Advice to Graduates: This Is the Beginning of the Rest of Your Life

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I’m in the last week of teaching a writing and blogging workshop at sea, and I have a handful of students who are college girls that just graduated last month and are having a bit of a quarter-life crisis on what to do with their lives. Understandable—we’ve all been there.

Career Advice for College Grads

With the number of emails I receive a week from college students/grads seeking job advice, I thought it timely to give my own commencement of sort—in blog form, natch. Because I remember being young, broke, jobless and scared, and I’m here to tell you: It will work out. But it’s going to take time, and itΒ won’t be easy. So, that said:

Get a job, doing anything, at a place you’d like to work. Don’t think right out the door, you’re going to land an editor position at Vogue. Or even an editorial assistant gig. (You can dream, though.) But, if that’s your passion, by all means, do whatever it takes to get your foot in the door somewhere, anywhere at Conde Nast. (A tip from a journo who’s been there: If you want to bypass the highly-competitive EA route, consider getting your in via a copy editor or research position instead. Once you’ve gained editors’ trust, I guarantee you, you’ll be allowed to pitch and write for the magazine even if in a different department.) A high-powered business development exec for a major digital media company spoke to my students this week and told about how coming out of undergrad, she really wanted to work in broadcast. So she got a job as a page making around $12 an hour. Six months later? She was promoted and jumped over into the production end of things. Moral of this story: Do good work, make connections, and you will be noticed.

Career Advice for College Grads

Live abroad, now. Because life will get in the way later. Want to spend six months in Sweden? Always dreamed about getting a one-year work visa to Australia? There’s no better time than the present. And if you don’t want to relocate somewhere for good, then by God, at least spend a few months traveling, will you? One of the biggest pitfalls of the American education system (in my opinion) is not allowing for the standard gap year that nearly every other Western country requires of its youth.

Don’t apply for a job for which you’re not qualified. Job postings have criteria for a reason—you shouldn’t apply for a gig that asks for a decade of upper level management experience when your only gig has been doling out Frappuccinos at Starbucks anymore than you’d apply for an attorney job without a law degree. Abort! You’re only wasting your time. My job on the ship is a prime example; it requires five to seven years experience in the media, but you’d be shocked how many people email me and ask how to get hired without so much as a staff job at a publication as a writer or a published body of work as a photographer. For some reason, it seems when it comes to writing, people get this chip on their shoulder that they should be able to jump right in as an editor or manager position (right, because that attitude goes over well with your senior who has been crawling up the ladder for the last 15 years). Start small, work your way up. It’s the same in any field.

Skip grad school—at least right now. It boggles my mind how many college grads collect their diploma, then jump right back into studying for a graduate degree. With no work experience, how can you even be sure of what to get that degree in? It’s a lot of time and money wasted if it’s not what you’re going to do later on in life. So work first, then do grad school later—if it even makes sense with your career path at all. An example of when it doesn’t: when you want to be a print journalist like me. Having excess degrees in journalism (editorial) does nothing but set you back in finances and time; while you were off studying, your peers were getting a leg-up working. Obviously, if you decide to go into the business side of publishing—advised; there’s more money to be had—an advanced degree could come in handy. But still. No more school until you’re sure of what you want to do with your life (or at least the next 20 years)—capiche?

Now’s the time to move around, physically and in your career. I’m glad I had those years in New York and the year and a half in Europe and the years in San Francisco under my belt before SVV and I opted to move back to the South and plant roots (in the form of buying a house and starting two businesses). Now is the time to move around, test out a whole lot of different cities, find the right fit before you settle. While I will continue to travel, I no longer have that overwhelming desire to relocate every six months like clockwork; I got that out of my system in my twenties. And on the career side, oftentimes you only move up by moving over, so don’t be afraid to switch companies every year or two if you see a job posting that you like or a competitor company tracks you down on LinkedIn. An MBA friend told me that the average time one stays at a company these days is a year and nine months and that many of her colleagues would switch jobs as often as every nine months (I still suggest sticking with the year-and-a-half to two-year timeline). At one time, this would have made a candidate look fickle; now, it makes you desirable. Sure, you’ll make friends with your co-workers and it will be tough to leave, but you never know when they might wind up in the cube beside you at your next job…

