#FridayFive: Things I wish I knew when I graduated

You are not a bum or a loser if you move home. Whether it is in the hometown where you grew up or a brand new city, moving home will give you a firm launching pad to job search, relax a bit and decide what you want to do next. Plus, half of your friends are doing the exact same thing so don't feel alone.

Do not know your next step? It's okay.  After reading multiple Gen-Y blogs and crying myself to sleep, I figured out it's fine to not have it all figured out. Your parents may be hounding your butt to know what you want to do. When they graduated college, they had a great economy to go into. We do not. Reality check to your parents! You are not alone in this feeling; a lot of new graduates are going through this.

Speak up. You have a passion? Bring it into your conversations as you introduce yourself to new people. "What do you want to do?" (A common question for new grads.). Originally, I was scared to admit my passion. But now when I am talking with people, it comes up organically. Doors have opened up for me to pursue that passion just by having conversations and talking openly with people. Passion for fashion? Talk about it. Passion for children? Talk about it. Pursue avenues to be able to tell people about your passions, you never know who will be that door into an exciting adventure.

Get Community. If you are moving back to your hometown and feel like the only one, or are moving to a new city where you know no one, get out there and meet some people. Having friends who are similar in age or share the same passion will make this transition period much easier. I moved to a new city out of the country to live with my parents. It took me 6 months of being persistent and proactive to have a semblance of a social life. Another great resource is your alumni organization within your university. Contact them and see what events they're planning, jobs they may know about or to see if they know of anyone who is working in the field you are passionate about.

Go easy on yourself. Give yourself some grace and slack for the different emotions that spring up after graduating from college. Unless you are going straight into a masters program, you are finally done with school after it has consumed 15+ years of your life. There is such a thing as a quarter-life crisis. Google it. It is normal to have differing feelings about moving on with your life and to fear the unknown. Now stop giving yourself such a hard time and embrace this new journey!

Is there something you wish you knew when you graduated that you have since learned?

Networking 101: Part 1 / Face-to-Face

A strong foundation for face-to-face networking will include these three skills: eye contact, a firm handshake, and a friendly smile.

Talking to someone face-to-face can sometimes be daunting. To look into someone’s eyes is intimidating for some people, but essential for all communicators. Shaking a person’s hand with a firm grip upon meeting them is proper business etiquette. Whenever you meet anyone new, from your mother’s new coffee friend to your new coworker or boss, give everyone a pleasant, natural smile. Something that says I am enthusiastic to be here, nothing too big or fake.

Each of these skills is a foundational learning base for networking. These skills can sound easy but may be hard to implement. Practicing can help introductions go smoother. Go around to each of your friends one day and practice your handshake, eye contact, and smile in a hypothetical first meet.

Once you feel comfortable with these foundational skills the next step is breaking the ice and engaging in conversation with people. A good place to start is at your school.  There should be career fairs put on by your school regularly throughout the year. A list of the companies that are going to be attending the fair should be available through the career center at your school.

Get that list and do some research on the companies that interest you. With some research into each company, you will be able to create 2-3 talking points to engage the company’s recruiters.[1] For example, Target always had a representative at my school’s career fair. Just browsing Target’s website, and maybe asking your friends, you will find out that Target is a large retail store that specializes in great customer service. Let’s say you are a marketing major, but have no retail experience. Some engaging questions you could ask are:

1.     What is your target market?

a.    How does your marketing program target your guests?[2]

2.     How does retail marketing differ from the mainstream marketing that I am studying in my Intro to marketing class?

 Dust off your resume, put on business slacks, and button up your shirt. Make sure it’s tucked in, for the gentlemen.  Good luck on your first networking experience!

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[1] If you did research on a company you should know what they do. (Why I say that is because a big red flag for recruiters is if you ask what does their company do, if you are a candidate that wants to stand above the crowd, know what the company does.)

[2] Try to find out some lingo that the company uses. It should be readily available to find on their website. For example, Target calls their customers guests.