Student to Employee in Unsettled Times

I graduated in 2010 from UC Davis with a very fancy degree and an immeasurable amount of grit. I never walked the stage, nor is my degree hanging on my office wall. My degree pushed me beyond academics and called on me to take on the very real-world reality that I am the only one I can depend on. I worked full time, had a few side-hustles, and stopped sleeping for most of my senior year. The way I accomplished Davis is not the way to gain the most from what a top-tier school has to offer its students. I was of the survivor mentality and although I feel I found a great deal of self-determination and intrinsic motivation to be successful, there are a handful of lessons learned that should be shared instead of lived through again.  

Last week I had the honor of being a panelist on the subject: “Entering the Workforce during a Recession”.  It gave me the chance to reflect and offer the advice I wish someone had been able to bestow on me at 22 instead of learned over ten years of experience. The panel was amazing and I was so grateful to have been part of that discussion. These "kids" are so much more aware than I was at that age and brought some seriously heavy questions to me and the other panelist.

FIND PURPOSE

I cannot think of a better time in life to be seeking purpose. Your early twenties are a gift of exploration. I failed myself during this time as I never asked myself what I wanted or how I wanted to be fulfilled in my career. This is the time to live with four roommates, live on instant-noodles, and ask yourself questions about what you want to be in your career. I just worked and hustled with little direction. I was lucky enough to be good at most everything and had developed the work ethic needed to show my value, but I failed to ask what drove my passion, where do I work best, who do I want to for, and what success looks like in my career. 

I cannot overstress this enough to anyone just emerging into the workforce. Adjust and self-reflect on what you need and offer in the workforce. This time is when there are no expectations or secondary reasons forcing your choice. What you need from your career becomes more traditional as you get older. Yes, a 401(k) match is nice to have but it's never easier to move across the country than right now.  This is the time to be "selfish" and invest in future you. Take the “crappy” job and try it on! See what you liked, what you didn't, and leverage that to the next opportunity, and the next role because you do not know where it will lead you or what you will learn.  

RESPECT FINANCES 

Yeah, this seems obvious, and yet, I know that I lived well beyond my means for many years. When I graduated, my uncle advised me to live on 90% of my income. That 10% will not make or break your monthly rent but it can make all the difference when your car breaks down or you need a deposit on an apartment. At 34, this advice is insanely amazing but at 22, I definitely didn't listen. I charged daily Starbucks, bought junky Ross purses, paid for concerts I couldn't afford, and lived on 130% of what I made. I justified living paycheck to paycheck as a youth reality and I did not gain an inch of financial security.  

Money does not create happiness, but not having money can create unhappiness. I never got ahead. My credit score chilled at 600. I paid more in interest than I did in rent. I did not respect planning for my financial future. Not having financial security created unnecessary stress that I did not un-feel until I started to respect my earning. It is easy to justify spending when you work so hard for your money. I can't tell you the moment I started to want for more or think past Saturday night, but once I flipped the switch, I was able to change my stress and think of my future as something to plan for. 

DON'T STOP LEARNING

Yeah, school may be over and you may feel like you have a lot to offer but in the totem pole of life, you are but a baby. I remember feeling like I had earned my way out from behind a bar after graduation. That I should apply with my three quarters of organic chemistry lab experience and five years behind a bar and be hired right away. I was something to be sought after; I definitely was not.   

Learning does not have to be reading or studying for the GMAT (though I think everyone should read or listen to audiobooks as much as possible). Learning comes in so many different forms and when you are just graduating, you have the unique ability to be a sponge untainted by any real world. Networking is a lesson that involves marketing, salesmanship, writing, and rejection. Seek a mentor on a path you admire, develop questions, and learn from just listening to their success roadmap. Make a podcast to build on a hobby or passion that gives you fuel for your personal brand. Those skills are transferable: researching subject matter, sound editing, public speaking, and videography! The momentum of graduation or excitement to enter a new phase has the ability to define a focus rather than creating new opportunities. There is so much out there that translates to a resume that has nothing to do with “work” and there seriously is no limits on your ability to learn.  

NETWORK! NETWORK! NETWORK! 

When I was in my early twenties, I was of the mindset that networking was for career professionals that attended conferences or salespersons who were only looking to pitch their elevator speech. I could not have been more wrong. Who you know is just as essential to success than what you know. Much like the tree falling in the woods, if you are amazing but no one knows, are you amazing?  

Now, even more than this old millenial ever took advantage of, it is the easiest time to build who you are, what you are about, and how you add value to any company. LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, the next social media platform are all FREE marketing opportunities to share what you are to anyone out there and learn about what others are about. You right now can grab your phone and tweet Bill Gates. When I was in Portland a few years back, my husband tweeted Alton Brown for the best place to get a cup of coffee and he wrote us back! (Spella Caffe, in case you were curious and yeah it was insanely good coffee) That is an insane amount of access that can translate to serious power in developing whomever you want to become. Your heroes, idols, and formally inaccessible titans of industry are at your fingertip. Now, I am not saying stalk Mark Cuban, but I am saying that the resources available to learn from those who know more have never been more available AND that the ability to share who you are has never been more easily marketed. If you have not yet taken advantage, then you are missing out on what your generation has to offer you. 

The idea that I would step out of college and have a career never took a moment of space in my thoughts. I never knew what I wanted and furthermore, my degree in Neurology, Physiology and Behavior, although a mouthful was not a career maker. I was a science major, so my life was based in 5-hour labs and memorizing every chemical reaction of the Kreb cycle, it never occurred to me to look outside my bubble and ask if my degree would support a career path? I wish I had popped by bubble sooner, looked outside myself, and asked what value I can bring to the world that will also fulfill me. I took a very long path to get to my passion for business systems and the strategy of people operations. I know my success is built on my perceived failures forming stepping stones to my current career path and very much like the song Satisfied from Hamilton, I have never been satisfied in my career. I may have the experience and knowledge of the value I bring, but I am still actively seeking what I want and how my abilities translate to a passion and purpose.