One of the
things that drives be crazy when I speak with new graduates is that so
many of them are looking for their "dream job". While I can't fault
anyone for wanting this, I don't feel that it is realistic at this
stage. There are two reason for this. The first has to do with your
personal experiences. The second has to do with your experience level
(from an employers perspective).
First, without any real
experience, it's difficult to know what you really want to do with your
life. When I was offered my first ‘real' job out of school, it was in
sales. I had been convinced when I graduated that I wanted to be in
sales or marketing, so I thought that this was the perfect thing for
me. I was sure that I had found my dream job.
That simply wasn't the case.
While
the company I was working for (a Fortune 500 technology company) was
rated one of the best employers in the country, I quickly learned that
sales wasn't for me. Every morning I woke up with knots in my stomach
knowing that I hated what I was doing. I was miles away from my dream
job. Ultimately, at this stage in my career, I just didn't know what I
was looking for.
Second, going back to the experience factor, an
employer is likely not going to hand over the "key to the shop" to a
relatively untested new graduate. You may have all of the education in
the world, but without real world experience, employers will test you
with smaller tasks before giving you more responsibility. Hopefully,
this will lead to your dream job.
In my opinion, it's far more
realistic (and potentially rewarding) to be focusing on finding a
rewarding career. A rewarding career is something that you will not
only enjoy doing, but get compensated fairly for. My personal belief is
that if more new graduates spent more time looking for a rewarding
career instead of their "dream job", it will avoid a great deal of
stress and frustration.
So look for a rewarding career first and save your dream job for a few years down the line.
Trevor Wilson is an author and consultant who works with new graduates
preparing to enter the work force. His site, Gradversity.com, provides
daily advice on job hunting, networking, and resume writing tailored to
the Entry Level
Job seeker. His first book, Overcoming Gradversity: How
to Break Into the Entry Level Job Market, was published in
2008.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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