Four key things you can do to prepare for a successful career search.
One of the best parts of my job is holding virtual office hours. These online events let me talk with current college students and recent graduates about navigating the job search and answering their burning career questions.
As college students head home for winter break to relax and recharge, I know many are preparing to be asked about graduation plans and their future, including the quintessential question: What are you going to do with your life?
To help them navigate this stressful conversation, I invited Suzy Welch — journalist, New York Times bestselling author and professor at New York University Stern School of Business — to join me for a virtual fireside chat to talk about resources for self-discovery, future career planning and preparing for change. Drawn from that event, here are four key things you can do to prepare for a successful career search:
Determine your values, aptitudes and economically viable interests.
Choosing a career path that matches your values, aptitudes and interests is the best long-term decision you can make. As Suzy explained (and as she has talked about on her podcast and in her forthcoming book), values are deeply held beliefs that drive your actions and decisions. Aptitudes are things you’re good at — but they are not skills. Aptitudes derive from your strongest personality traits and make you uniquely good at certain types of work. Interests call to you intellectually and emotionally and reflect your values. Economically viable interests are potential career paths. As Suzy said, “Find the job that fits you; don’t try to fit yourself into a job. “That’s the fastest way to purpose.”
Take consulting, for example. Suzy explained that this field might be ideal for someone who values money, has a work-centric view of life and is interested in solving problems. But consulting can be a poor fit for people whose aptitudes lead them to be specialists and dialed in on the task at hand. Good consultants are typically generalists and future-focusers. That’s why it’s important (and I’m paraphrasing Suzy) that your self-portrait matches the frame it fits into.
Remember: Values can change over time as you gain experience, courage and self-confidence. Family and life events might alter your views of work, well-being, achievement and multiple other values. And as your values and interests change, Suzy said you might need to change your career to match them.
Define career success.
My parents immigrated to the United States to provide a better life for me and my brother. They defined a better life as a financially secure future, which meant earning a practical degree, landing a stable job with benefits, and earning a higher salary than they did. So you can imagine my parents’ confusion and disappointment when I told them I wanted to major in psychology and work in higher education.
What I realized — and ultimately helped them understand — is that I defined career success differently. I valued optionality. My parents gave me a better life by giving me the opportunity to pursue a career I found interesting and meaningful. That choice eventually led me to my current role that I love.
It’s OK to have a different definition of career success. But if you can show your family and yourself that your career is aligned with your values, aptitudes and interests, you’re more likely to achieve success no matter how it’s defined.
Widen your lens.
Suzy made a great point during our chat: Too many students limit their job search to the handful of companies and industries that recruit on campus. There’s actually much more opportunity out there than you might think. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists more than 100 different industries. Companies in all of these sectors are seeking early talent in numerous roles.
Suzy suggested researching megatrends, the long-term and profound global shifts with the potential to transform industries or perhaps the entire world. These emerging industries might offer opportunities where you can learn along with everyone else.
Generation Z is exploring a wider world of work. Computer science remains a popular major. But as tech-industry hiring slows, tech-forward members of the Class of 2025 are widening their job search to manufacturing, financial services, healthcare and government.
Become comfortable with change.
Change is a muscle you have to build. If you do not regularly exercise it, it will atrophy. Here are three seemingly simple exercises that can strengthen your ability to handle change:
- Try a different route home from work or school. Turn left out of the parking lot instead of right and see where that leads you.
- Change your morning routine. Instead of drinking your coffee, scrolling through your phone and taking a shower before heading to the office, try skipping screen time and changing the order of showering and breakfast.
- Choose a hobby — whether you’re good at it or not — and stick with it for six months.
Change is inevitable, so you should learn to be comfortable outside of your comfort zone.
Wherever you are in your career or in your search for one, it’s important to understand yourself and be thoughtful about your future career planning. That takes time — which might not make those winter break conversations any easier. But if you can do it, you can give yourself and your family the confidence that you can find a career that allows you to live your best life.