I’m catching up on a few things on this Sunday morning before I travel (again) to Phoenix – as Yogi Berra would say, “it’s deja vu all over again“!
One item I didn’t want to miss talking about was a request for advice from Drew over at the Marketing Minute – a calling for wisdom to the upcoming classes of 2007 coming out of college and into the working world.
Having now been in that world for 25 years (gosh, has it been that long?), I’m finally in a position to offer such wisdom, originally passed along to me by my parents, mentors and teachers. Here’s how I responded to Drew’s request:
The best bits of advice I could ever give to any person just starting a career are:
1) Whatever you choose to do, you MUST be passionate about it
2) Once passionate, you should visualize yourself at the pinnacle of whatever you choose to do, and then write that vision down
3) Go after it with focus and persistence – every interview, every discussion you have with anyone about your career, should always come back to the vision
4) Believe in yourself
5) Keep your perspective and humor intact during the process
6) Enjoy the journey!
Good luck, and keep the faith!
If you are looking for more advice, head over to Drew’s post right now and read the great assembly of contributions from many of my blogging associates and friends.
It’s amazing how when you ask the blogosphere for help, it delivers it with great spirit and panache – even to total strangers. If that isn’t a great neighborhood to live in, I don’t know what is. Well done!
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
And don’t forget to keep learning. Your parents may be impressed with your college diploma, but you have just begun your learning journey. Be the sponge.
Regards,
Glenn
I was also thrilled to see Drew’s post and glad that people are writing about it on their blogs. So many of us young people are terrified to enter the workplace because we know it’s changing so rapidly and don’t know how we will succeed.
I’m glad you mentioned that graduates should do something they’re passionate about. When I did my survey of hiring managers, passion was the theme that kept coming up.
Unfortunately, it’s still so hard for us young people still to believe we can pursue something we love and be successful at it!
Thanks Glenn and Katie for stopping by!
Glenn, lifetime learning is indeed essential as well. My sponge is still soaking stuff in every day.
Katie, I hear you – it is hard to believe you can love your job if it hasn’t happened yet, or you are just starting out. When I have my doubts I always think of this quote by James Michener – “The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure,
his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He
simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to
decide whether he is working or playing.
To him he’s always doing both.”
That’s my goal, to be working and playing at the same time. How cool is that! I hope that is what is in the cards for you too. Best of luck!
All the best to you both.
Terry,
Thanks for adding your thoughts and inviting your readers to do the same.
I sure wish I had a bunch of smart bloggers around when I was looking for my first job!
Drew
That’s great advice!
Thanks Drew and Christy for your comments.
Drew, I hear you on that one – heck, when I was in college I was still doing math by hand!
Christy, thanks for the kind words.
All the best to you both!