Career Advice for College Grads

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you have a family friend or know someone personally who has excelled in the career you’re hoping to go into, offer to buy him/her lunch and get some worldly advice. (Though please avoid asking to “pick your brain;” it only implies to some—myself included—that you want to steal all the insider information I’ve garnered in my career and keep it as your own; many of us run side consulting businesses and don’t give this sort of important material away for free.) Also be mindful that career types are busy, really busy, and might not always have the time. Thus, my philosophy is this: Be ballsy and don’t be afraid to ask for a meeting, but also be respectful when their schedules just don’t allow for mentoring.

Proofread, spell check, don’t be an idiot. I’m tempted to paste some of the inane emails I receive in this post, but for the sake of the writer, I’ll hold back. If you’re going to reach out and ask someone for help, by God, at least get his or her name right! And don’t eff up the difference between “its” and “it’s;” it only makes you look stupid. It’s one thing to make an easy error in a casual email to a friend; it’s another to commit such a faux pas when the recipient is someone who might be able to help you land that job.

It’s not going to come easy. I receive so many emails from college students where it’s apparent they want me to send them this magical link to “[insert dream job here]” and when I tell them my back story and that it takes a lot of effin’ hard work and never-ending persistence and hunger and drive and a whole lot of other synonyms…I never hear back. (The curse of the Millennials: wanting everything handed to them without logging the hours.) So know now, nothing in life comes easy. And if it does? It’s probably too good to be true.

Your passions will change, and maybe your career will, too. But that’s OK. I know plenty of forty- and fifty-somethings still trying to decide what to do with their lives—or at least what to do in the next chapter. Change is OK, change is good, don’t steer clear of change; you never know where it might lead you.

You’re not supposed to have it all figured out. So chill the eff out, will ya? You’ve got plenty good years of trial and error ahead of you. Embrace it.

Career Advice for College Grads

For those of you well-immersed in a career you love, what advice would you give college graduates?

COMMENTS
  • June 13, 2013

    I think that point about grad school is really key. I’m so happy I didn’t decide to go to grad school for Library Science like I considered back when I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. Instead I took my chances in the real world and it lead me to a career I love but would never have expected.
    In contrast I have a handful of friends who went straight to grad school and are STILL desperately looking for jobs except now they have a mountain of debt on their shoulders. I think that unless you know very specifically how a grad degree will further your career (or even better, have a company willing to pay for it), it’s not really worth it for most twenty-somethings.

    • June 13, 2013

      THIS! My undergrad advisor wanted me to go get a Masters/PhD in art history directly after graduating. Yeah, no. I’m so glad I didn’t go off to get a masters in Museum Studies either. $60,000 in tuition to still work for pennies? I’ll volunteer in a museum for free and get the hands on experience that actually matters.

      • June 13, 2013

        It’s funny how disconnected the older generation is. My dad, for example, still thinks I need to go back and get my PhD. For what purpose? Bragging rights? That will do me absolutely no good in the journalism world (unless I want to teach college, which I don’t!).

  • June 13, 2013

    Good advice. I most strongly agree with the advice about not going straight to grad school (or to grad school at all) if you want to work in the writing/editing/publishing field. I work as a freelance writer and editor (in fields outside of travel, except for the occasional foray for fun, not as a living). I “only” have a BA, and people outside of my field often ask if I’ve considered going back to school. When I was younger (I’m 32 now), I always kind of assumed I would, but now that I’m entrenched in the field and making a really good salary (and yes it took a lot of hard work to establish myself as a freelancer, and I didn’t just get to be a freelancer without building up my resume with in-house jobs first), I realize there would be zero value in me doing so, and I’m so glad I didn’t waste my money on it earlier. Not one single client I have would pay me any more because I have a graduate degree. They care solely about the quality of work I’d doing.

