Graduating from university or college? No idea where direction to start your job search in? This one's for you. Using 3 simple questions, Marc illustrates his thought process in choosing a career path and what you can learn and copy from his experience. Here's a quick summary of what's discussed this episode:
Picking the "right" career can be one of the most intimidating things we do when we finally get our degrees. A bachelor in something like psychology could lead into hundreds of different career paths - and it wasn't any different for us, either. How do you determine where to start?
1. What do you like doing?
This seemingly innocuous question is probably the most important you should ask yourself today as it should largely determine the type of work you sign yourself up for. There's more than enough research to prove that doing work that you don't enjoy is the a significant cause in burn out, mental health problems and ultimately, leading an unhappy life - so you should probably start by figuring out what kind of work you like doing.
Don't forget - as a fresh graduate with little experience, you're gonna eat a lot of shit in your first jobs, so it becomes a matter of finding which kind of shit you like eating the most. What's the kind of work, feeling or activity that's going to make eating that shit worth it? Identify it, write it down, and move to the next question.
2. What're you good at?
This one's a bit more challenging, because you can't figure this out entirely on your own. Getting feedback from the people around you is a massive boon. Ideally you're going to want to identify whether the things you enjoy doing are also things you're good at doing - if the answer is no, your next step is to figure out how you're going to get better at what you enjoy doing.
Having something you both enjoy and are good at are pretty much prerequisites for finding something worth doing. Being good at something means you're going to be confident doing it and you'll have a drive to improve and continue being good at whatever it is you're good at. It means you can supply yourself with feelings of accomplishment and provide tangible value to whoever is hiring you - it's a marketable skill for yourself.
3. What's feasible & realistic?
You're a fresh grad. The bottom of the food chain. Acknowledge it, embrace it, become it. Set your expectations accordingly. You're going to be paid fuck-all and you better get ready for it because not doing your homework and expecting something like a livable wage are the first two steps to getting a rude wakeup call when you get your first job offer.
Consider factors like commuting, distance to work, benefits such as flexible time/space when picking your first job. Don't be too picky, but don't get a job that's a 3 hour commute away when you could get a job just down the road. Identify the kinds of things you want to learn and grow from because they're kind of essential to developing while on the job. You want to develop a network? Get a job that's conducive to that. You want to be mentored and taught new things from someone senior? Take the time to vet your potential boss - nothing will make you leave faster than a toxic boss.
Got questions or suggestions for the next episodes? Drop me a line! -Marc
