COBA Blessing
Today was such a great day. By the kind request of some ACU College of Business Faculty, I trekked out to Abilene, and more specifically, Camp Butman in Sweetwater, to help out with the COBA Senior Blessing.
This is a great time for ACU Business Seniors to come together one last time with their faculty before heading out into the real world. It was wonderful to get to spend time with my esteemed COBA faculty, and make some new friends too.They told me that last year, they brought in some high-powered executives to speak. This year, they wanted something different (thank goodness I'm not considered a high-powered executive!). Along with five other College of Business Alumni, I was asked to share some of the "Things I wish I'd known before I went out in the real world" which was a spinoff from the book by Maria Shriver. It was great to think back six years ago, when I was exactly where these young adults are today: scared about leaving ACU, excited about new possibilities, uncertain about where or how to get a job, worried that life after college couldn't be nearly as much fun as the past 4 years.
Hopefully, the folks today found some value in what we had to say. Here were some of the high points:
- Do something you're passionate about and that you believe in
- Who you work with affects your happiness as much as what you actually do
- Don't freak out if you're graduating and you're still single. It may seem like all your friends are getting married, but you've got tons of single friends out there. Maybe you just haven't met them yet.
- If you have any desire to live overseas/be a ski instructor/work at camp/join the peace corps, do it now. Take 6 or 8 months and go out in the world.
- Send thank you notes for job interviews
- It really is about who you know. Not in the sense that you need to know a bigwig, but if you want in a certain company, it helps to have a connection to get your resume in the right hands.
- Don't be afraid of taking a lower-paying job. Compensation doesn't just mean salary. Benefits, profitsharing, stock options, all those come into play as well.
posted by Katie at 10:25 PM
6 Comments:
Great tips Katie! Very wise advice. I would only add that jobs out of college are simply stepping stones in one's career; if you are willing to work hard at whatever job you are in (even if that means doing "medial" tasks- none of us are above those!), it will pay off in the long-run.
Instead of finding that "perfect job" right out of college, I was thrilled to find "a job" (at the American Arbitration Association, and through a head-hunter no less) which led to my passion- the law!
So, my tip is to just get out there and get your feet wet with SOMETHING. You will at least eliminate the things you don't like when it doesn't work out to be your life-long career.
Get out there, work for a year, and then have babies. :)
If you're happy with the choices you made after graduation, then I'm sure THAT life would be your advice.
So . . . move to a beach town (like San Diego) and live on a boat.
& don't go to grad school.
I was happy with that.
Trust your gut. When your world seems to be changing, trust your core and you will know what to do.
Good advice. I can't believe we have been out of college for so long!
Take some time off. Maybe substitute teach for a while and then make a very slow decision to go back to school for more punishment. Oh, and visit your friend who lives on a boat in a beach town (like San Diego) as much as possible.
I've heard that works.
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