  • June 13, 2013

    I pretty much agree with everything you wrote — especially the grad school thing. I waited until I was in my late 20’s to go back to school. By then I really knew what I wanted to do and I had some work & teaching experience, so I was able to get a job as a TA (something I never would have been able to do right out of undergrad), and pretty much my entire grad school education was comped because of it. And then my TAship helped me get my foot in the door for my first job out of grad school and my current job now. Plus, if I do decide to change careers later on, I won’t feel too bad about it as my whole graduate education was pretty much free. Whereas if I had a whole ton of debt, I’d probably feel like I had to stick with my job whether I wanted to or not.

    • June 13, 2013

      Excellent point. I hadn’t even considered the fact that if you get a master’s degree in something you’re not so passionate about, you potentially run the risk of staying in that career, like it or not, to feel you’ve gotten your money’s worth.

  • June 13, 2013

    Such great advice! We all learn so much by going through the trenches and struggling at times. It’s funny to me how many people assume there’s some magical trick to get to where they want to be. And I totally agree on the grad school thing, as well. It just doesn’t make sense to rack up more debt with another needless degree when you could be out getting real experience and advancing your career. Great post!!

    • June 13, 2013

      Exactly! In which case, you tell them that “the magical trick” is a potion of perseverance, hard work, talent, patience and reliability—with a dash of luck, maybe, but not always.

  • June 13, 2013

    Well said, woman. My one addition: failure is good for you. Keep your head up, learn & reflect, then move forward as a more humble and wise person…

    • June 13, 2013

      SO TRUE. I still keep a “rejections” folder in my email because it reminds me that for every story I’ve pitched, at least now even when it’s a “no,” it’s a response. Whereas five years ago, I was getting nearly 100 percent non-responses. A “no” is better than [radio silence], and I think that failure has been good for me, in particular, as a self-employed gal learning the ropes as she goes.

  • June 13, 2013

    I agree about skipping grad school right out of college – and possibly after – too. Who needs more debt? Experience is worth a lot more. Nice post, Kristin.

    • June 13, 2013

      What gets me are the students with a bachelor’s in journalism who want to go onto grad school to get…a master’s in journalism. I mean, WTF? It’s more or less the exact same curriculum–why would you pay to do the same degree twice? I can understand if you’re set on going into financial reporting, you have a business degree from undergrad and want a journalism master’s, but otherwise, it doesn’t make sense to pursue higher education in a field where work experience and skill supersedes any schooling.

      • June 13, 2013

        Yeah, I don’t get that either. My last class of my last semester in college, one I took for an elective, was cultural anthropology. It was then I realized THAT’s what I should have majored in. I would never go back to school for journalism. Work experience and skill definitely trumps any formal schooling in this field. When I think back to the professors I had at UF, I don’t think many of them even had “real world” experience save for a year or two. Why would I want to spend money learning from people who haven’t actually been out there doing what they’re teaching?

  • June 13, 2013

    When you get your frist job, be humble and take initiative. Go above and beyond in your job and you will be noticed and rewarded. Don’t always ask what needs to be done, observe and just do it. Your boss is not going to be anything like a helicopter parent. Time to put on your big boy or big girl pants and do things on your own because there is no easy answer that someone else is going to give you.

    When you leave a job, don’t burn bridges and keep connected with people. You’ll be amazed how many people will cross your path again and you never know who may end up being able to help you. It’s all “who you know” in getting jobs. I’ve been called and offered jobs by many of my past bosses.

    Enjoy the small things in life and be happy. Don’t sit around and wait for something huge to happen in your life (I’ll be happy when I…get the perfect job, make more money, get married, lose the extra weight…). Be happy now.

    I completely agree about moving around and living abroad when you are younger. I wish I would have, but as you said, life gets in the way later.

