Coming Back from a Setback

I'm back.  You might be wondering why I haven't written anything here in months.  Let me explain why.

I decided to start this blog a little over a year ago with the intent of sharing my expertise in higher education and career development with people beyond my usual base of students.  I spent weeks choosing the title, theme, and weekly topics that would fill this blog.  I was all set to go. 

Then I reached my own pivot in my professional development.

After Thanksgiving of last year, my then-employer told me that they were discontinuing my position after only a few months on the job.  I was assured that this was not due to a lack of skills or knowledge on my part.  They simply were restructuring and realized that they no longer needed the services they had hired me to implement.

Yes, it would've been ideal if they had done more strategic thinking prior to their recruitment and hiring of me, but we do not live in an ideal world.  To console myself, I constantly told people, "It is what it is."

Despite the shock of my new unemployed status, I quickly found ways to be productive.  Within a week of being of being laid off, I found a part-time temporary job at a nonprofit in international education.  This organization placed and advised scholarship grantees from Latin America and the Caribbean to complete their graduate studies in the United States.  I reviewed university applications before submitting them on behalf of the grantee.

Within two weeks of being laid off, I started interning at a nonprofit career center.  This was meaningful to me because I previously had been unemployed when a grant-funded job for a school district had ended.  This very career center was where I attended workshops and sought career counseling when I was looking for work.  I always had plans to pay forward the help the organization's staff had given me by volunteering for them.  In fact, a week prior to my layoff, I spoke to my mentor there about volunteering with them.  I told her that I wished I could spend more time serving with them.

Well, I certainly got my wish in ways I hadn't expected.  When I got laid off, it was perfect timing for me to intern and later work for them as a career services specialist.

After a couple months, my temporary job at the international education nonprofit ended.  I spent more time working as a career services specialist.  It was only a part-time job, but it gave me a regular schedule and sense of community that people often miss when they are suddenly unemployed.

I was so busy working at the career center and working on my own job search that contributing to this blog fell to the bottom of my to-do list.

I was okay with that.

Sometimes we have to take care of our immediate and short-term needs before focusing on our long-term needs.

A few months ago, I got a message from a manager at the international education nonprofit.  She asked me if I was interested in her nonprofit's full-time position to place students in graduate programs, and the job came with benefits.  Benefits?  I hadn't had those in so long!  At an organization that I liked?  Even better!

I started that job a few months ago.  Now that I feel more acclimated to the new position, I'm able to come back to this blog and contribute to the extent that I want.

It has been a long time, but hopefully now you understand why it took so long.

Have you ever had to set something aside when you encountered a setback?  Were you ever able to come back to it?  Why or why not? 

Assess Yourself for Success

In my first blog post, I told you how you could prepare for the question:  What are you going to do after you graduate from college?

For those of you that weren't sure, you had to ask yourself a lot of questions.  Some of those questions may remain unanswered.  It's not necessarily because you haven't given it much thought.  In fact, you may have given it a lot of thought.  The truth is that there isn't a clear-cut answer for many people, and that is okay if you're one of them.

If you're still lost in the career exploration process, you could benefit from taking an assessment tool to see which professions are potential matches for you.  If you visit your university's career center (or a career center open to the public if you're not currently in school), you could consult with a career counselor to see which ones are recommended for you.

There are a variety of career assessment tools.  Rather than bombard you with a list of them, I can recommend that you get started with one:  My Next Move.

This is great because it is an online tool that is accessible to anyone.

On top of that, it speaks to people at different stages in the career exploration process.

