Top 5 Career Tips for College Grads
Whether you are toward the end of college or fresh out, I bet one of your ultimate goals is to land a dream job. Here are my top five career tips for you:
1. Prioritize your values – As you consider companies and jobs that align with your priorities and values, consider what is most important to you. Do you want to spend every day after work with your family? Then, you probably don’t want to go into international consulting which could result in a lot of travel. Keep these priorities front and center in your job search. Also, don’t limit your research of a potential employer to their website; connect with employees in person, through social media, etc., to see what the culture is really like.
2. Write down your goals – Students in the Harvard MBA program participated in a study where it was discovered that 3% had written goals and 97% did not. Ten years later the same group was interviewed again, and it turns out the 3% who had written goals on average earned 10 times as much as the other 97% of the class combined. Moral of the story: create personal goals and write them down. Thomas Carlyle said, “A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder.”
3. Invest in relationships – Do internships and hands-on learning that cause you to connect with people in the career you desire. In your current role (school or work), consider how you may best help others to build good will. Keep in touch with your former classmates, co-workers, and bosses after you leave. Join the associations and clubs in your profession. Set up “meet and greets” with employees of the company you’re interested in working for and ask them to connect you with the hiring managers of the jobs you want.
4. Live each day with purpose – Demonstrate care and veracity in your work. Develop daily routines and habits that will make it easy for you to succeed and hard to fail. Use a daily planner to prioritize daily tasks on a to-do list. Remove distractions. Think about how what you’re doing now will translate to a good interview story later, and be sure to consider: details about the situation, your behavior, and the outcome. Most of all ensure your daily actions align with your long-term goals. Remember, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives” (Annie Dillard).
5. Be pleasantly persistent – Refuse to give up. If something doesn’t work, try again until you find a solution. So you have applied for 20 dream jobs, but haven’t heard back yet? Apply for 20 more. It is this trait that distinguishes mere dreams from actual achievements. Remember to match your ambition with charm and thoughtfulness; otherwise you may come across as bothersome. If done correctly, this combination will be quite effective.
Equipped with these career tips, may you go boldly forth to obtain the career of your dreams.
Do you dream about serving others and making a difference? Consider a future with Altru Health System. Learn more at altru.org/careers.