  • June 13, 2013

    Thank you for writing this! As a May graduate and avid fan of your blog, I definitely take your advice to heart πŸ™‚

    • June 13, 2013

      Well, thank you, I’m glad someone does πŸ˜‰

      Congrats on your graduation, good luck in the coming years and–most of all–have fun, always, no matter what you wind up doing.

  • June 13, 2013

    Couldn’t agree more. I also liked Meg’s comment about failure being good for you. It sucks but you come out stronger, more determined for the things you really want. I remember being so bummed I didn’t get this job that totally wasn’t right for me. Then two weeks later, I got an interview for job in the field I really wanted. I worked really hard on a proposal to sell myself before the first call. I’m talking PPT, slideshows, etc. Was it asked of me, no. Did it show I would go above and beyond, yep. Work hard and it pays off.

    • June 13, 2013

      I remember crying like my life is over after not getting the first job–as a reporter for a newspaper in TN–that I was a shoo-in for. Instead, I landed at Newsweek in NYC and jump-started my magazine career. So you know, failure often turns into success!

  • June 13, 2013

    I love how you mentioned to live abroad now. Life does get in the way and most likely it will never happen later. Live a free life now before marriage, kids, or a career keep you from it. Great post!

    • June 13, 2013

      It’s either now or retirement, and I’m guessing the now is the more likely of the two to happen! πŸ˜‰ (Though I’m still banking on a summer home in Portugal once I’m retired…if ever.)

  • June 13, 2013

    I agree 1,000% As someone who has mentored dozens of interns at my PR firm, I drill many of these things into their heads. Even the job hopping part (even though I’ve been with my company for 9+ years).

  • June 13, 2013

    Although I’m not necessarily 100% with you on the travel abroad and the no grad-school thing (I’m mostly with you, just not 100%, I think it’s situational, i.e., your situation may vary), the only thing I would really add is: Don’t be afraid to change. I think this goes along with how your passions change. Or, perhaps, in my case, you just did what, say, your parents thought you should do and eventually you say, Hmmmm, it’s my life, right?

    In my case, my parents kept pushing for practical, practical, practical, so I got a degree in microbiology & public health. Around my senior year in college I realized I wanted to be a writer, so I started writing. It took a rather long time for me to make a career writing (a very long time), but I eventually did. I suppose the other thing I would add is you need to be able to take risks – probably calculated risks – but change is hard and it’s really easy to get too comfy in a situation and not want to change it for fear things will be worse.

    • June 13, 2013

      No, you’re right. This is meant more for the journalism students who likely don’t need a grad degree or those thinking about going straight into an MBA program without practical experience. In many science-related fields like engineering, if you know that’s what you’re going to do, getting a master’s right out of college makes sense. But in most creative or more business-oriented professions, it doesn’t necessarily (most of the times, at least).

      And definitely agree on the change bit. That was in my mental draft, as well, but must not have made it into the post. You and I are on the same page πŸ˜‰

      Risks, yes! Good addition.

  • June 13, 2013

    I’m not a graduate yet but this time, next year I will be and it is already starting to grate on me that I still don’t have a clue what I want to do. I particularly love the first and the last advice – thank you so much for this article Kristin, I don’t think it could have come at a better time!

    • June 13, 2013

      Oh, you have PLENTY of time to figure it all out then. πŸ˜‰

      Enjoy your last year, and live it up, will you?

  • June 14, 2013

    This is great advice, Kristin! My parents desperately wanted me to go to grad school for my MBA right away, but I said no and held my ground. I’m so glad that I saved my time and money because I discovered that I didn’t want to work in business after all.

  • June 14, 2013

    I’m starting to love you and your motivational words. And what touched me the most is the point about skipping grad school.. lol.. I found most of the comments here are talking about that πŸ˜€ I was worrying about skipping my degree and starting to fill up my career experience field… Now I know what I did was something effectual.. love your writing style.. I’m about to steal some πŸ˜‰ Thank you! Kisses!!

