Back in 2013, I transitioned from a lowly paid intern position to a slightly lower paid full time employee at Pivotshare, a 8 person startup as their Outbound Marketing Manager (yes, that is self titled). 

From there, I was referred to Google as a contractor, referred  to Linkedin on another contract, and now, as you might have guessed, referred again to a full time role here at RockIT. 

# of resumes sent online these past years? 5.

My parents had always drilled in my head the importance of networking but I never understood it’s true significance as much as I have now these past couple years. With this in mind however, I knew my journey wasn’t a normal one amongst my peers…or was it? 

I had to find out. 

So here’s what I did:

I kindly spammed 22 of my recently graduated buddies with these 2 questions about their journey. 

1. What challenges did you face when you started looking for work after college?

2. What’s 1 thing you would’ve changed about how you went about your search? 

The results produced 5 interwoven lessons that I thought would be interesting to share with you.

But before I let you loose, take a second to think about those questions yourself…

….ready?…let’s dive in. 

1. What Are You Waiting For? Start Early, Start Now! 

Or perhaps you could ask yourself this, why start later?

6 of our recent grads reiterated the importance of thinking AND doing more while in college. With tuition as high as it is now, wouldn’t it make sense to squeeze out every freely available resource and contact that your college can provide? Career centers, professors, job fairs are all good places to start. 

Your job search shouldn’t begin the day you graduate. And if you already did, you aren’t off the hook either. For many of us, it takes time to even figure out what kind of job we want. Thinking takes time and it sure wouldn’t hurt to take out more people out on informational coffee dates, attending Meetups, or even just chatting with your dad’s colleague’s son.

Figure out a way to digest those end goals into actionable steps.

 Or as Alex, a Sales Coordinator @ Google put it: 

“Don’t think of it as one big problem, work on it little by little.”

Hot tip: be genuine with your intentions. Sure it’s bold to ask right then & there, but in the long run, a relationship will prove to be much more valuable. You can ask for intro’s then. 

Start early. Start now. 

2. Think About The Bigger Picture

For most of us, the reality of the following sentence holds true. 

We are on the bottom of the totem pole. 

But, we shouldn’t settle and become complacent with this reality. Yes, it may be true that the work we’re doing isn’t exactly world changing, jump-out-your-bed-YIPEEE type work but it’s a start. 

Stuff We Should Care More About: 

Your Manager – Will they invest in you? To what degree? Can you see them as a manager or as a mentor? I’ve been blessed to have driven, intelligent, and patient managers who saw my potential and more pushed me to extrapolate on those strengths. 

Your Habits – What kind of mentality do you bring to work? What are your organizational habits? What’s your Yes:NO ratio when given opportunities? Even in an entry level paper pushing, smile & dial job, mental habits can bear great (and unproductive) fruits in future jobs. 

Your Transferrable Skills – What skills am I learning now can be applied cross functionality with other jobs? Which of those skills play to my strengths and how can I improve? Though it may hard to see initially, it just takes some mindful recognition to bring those soft/hard skills to the surface. 

…and stuff that probably isn’t AS important (for now)

Money. 

8 responders talked about making that dough…and how they wished they focused on other values of a job more. Yes, salary is important and extremely enticing, (real Ramen vs Cup of Noodles), but it shouldn’t be a priority (or at least not yet!). That being said, do your due diligence in learning how to negotiate salaries. It’s good practice. 

“Really think about how important the job is to you vs the money/stability it gives you” -Lynne, AmeriCorps, Student Engagement Advocate

Finding The PERFECT Job

Yes it’s out there, but for more of us it probably won’t materialize right away. 2 responders talked about how they spent more time just thinking of the million scenarios of what type/in what industry/in what area/etc. instead of putting action in figuring those questions out.

Take a look at your options, decide what looks like best, and make a decision. THEN learn, evolve, and mold your career to what you envision it to be…year by year, job by job. 

“I would recommend those confused college grads to at least start somewhere” – Lauren, HR Analyst, KIA Motors. 

Trust the Process. 

3. Dream Bigger, Do Bigger. 

Welcome to the Buyers Market where jobs are low, and unemployed college grads are high. We’re living in a competitive economy folks! 

What this means for us: 

1. Should we settle for the very first offer we get?

It depends. If it’s ab-so-LUTE-ly amazing, then yeah. But for anything else that’s below that bar, it may be worth considering a 2nd offer…or 3rd to provide someperspectives on what truly a great fit would be. 

“I settled for the first real job I was offered, which was ultimately a huge mistake. While I found success in the position, I got zero satisfaction from the position” – Daniel, Sales Coordinator @ Google

Think about the hundreds of advertisements you see on deodorant. If you’re on the market for new deodorant, would you immediately run to the store after watching Old Spice commercials? Or would you compare flavors, prices, and other important factors that you consider in new deodorants? 

2. Job description says _____ and it has _____ # of years. I’ll pass. 

It does not hurt to try. Dream bigger! What’s the worst that can happen if you had a conversation with a recruiter about a more “senior” position? Dream bigger. Don’t limit yourself by the potential that you see and know about yourself! Dream BIGGER. 

3. What sets you apart?

Borrowing my advertisement analogy again…because you see hundreds of marketers enticing you over media, print, and now even Instagram (ugh), it’s become more important than ever to catch the ATTENTION of potential customers first. Nothing else happens after after our attentions are captured. 

So think – what are you doing to capture the attention of future employers?

Will sending a general, un-targeted resume be your best bet in getting responses? vs. writing a personalized hand-written letter in a bright green envelope? 

4. Network like Crazy

Let’s start with some stats and general foundations to get the ball rolling. 

First, how did our responders feel about networking? 

“Network” was mentioned 13 times

“Recruit” was mentioned 9 times

“Who You Know” was mentioned 7 times. 

A lot of our responders talked about not knowing how, not starting earlier, or just not thinking boldly enough in their networking abilities. 

Everyone knew how important it was to network and what benefits it would bring in the years to come. 

“Networking is paramount in the job search. You’ll find that really successful people are those who have extensive networks whether they are looking for jobs or not.” -Rudy, RF Analyst @ SSL

It’s really just a matter of starting wherever you are NOW and educating yourself with the right strategies, tools, and people.

Networking is an lifelong and necessary habit that needs to ingrained in everyone’s Career DNA. 

Wrapping Up

So where do you find yourself among these responses? 

Did you find yourself nodding your head? Did something emotionally trigger when reading over something? 

If Yes is the answer then I’d suggest you to do the following: 

1. Click the ( x ) button on the window that you’ve got this open, and Go. Do. Something. 

2. Write down your plan for this week, what specific goals do you want accomplished? How many informational interviews do you want to accomplish?

3. Go educate yourself. What books can you check out to learn more about a particular industry? What Quora answers can you find that shares more about a role you want to interview for? 

Go. Do. Something. 

Thanks for reading.

-Albert

SO TELL ME…

Is there anything I’m missing from this post? What’s one actionable thing you’re going to do now to get you 1 step closer to finding that dream job?

Write it in the comment section below, looking forwarding to reading it!