One of the final things my parents said to me when I moved away to go to school was, “Don’t expect to come back into this house after graduation otherwise you’re paying rent.” We can joke about it now but it raised a good point on what life is going to be like from now on and after school. I need a job. More than that, I need a career.
The contemporary job market has standards that are rising exponentially every year. More and more people are taking second jobs or they just have to learn new skills that would take at least two people to do. These aren’t your parent’s careers anymore. Back then, people would be trained in only one particular skill because there were more than enough people to make up a successful company. Today, you can cut the amount of people by 2/3 in a business which means more work for the people left standing. Great news for me so far.
What does this mean for students like me?
Well, I’m in the process of searching for careers and best advice from people in the real world (as I call it) to help me land a job after I graduate so I am not stuck flipping burgers while gloating about the 4 year degree to the underage employees next to me…So let’s get started.
Jim Schreck, Program Director for WNYR 98.5 FM, Finger Lakes Radio Group
Came into a class of mine and gave us a couple pieces of advice for entering the work force: Attitude, Outgoing Voice mails, and Punctuality.
Attitude
Your work ethics, values, honesty and integrity all come down how your attitude is. If your attitude is crap, your work ethic is going to be crap. Maintain a positive outlook always and your potential employer will definitely take notice.
Outgoing Voice Mails
Plain and simple: if you don’t have a professional or personal voice mail for people (not just potential employers) to reach you at, you’re as good as unnoticed and your resume is pushed down to the bottom of the pile or worse tossed in the trash.
Punctuality
Now I know you shouldn’t have to explain this one out but it did get me thinking. ALWAYS, not just a majority of time but ALWAYS arrive at least 15 minutes before your work shift, interviews, business meetings, anything starts. Jeff Schreck quoted the movie Drumline, “If you’re early, you’re on time; if you’re on time, you’re late.”
Among other things really stood out but I don’t want to bombard you with too much rules right now. But I will leave you with a few good posts I found so you don’t have to just take my word for it. I’ll also leave the link to Jeff Schreck down below as well. Until then, I’ll see you next week.
Recent Grads who have advice after graduation for finding jobs:
http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/college/2013/06/20/college-jobs/index.html
Schools that guarantee jobs:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/jobs-careers/some-colleges-guaranteeing-jobs-after-graduation.aspx
A little about Jeff Schreck:
http://flradiogroup.com/Stations-Media/Bios/jim.htm
Related articles
- Tips For Standing Out At Your First Job (rasmussen.edu)
- Mentoring and Work Ethic (practicemanagementblog.fpanet.org)
- Infographic: Finding the Job You Always Wanted (rasmussen.edu)
Life's Ambition 