  • June 14, 2013

    Great post, and I agree with pretty much all of it. One of our j-school professors said at one point that journalists are better prepared by two years of working at a small newspaper than they are by a grad degree (unless of course then never got an undergrad journalism degree), and the finances are way more in your favor too.

    I had to comb through some prospective intern resumes a few months back, and I was FLOORED by how much bad grammar there was in them — and this was for an editorial internship!

  • June 14, 2013

    Kristin, thank you so much for this amazing post! I’m about to graduate from grad school this summer and, obviously, I’m terrified about what’s next — especially since my degree is one of the “useless” ones (cultural history / art history).
    I’m so over explaining to friends and family that I have no idea what I want to do with my degree but that you also don’t have to be settled and sure of everything at age 25. At lot of people think that I’m just running away from reality, because I refuse to think about getting a “real” job right away. I want to travel, I want to find myself (a clichΓ© as that sounds), and I just don’t want to worry about promotions and kitchen curtains yet. I know it will work out somehow, if I’m willing to be zealous and passionate about what I do. Even if I’m not sure what exactly that will be.

  • June 14, 2013
    Katie

    Great advice! There is one point I disagree with, though, as I feel it is too final.

    “Don’t apply for a job for which you’re not qualified.”

    Rather, it should be, “Sometimes, you should apply for jobs that you aren’t entirely qualified for”.

    I say this because it’s how I got my first real adult job. In today’s world, most job descriptions are put together using very specific sets of terms. It’s usually the “best case scenario” job posting, not “this is exactly what we’re looking for”. Now, similar to your posting, I don’t mean that people should apply for jobs for which they have no skills at all, but if you can find skills that might be transferable, you can be more flexible with how you meet the other terms.

    If you ever want to change careers, you may very well have to apply for things that you’re technically not qualified for. However, if you can write a decent cover letter, and put together an awesome resume, it won’t matter. People WILL hire you. (Might take a while though…patience is key.)

    Oh! I guess that should be my advice. Know how to write a cover letter, resume, and how to be comfortable in a job interview. You need to stand out, and if you have to take a summer course on it, do it. πŸ™‚

    • June 14, 2013

      Yes, I do see your point–but that can go either way. I have a friend who totally played up his MBA experience and nabbed a logistics job for a major shipping company for which he was not qualified (but acted as he was), and he was so unprepared for the position, that they wound up firing him after less than a month. So….

      That bullet point was more meant for people in my field (writing/photography), since creatives tend to think “oh, I can write/take pictures/etc. and thus shouldn’t have to work my way up the ladder” and then apply for, say, senior level positions when they are just editorial assistants (seriously, I see this all the time). The majority of time, publications will *not* fill positions unless you (nearly) meet all the requirements.

  • June 14, 2013
    Brandy

    So much great advice here! I wish I could’ve read some of this back when I was 22. I totally agree with everything you said. The grad school thing was major for me. There were so many times when I was tempted to go to grad school, because I wasn’t sure what else to do and school was something I was familiar with, but I’m so glad that I never ended up going.

    My advice that I’d love to go back in time and give my 22 year-old self: just do something. Anything (that’s not illegal or that won’t get you into thousands in debt, at least). It’s so easy to overthink things and get paralyzed by the sheer number of possibilities available to you, and the idea that you might end up making the wrong choice, that you end up doing nothing at all. Whatever you’re interested in right now as you’re graduating, go for it. Whether that’s traveling, living abroad, working in a particular field, all of those things – get out there and start doing it (or working towards it). You may find out in a few months or a few years that you don’t like what you’re doing, but that’s okay. Now you know, and you can move onto something else that interests you, with the additional knowledge and contacts that you’ve gained from traveling the world/living abroad/working as an accountant/whatever.

