What I Wished I’d Known When I Graduated From College

This just in from Ian Lurie, CEO, Portent Interactive:

You don’t have to work in a business at all related to your major. Few people do.

Wish I had known more about looking for work in other places besides the want-ads and my immediate circle. Wish I had thought more about the kind of people I might like to work with. My first ‘career’ job was at a large,corporate engineering-oriented firm, where I didn’t fit in at all. I wish I had thought of looking for jobs outside my major, perhaps in the non-profit world.

Every week if you write down your goal you are likely to achieve it.

Liz,

This is so wise! It is so easy to become overwhelmed by to many “To Do’s.” One solid reasonable goal per week is great advice. Thanks!

Mary Anne

Laurie,

I love your ideas here about connecting with people you might want to work with rather than what might sound good but is not a good fit for us at all! And you are right no one really teaches you the value of networking and how important the people you know is rather than cold calling in the want ads. Did you see Ian Lurie’s comment, “You don’t have to work in business at all related to your major. Few people do.” I really think we get so attached to our major and think, “Well I spent all this money and time I better use it!” only to find that after four years of school we want to go a different direction entirely. We need to encourage our young people to take the flying leap and have the courage to follow their hearts. Thanks for your comments!

This in from an International Political Consultant colleague of mine:

I wish I had known how quickly the world is changing in front of our eyes without us realizing the implications.

I am getting lots of comments from Facebook. Here is the funniest one so far from Stephen Wendel:

Marry Rich the first time.

LOL

Another from my facebook posting. Katie Kendall writes:

I just wish I had known better…

Anne Watson Kassebaum writes via Facebook:

I wish I had trusted my instincts better and had not as much self-doubt.

(MAD: I must say this one really resonated with me!)

I wish I had known how to communicate effectively to inspire change in others.

Jason Twill, LEED® AP BD+C
Sr. Project Manager, Sustainability | Design & Construction
Vulcan Inc.

Karen Appeldorn Anastasio commented from Facebook:

Karen wrote: “That my school counselor who said I would never finish college in four years was right! I did it in 3/25 years! The buzzard! Don’t listen to naysayers!”

Well said Karen!

Karen Appeldorn Anastasio ammended her comment with this:

Karen wrote: 3.25

Again! Well said!

Catherine McGuire Needham commented on Karen Appledorn Anastasio’s comment:

Catherine McGuire wrote: “HEY my school counselor told me I’d never make it through college. HA! I now have a Masters Degree!!!”

This is a great example of listening to your own heart and gut over anyone else! Even if they are the negative thinking and speaking school counselors!

I wish everyone could have genuine encouragement from friends/family without their expectations weighing you down.

I wish I’d realized how important all those “non major related” jobs were going to be when I was in my twenties, instead of fretting over it!

I wish more students were encouraged to explore the world straight out of college. I was lucky – good departmental counselor and great encouragement from family – to LEAVE my home state.We get geared to just go get a job – and then think if it’s not in our major, it won’t help.

I wish I had spent more time and energy on people skills early in my career rather than later. I can have great ideas and be a super problem solver, and without the ability to read people and speak to them in a way they prefer to hear it, I’m far less influential than I can be.

Know your audience, know yourself!

Harlan Falkin, CEO, Falkin and Associates started the list outlined above for us:

1. Wish I had really listened to and believed in myself and my ideas more.

2. Wish I had not listened so much to others.

3. Wish I had found a mentor much sooner in my career.

4. Wish I had reached out more to others, especially peers to talk with as my responsibilities grew.

Thanks Harlan! I think we all wish we had believed in ourselves and listened to ourselves more. I think finding a mentor will be one of my next blogs. WE ALL need one to help see us through our life and work journey.

I just wanted to add that Liz Talley is part of Team Talley which includes her wonderful husband Bruce Barnum. They both work at Windermere Realty, Ballard office. Liz is known around these parts as “The Unofficial Mayor of Ballard~”

Again Liz Talley’s comment was:

Every week if you write down your goal you are likely to achieve it.

Amy Harris, via Facebook wrote:

That it’s OK, indeed desirable, to not know everything, and that it’s OK to follow your heart.

If I have learned anything, it is that my heart is always more reliable than my head. And isn’t it interesting how we think we have to know everything?It is impossible to know EVERYTHING, but somehow we grew up believing that we should! THanks Amy for your great insights!

Lisa Anne Gaston via Facebook commented:

Lisa wrote: “I would like to have known that there is not only one expected track to a career path, and that one mistake in career choices does not doom you to failure in life. I would like to have known that a solid education makes you flexible, and that you can change and mold your career, or even several careers, with ingenuity and grace, even in changing times.”

Lisa this raises so many very important points, in particular the idea of “a solid education (should) make you more flexible” and that “one mistake doesn’t doom you to being a failure in life.”Wise words that we can all learn from! Thanks so much for commenting Lisa!

Barb,

I completely agree with you! We all could have used a lot more emphasis on people skills before we set foot into the career world! But now that we are here, even if we have been in careers a long time, it is never too late to learn new skills….

MA