1. You might already know what job you want.  If you know you want to be an accountant, the assessment has a section where you can type in "accountant," and it will give you a list of the top 20 careers related to accountants.  For each career, My Next Move will summarize the following requirements and expectations:  Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Personality, Technology, Education, and Job Outlook.  If you would like to do more exploration into an occupation (and you probably do), My Next Move provides resources for further reading.
2. You might not know what job you want, but you might know what industry you want to be in.  In that case, My Next Move has a section where could explore a specific field.  For instance, you can choose "education."  Then it will provide a variety of occupations that fall within that field.  Again, the requirements and expectations for each career will be outlined.
3. If you do not know where to begin, then My Next Move will direct you to the O*NET Interest Profiler.  After you complete the profiler, your results will provide you with a breakdown of your skills as well as a list of careers that match them.  The list conveniently shows the preparation level required for each career.  The results could be a bit extensive so don't hesitate to ask a career counselor for assistance in understanding them.

So there you go.  There's nothing left to do but to do it.  Regardless of where you are in exploring careers, take a few minutes now to visit My Next Move.

Get Ready for This Holiday Question: What Are You Going to Do After You Graduate from College?

"What are you going to do after you graduate from college?"

If you're a college senior, this question is inevitable at a holiday party.

If you're like a few of my friends were in college, you may already know where you will work, what you will do, and how you will spend your final semester of senioritis.

If you're like I was, you may have no clue what to say.  No fear.  You might not know exactly what you will do after college, but at least you could have a plan in place for figuring it out.  Even if you don't have a concrete answer for relatives and friends, these are five job search points you will want to consider before entering a holiday party and before starting your last semester as an undergrad:  

1. What Type of Job Do You Want Right After College?  For some students, this is straightforward.  If you're an accounting major, you probably (but not always) want to be an accountant.  If you're an engineering major, you probably (but not always) want to be an engineer.  If you're major is in the liberal arts (i.e. history), you might want to see how what you value about that major aligns with potential careers.  Then again, your future job is not always directly linked to your major.  Take a look at school clubs, volunteer activities, or internships that you have done (you have been active in extracurriculars all throughout college, right? … I hope).  Is there a way to link those experiences to your first job right after college?  Brainstorm on your own before you ask….  
2. How Could You Better Learn and Prepare for Your Ideal Career?  If you're a college student, one ideal starting point would be your college's career center.  The center will have resources for researching different fields, getting your resumes and cover letters critiqued, getting career skills assessments, attending employer information sessions, and attending career fairs.  If you feel overwhelmed by the massive resources offered by your career center, do not hesitate to set up an appointment with a career counselor, preferably one who specializes in your field, so you could address your concerns and carve out some job search strategies that fit your college graduation timeline. 
3. How Could You Connect to People Who Have Your Ideal Career?  Researching a career could mean reading about it on the Occupational Outlook Handbook.  While general knowledge of a career is important, it is also vital to have knowledge of specific employers or jobs.  Therefore, talking to a person who has your ideal career is key to having a more concrete understanding of the reality behind a job.  This is where informational interviewing and job shadowing come in handy.  If you need more details on those activities, check out your career center for information on them.  Quintessential Careers is another good resource for informational interviewing, job shadowing, and other job search strategies.
4. Are You on LinkedIn?  If you do not already have a profile, go to LinkedIn now to set up an account.  This gives you the opportunity to showcase your educational, professional, and other marketable experiences and skills online.  Professors, supervisors, and coworkers could recommend you right on your profile.  If an employer searches for you on LinkedIn, they get to see the recommendations even before reaching out directly to you or your job references.  On top of that, you could use LinkedIn to connect to people who have your ideal career (See Job Search Point #3).  While contacting alumni of your university is a good starting point, it is by no means the only one.  Join professional groups on LinkedIn and reach out to other people that way.  Because the people behind LinkedIn recognize that navigating the website could be daunting, they even give you tips on how to approach it.  In fact, they even wrote a blog geared toward students just like you. 
5. Who Is In Your Support Network?  Your support network may have a variety of people.  They could be your family members, friends, professors, work supervisors, and other mentors.  These will be the people in your corner to celebrate your successes like your first job offer or to commiserate if things don't go as planned.  While some of them may serve as job references, others will be there more for moral support.  At the end of the day, it is good to have these people to keep your spirits up regardless of your job search situation.  Who knows … Some of them may be waiting for you at your next holiday party.