    • July 3, 2013
      Cally

      This advice is what struck me the most too, as I am 23 years old now. And you could not have hit the nail on the head better – with the sheer amount of possibilities out there it is almost overwhelming to make a choice. While I have another year left before I am done my accounting designation, I try and remind myself every day that its okay to leave a job I love (on good terms) because it is not in a place I necessarily love! Moving around may just help me find that place that suits me perfectly, and worse case scenario is other places make me appreciate the place I am now and I return to a place where no bridges were burnt and where I can continue with the job I love πŸ™‚

      And thanks Kristin for your article – everything rang true to me! VERY insightful!!

  • June 14, 2013

    HEAR! HEAR!

    I couldn’t have said it better, Kristin. You nailed it on the advice. And even better, a lot of this is great advice for new grad job hunters, as well as those with experience–it’s never a bad idea to polish your networking skills and reflect on what you want and how to go about getting it in a way that won’t piss people off. πŸ˜€

  • June 14, 2013
    Sarah

    I couldn’t agree more with all you points!

    I have people ask me all the time how to get into politics and my number one piece of advice is “get an internship.” Elections in California are every two years, so there is someone, somewhere running for office all the time. Offer to work for free (I know you’re opposed to this on the writing end, understandably, but it’s the only way in politics) via an internship and MAKE FRIENDS.

    Almost every job I’ve gotten is because I made those connections early on and I’ve stuck in peoples’ minds when a friend of theirs mentioned they were hiring. If you work hard and people like you, then they want to help you in the future (this is especially true of California politics, I think. We’ve all been in the low-level campaign intern job and want to help those good eggs in the same position succeed.)

    That being said, entitlement is a huge no-no. My old coworker was VERY entitled. She’d done the internship thing and worked hard, yes, but then she got to the point where she wanted quicker upward movement and got lazy in the job she had. No one wants to hire the lazy person! Continue to work hard, even if the job is “beneath” you. It’ll pay off. I was a Director when I was her age and it wasn’t through luck. Hard work, hard work, hard work.

    But, if you want to move up, YES, take a higher-up whom you admire out for coffee or lunch. I did this OFTEN during my most recent job search. It just lets people know you’re grateful for the advice (I do use the term “pick your brain,” I must admit!), and like I said above, it makes you stick in their brain. You never know when they are hiring or maybe they have a friend/colleague who is hiring. If you left a good impression, they’ll remember you and refer you.

    This is turning into a post of its own, so I’ll stop now πŸ™‚ But yes! Yes to all points!

  • June 16, 2013

    These are all very sound advice. A life right after graduation is one of the most difficult chapter in which we have to figure out where should we be heading. It is very important to know what your specific goals and how you can probably achieve it.

  • June 16, 2013

    Thanks so much for this post … I needed it! I’ve been working in academia since graduating from college two years ago, but recently started thinking about trying something new instead of applying to graduate school again (I just got rejected for the second time). Taking a work holiday abroad is currently at the top of my list of considerations, and it’s sounding better and better every day!

  • June 17, 2013

    I haven’t even graduated college yet but the one thing i hear most from my powers is when you’re in college make sure you’re enjoying what you are studying. Many of my classmates are returning students coming back to study in another field.

  • June 18, 2013

    This is really great advice. Working to your dream sometimes takes TIME and you’ve got to work for it. It’s important to remember not to give up, either, but realizing when you should choose your battles and give up certain publications (if writing/publishing is the career you want). Case in point: I pitched one newspaper for years – a “send on spec” turned into “we don’t have the freelance budget.” I even downgraded myself to say “I’ll do it for free/for the byline,” to which the editor STILL rejected me, and that’s when I decided I’ll never pitch that newspaper again. It’s just not worth it. So I started pitching another newspaper (yes, they still exist and take freelancers!). This newspaper has a better reputation and after building a relationship with that editor, I ended up getting a quarter page and paid pretty well for an interview that didn’t require too many expenses. Win Win!

