First Job Advice for a Recent Grad

Dear Sam -

You’re graduating from college and I find myself full of emotion. Of course I’m proud, but I’m also wistful for the little boy that I miss sometimes, protective because the world can be cruel, and thrilled about your next chapter. The world should know that there is no doubt your story is just beginning.

Finishing college is an incredible accomplishment and I want to acknowledge that, like most hard things that take years of commitment, it hasn’t always been easy. Covid was the worst and almost wrecked your first year. But you made the best of it - tuning into school (somewhat periodically I gather) from some of the west’s loveliest spots - Twisp, Park City, Palm Springs. You made lemonade for sure.

Certainly you’ve studied hard, learned a lot, and written probably thousands of pages (some of which you’ve shared with me). And you’ve played, too, taking full advantage of having the Colorado mountains, streams and wilderness as your backyard. You’ve had the privileged college experience that many idolize but few have access to, and you’ve made the most of it no doubt. Thank you for that.

And now you enter the workforce, and I find myself reminiscing about my own first jobs after college. I had the most interesting few years in my early twenties, doing things I would never have predicted. I learned so much during that time and I want to share some of those learnings with you, Sam. Perhaps you will find something here instructive in this next phase of your young adult life.

I, like you, graduated with a fantastic liberal arts degree that was less a marker of the content I had mastered than that I knew how to master content, that I knew how to learn. That foundational skill proved critical as, over a three-year period, I was a press secretary on a statewide campaign, a grassroots lobbyist for the beer industry, a sales rep for a microbrewery, and a legislative aide to a state treasurer. Totally disparate jobs, not one of which I knew anything about beforehand.

With a few years (or decades) of perspective, here’s how I think about what I learned in those early jobs that might be helpful to you as you enter the same phase.

1- Do the grunt work - Don’t be above anything - ever. Work is just that, work. Show respect for whatever you are assigned, and always aim to deliver your best work - even if the task is menial. Willingly delivering on the small things shows that you are ready for more.?

2 - Get outside of your comfort zone - Jobs will come your way that don’t interest you, that scare you, that you have no idea how to approach. Jump at as many opportunities as you can, try wildly different things and say yes to things that challenge you. This is where and how you’ll learn the most.

3 - Make friends - You have always been a friend-maker, Sam. But here I mean to build connections in these first jobs - with both supervisors and colleagues. Yes this helps build your professional network, but more importantly at this stage - it teaches you how to build community. College came with a ready-made community, but learning how to build one at work makes showing up so much better.

This is purposefully simple advice because you shouldn’t make these first few years in the workforce complicated. Do great work always, try lots of things, and build community. As you do, you’ll also figure out the three things that I still ask myself about any job:?

• what lights you up in a job,
• what is your value-add, and?
• what do you want to keep learning.?

If, in a few years, you know how to answer those three questions, you’ll be better than okay. You will have developed the filters you need to guide your professional choices.?

Clearly I’m no Dr. Seuss but I know you’re going places. Yes you will have ups and downs, setbacks, right turns when you wanted to go left, and adventures of all kinds. At some level we both know that how you find a way to pay your bills is the least important part of a well-lived life. But work also brings dignity and purpose, and connection to causes, places and people. And work is a place to showcase the talents you have to offer this world. So do the grunt work, get outside of your comfort zone, and make friends as you find your footing in your first few jobs.

Please remember, too, that you have a jumpstart in this world - you, like me, got to start on first base. That’s a privilege that means even as you plot your own forward trajectory, you must always be looking back to help others. I expect no less.

There is no end to a mother’s love letter to her son, even in the form of first job advice. So I close by reminding you, Sam, that wherever you go, whatever you do, you will always have at least one cheerleader in your corner.

Love,

Mom