With the graduation season nearly at its end there is now a fresh crop of young graduates flooding the already anxious job market. Those fortunate enough to have good internships translating into full-time job offers for them are fortunate to be starting a new chapter in their exciting lives. Others are determined to pursue jobs that they have already in mind with specific target companies compiled in an Excel spreadsheet looking to land job interviews. Many may still be confused on in which direction to go and what jobs would give them the best career advantage, long-term. In any case here are some tips Id like to offer this years graduates for them to consider as they navigate through their next transition:
1.Find your passion and strengths and look for jobs that leverage those attributes. Do NOT go for jobs that offer enticing salaries and perks, but which do not feed your true love for doing something meaningful. Many often tell you to go find what the world needs and youll find a way to deliver it. But, here is a more meaningful quote that may disabuse that advice: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman
2.If you have not yet uncovered your passion, its OK. Most people do not discover it until very late in life and many others never do, just plodding through life making a living. This quote by George Bernard Shaw may be your inspiration as you struggles through what to do next with your freshly-minted diploma: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
3.Going from the campus life to working life is one of the biggest and most difficult transitions. The reasons for this are many-fold, but one of them is the reality that if your high IQ got you all those As on your transcripts it is not enough to get an A on your first-year performance review. Studies have shown that the correlation between professional success and IQ is only about 20% (not the near 100% that you expected in your college!). So, to do well in your career focus on all the other Qs that drive your success (Emotional Intelligence, EQ; Political Intelligence, PQ; Cultural Intelligence, CQ; Contextual Intelligence, XQ are the other four Qs that are worth knowing about).
4.Learn how to work in teams and contribute in a leadership role. It is normal during your college years to study alone and to get ready for exams and ace them. Not much focus is on teamwork in college, except perhaps in some sports.
5.Shift your focus from pulling all-nighters before your exam to working diligently every day and accomplishing something worthwhile. In a new job it is all right to ask someone more experienced for help. This is a good way to leverage the resources around you to get things done. In your work life it is about getting things done and not about having ideas that outshine others ideas.
6.Learning how the place works and what is rewarded. Asking your boss how you will be measured during your first year is critical to know what to focus on to get an A on your first performance review. In the process find yourself a good mentor to help you navigate through the maze of working a job.
7.In my coaching practice I find that nearly 75% of my clients come to me with problems that are based on soured or deteriorating relationships with people around them, including their boss. So, as you start your first full-time job invest your time and energy in understanding those around you and building solid relationships with them.
8.In your new job it is common to not have all the answers and to make mistakes in your assignments. The best strategy is to learn how to quickly own your mistakes, learn from them, and to not repeat the same ones.
9.Build trust with those who work with you. A trusted relationship can help you get things done faster. Once people trust you then they know that when you approach them with a proposal of any kind that you do not have a hidden agenda.
10.Learn how to communicate effectively. Most fresh graduates do not realize that good and effective communication is a very important part of how they will be perceived in their roles. This is a learned skill and working on improving your oral and verbal power is a fundamental skill that will serve you throughout your career and life.
These are just a few tips that I can think of right off the bat. The list can be quite long, but getting started on these as your first order of business and having the right mindset to get going as you launch your next chapter in your life can help you succeed.
Good luck!
| About Author | |
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Dilip has distinguished himself as LinkedIn’s #1 career coach from among a global pool of over 1,000 peers ever since LinkedIn started ranking them professionally (LinkedIn selected 23 categories of professionals for this ranking and published this ranking from 2006 until 2012). Having worked with over 6,000 clients from all walks of professions and having worked with nearly the entire spectrum of age groups—from high-school graduates about to enter college to those in their 70s, not knowing what to do with their retirement—Dilip has developed a unique approach to bringing meaning to their professional and personal lives. Dilip’s professional success lies in his ability to codify what he has learned in his own varied life (he has changed careers four times and is currently in his fifth) and from those of his clients, and to apply the essence of that learning to each coaching situation. After getting his B.Tech. (Honors) from IIT-Bombay and Master’s in electrical engineering(MSEE) from Stanford University, Dilip worked at various organizations, starting as an individual contributor and then progressing to head an engineering organization of a division of a high-tech company, with $2B in sales, in California’s Silicon Valley. His current interest in coaching resulted from his career experiences spanning nearly four decades, at four very diverse organizations–and industries, including a major conglomerate in India, and from what it takes to re-invent oneself time and again, especially after a lay-off and with constraints that are beyond your control. During the 45-plus years since his graduation, Dilip has reinvented himself time and again to explore new career horizons. When he left the corporate world, as head of engineering of a technology company, he started his own technology consulting business, helping high-tech and biotech companies streamline their product development processes. Dilip’s third career was working as a marketing consultant helping Fortune-500 companies dramatically improve their sales, based on a novel concept. It is during this work that Dilip realized that the greatest challenge most corporations face is available leadership resources and effectiveness; too many followers looking up to rudderless leadership. Dilip then decided to work with corporations helping them understand the leadership process and how to increase leadership effectiveness at every level. Soon afterwards, when the job-market tanked in Silicon Valley in 2001, Dilip changed his career track yet again and decided to work initially with many high-tech refugees, who wanted expert guidance in their reinvention and reemployment. Quickly, Dilip expanded his practice to help professionals from all walks of life. Now in his fifth career, Dilip works with professionals in the Silicon Valley and around the world helping with reinvention to get their dream jobs or vocations. As a career counselor and life coach, Dilip’s focus has been career transitions for professionals at all levels and engaging them in a purposeful pursuit. Working with them, he has developed many groundbreaking approaches to career transition that are now published in five books, his weekly blogs, and hundreds of articles. He has worked with those looking for a change in their careers–re-invention–and jobs at levels ranging from CEOs to hospital orderlies. He has developed numerous seminars and workshops to complement his individual coaching for helping others with making career and life transitions. Dilip’s central theme in his practice is to help clients discover their latent genius and then build a value proposition around it to articulate a strong verbal brand. Throughout this journey, Dilip has come up with many groundbreaking practices such as an Inductive Résumé and the Genius Extraction Tool. Dilip owns two patents, has two publications in the Harvard Business Review and has led a CEO roundtable for Chief Executive on Customer Loyalty. Both Amazon and B&N list numerous reviews on his five books. Dilip is also listed in Who’s Who, has appeared several times on CNN Headline News/Comcast Local Edition, as well as in the San Francisco Chronicle in its career columns. Dilip is a contributing writer to several publications. Dilip is a sought-after speaker at public and private forums on jobs, careers, leadership challenges, and how to be an effective leader. |
Website: http://dilipsaraf.com/?p=2758
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