Navigating the Working World as a Millennial

I'm three years removed from a quarter-life, but looking back one thing I'm certain of is that being 25 is both astonishing and frightening at the same time. You hypothetically have your entire life to live, but somehow you find yourself scared at the notion that you'll mess your whole life up with one bad decision, one false step or one missed opportunity.

I remember when I was 25, contemplating a career change into sports, trying to figure out who I was. During that time I had a set of friends telling me to enjoy life, travel and see the world. The anguish of seeing people my age on Instagram and tweets of friends traveling from state to state, from beach to beach thinking to myself: how is that even possible? What am I doing wrong? On my other shoulder were friends, colleagues at work and mentors telling me to take ownership of my place in the world, and climb the corporate ladder by any means necessary. I vividly remember applying for internship after internship, job after job -- sometimes 5-10 applications a day.

I found myself well, being a millennial, wanting the extravagances of life at 25, while wanting a promotion every six months because I wrote a press release with no errors. I wanted to progress my career with job and opportunities I wasn't even ready for. It's funny when I look back now, a little over two years ago when I was working in communications at Lockheed Martin, I had an entitlement problem. Every opportunity that presented itself I thought should have been mine, even if I didn't earn it. My degrees were gold, my internship projects were revolutionary and my resume was the constitution. The only thing I didn't take into consideration was that there is always going to be someone out there more qualified than you and I. There will always be someone who is smarter, more educated, with more resources.

As I look back, everything that I wanted, I eventually got -- but in due time. Yes, time, effort and work was put in. But the one underlying trait that propelled me to any position I ever received was being genuine. In every interview I sat in, the number one thing that I wanted to get across to my potential employer was that I'm authentic. I never went into an interview thinking I was the smartest, most educated or most experienced candidate for a job. But I was always confident in my ability and I made a point to show that I'm blessed by the opportunity, humbled to be considered and transparent enough to tell an interviewee really who I am and what I believe in -- and I truly believe that resonates well with people.

I've always said, 75% of the job is being liked by the people you work for and with. So be you, become your best self and be motivated by the fact that who you are and what you stand for will get your foot in the door.