own unique list of people to follow. To help get you started I’ve put together a list of 10 of my favorite college-to-career tweeters:

 

www.twitter.com/lindseypollak - that’s me!

 

http://twitter.com/MyPath_Manpower - Tweets, news and updates from all of my fellow bloggers here at MyPath.

 

http://twitter.com/alevit - Alexandra Levit is the author of “They Don’t Teach Corporate in College” and many other career advice books for young professionals.

 

http://twitter.com/CAREEREALISM - Careerealism offers loads of advice from a variety of career experts, all in one Twitter feed.

 

http://twitter.com/DanSchawbel - Dan Schawbel is founder of the Student Branding Blog and tweets about personal branding for college students and recent grads.

 

http://twitter.com/InternQueen - InternQueen is a great resource for – you guessed it – internships.

 

http://twitter.com/SalaryExpert - SalaryExpert’s tweets help you answer that dreaded question, “What are your salary requirements?”

 

http://twitter.com/Under30CEO - Under 30 CEO offers inspiring tweets that motivate you to go for your biggest career goals.

 

http://twitter.com/willyf - Willy Franzen is the founder of One Day, One Job and One Day, One Internship – sites that share information about one potential employer every day.

 

http://twitter.com/WSJcareers - Wise advice from contributors to the Wall Street Journal Career Journal.

 

Who else do you recommend for career-minded college students to follow on Twitter? Please share in the comments section below!

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I spent this morning facilitating a focus group with a dynamic group of college students and recent grads. Not only was it fun to sit in a room with a two-sided mirror (I felt like I was in a Law and Order interrogation room!), but it was also incredibly enlightening about the opinions of experiences of career-minded young professionals.

 

One of the topics we discussed was LinkedIn.com, the professional social network (full disclosure: I am a campus spokesperson for LinkedIn). I was really surprised to hear that some of the students in the focus group described LinkedIn as "only for highly experienced professionals."

 

This couldn't be farther from the truth. LinkedIn is a fantastic tool if you are just starting out in your career. In this week's podcast I share five tips that will help you make the most of this popular and powerful professional online network.

 

Click here to listen to the podcast now. Please share your comments, and any LinkedIn questions or additional tips, below!

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For my first blog post and podcast for MyPath, I wanted to address the biggest career issue facing college students and recent grads today: getting a job in the worst recession in decades.

 

While I wish I could offer some secret playbook that I've been saving for a bad economy, the reality is that you have to use the same job search strategies you've always used to find a job. However, you have to use them in a way that is smarter, faster and better than you've ever done before.

 

  • Being smarter means being more strategic about where you look for job opportunities and what kinds of opportunities you seek. Be sure to cast the widest net possible and think broadly about where you can work and where you'll come across job postings.

 

  • Being faster means jumping at opportunities when they arise. Return all phone calls and emails promptly, show up early to job fairs and networking events and apply immediately when you find a job posting that suits your skills and experience.

 

  • Being better means avoiding common job seeker mistakes. Proofread all documents and email messages, make sure your contact methods are 100 percent professional and check any online profiles for inappropriate content.

 

For more tips on being smarter, faster and better, listen to my recent podcast.

 

Next week I'll be back with more tips for making a successful transition from college to career!

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