Get a job. Any job as long as it moves you forward. Now.
You are graduating into a world with great opportunity, but not for everyone. Many of you will succeed, on whatever terms you use to define success. Others will struggle. You are each graduating into a competitive world. And, in today’s world, the paths of the successful vs. the unsuccessful split sooner, and diverge faster than in any other generation of graduates. I’m not saying that’s it’s impossible to recover. I am saying that it’s much more work that starting out right.
Your first post-graduate job is like an investment. It pays dividends over time. It accelerates your entry into the next job. And the one after that. You need the experience of one job to get hired for the next. If you can’t find a job in the field you want, volunteer someplace instead. Anything to give you the experience you need to separate you from the next person.
Success is hard work. It has to be that way. Success comes when you have something to offer that relatively few others can offer. That’s why there are more rewards, of whatever type you find rewarding, for successful people. There aren’t many to compete with you for the spoils of success. If it were easy, then everyone would do it, and you would just be one of many.
But that’s good news. It only takes a few percent more effort to get ahead of the pack. And, once ahead, you stay ahead.
Good luck.
- Michael Peachey -'90BUS