  • June 18, 2013

    Wonderful advice. As someone in my mid-30s, married, with a first grade aged son, and homeowner I definitely say try new things and places while you’re young because it becomes harder the older you get. Real life doesn’t have to get in the way but it does make things harder. We travel a fair amount and both have journalism jobs we enjoy. We are working to branch those out because even at 36 it’s not too late to start. The best time to begin chasing a dream? Today. It doesn’t matter what the dream is. You don’t have to have things figured out. And just because you didn’t travel the world or live in cool places at 22 it doesn’t mean you can’t at 32 or 42. Is it harder? Sure, but still possible.

  • June 19, 2013
    Tracy

    Great advice! While I’m not in journalism, I do have a “dream” job in my field and don’t mind random strangers contacting me asking how I did it. Glad you’ve encouraged people to do the same.

    And yes on skipping grad school. If I had gone straight through, who knows what I’d be doing now. I had to work for three years to figure out what I really wanted. And we’ve moved a lot – two years at each job and getting to grow as a person by experiencing different parts of the country. I’ve had to delay getting a house and being rooted someplace, but that’s okay. Life is fluid.

    Enjoy being back in the South! We were in Knoxville all last week and as much as I love the adventure of the last several years, the South is calling me home.

    And welcome back from your trip!!

  • June 27, 2013

    A friend of mine, just told me about your site. And, boy, am I glad! I am a senior in college and am traveling for about 9 months after I graduate. Your blog is so encouraging and makes me get the butterflies because I am so excited to travel and experience new things and meet new people!
    I am a huge fan, Kristin! Keep up the awesome work!

  • June 27, 2013
    Lindsey

    I would tell folks to be able to communicate (in any medium) and do it well! So many newbies come in and cannot carry on a relevant conversation with clients or even coworkers! They have poor body language, little to no eye contact, speak in bits and pieces, type in “text-talk” and their grammar is abhorrent. I would definitely recommend getting comfortable communicating (in any style) and being able to tailor your message to your audience! I love this career advice post – I wish I had read something this practical when starting out. Sometimes I’m still baffled that I’m not the CEO of my Big 4 after 5 years! πŸ˜‰

  • June 27, 2013

    Great piece! I completely agree with you in regard to college graduates signing up for another few years wasted at a desk and reading books (although I do love books). It would be far more beneficial to get out and experience the world. I’d also recommend thinking outside the box and looking at opportunities that might not fit within their specific studies. Opportunities await us in so many places!

  • June 28, 2013

    I love this. I graduated with a BA in history and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was scared and depressed and all my other friends had jobs. I moved to Rome to make 40 euro a week. It was the best decision I’ve ever made. Since then I’ve lived in Korea and traveled Southeast Asia. Now, at 27, I’ve figured out what I want to do in life and am getting a Master’s. In a field I know I want to be a part of and that will provide experience and networking opportunities.

    I think the last piece of advice is key. I thought I should have a life plan at 22. It caused me a lot of pain that I didn’t, but I’m a better person with a lot of other amazing experiences because of the lack of plan.

  • June 29, 2013

    What fun would life be if we knew exactly what to do. It is what makes it so great. You have so many decisions, and there are lots of ‘correct decisions’ that can lead to wonderful, yet completely different things.

    You just got to make sure you include travel in your life πŸ™‚

  • July 1, 2013
    Haidang

    Love this blog post! Thanks for sharing your insight. The moving abroad tip is +++++

  • July 9, 2013
    Tiff

    I would agree with the changing jobs timeline. As a recruiter, I can speak to the fact that staying in a job for too long can actually hurt your chances of internal promotion and external opportunities. Folks now a days can sometimes read loyalty as a sign of lack of motivation – think busy silicon valley types – they like the idea of new interests and varied background.

  • September 3, 2013

    I agree with you Tiff and thanks for the insight. Indeed, choosing the right career or path after graduating college is a huge dilemma. Most of the newly graduates are very uncertain about the kind of course they took and what kind of job to comfortably fit in. Career advice is very helpful in this type of situation to many newly graduates. πŸ™‚

  • November 27, 2013

    Wow nice line said, 100% right article , if you start the life at school in best way then your education is going good. that i must said that first impression is the last impression as same as starting of any place the beginning is must be great.

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