Career Coach

By Barbara Poole

By the time this column is published, I will have watched my only child graduate from the College of Charleston. Like most parents, I have this sensation that it has been about 20 minutes since he was an infant, and the notion that he would someday be preparing to make his way in the world always seemed like some futuristic event. Now that future is sitting squarely on our front door step.

During the past several months, I have watched my son’s emotions run the gamut from unbounded joy to sheer terror. I talked with him by phone last Saturday as he walked across campus, preparing to hand in his last paper, and he was two feet off the ground. The next morning, he was anguishing over the “what next?” question as he considered his post-college options and responsibilities.

One of the most entertaining and fulfilling phases of my own career was during the early 1990s when I served as director of career services for a small liberal arts college in Central Florida. There were two extremes in types of students seeking career services. At one end of the spectrum were the serious ones, the ones who came rolling into our office during their freshman year with a list of questions, ranging from how to crack the GRE to what companies we thought might be interviewing on campus when they got to be seniors.

Then there were the 11th-hour seniors, or more often, the new alumni, the ones who landed in our laps the day after graduation saying, “Oh yeah, I guess I’ve got to figure out what I want to do now.”

Regardless of timing, these students were looking for guidance on how to navigate uncharted territory. When you are in school, life, for the most part, is a multiple-choice test. There is a limited range of options from which to choose, what to major in, what classes to register for and what extracurricular activities to participate in.

You survey your choices and circle the ones you want. Then graduation rolls around, and life suddenly becomes an essay test. The world tells you that there is an infinite range of possibilities, and you are expected to create a tapestry of what you want your life to look like. Big stuff for your average 22-year-old.

For the students, the real need was for some been-there/done-that kind of guidance. Sure, they had heard the same messages from their parents, but somehow mom and dad’s wisdom paled in comparison to the perceived objectivity to be found among the career counselors in our office, especially given that they had access to the interview schedules for dozens of company recruiters.

When we found ourselves in the presence of an audience of eager students mystified by the job market and prepared to hang on every word, this is the wisdom we dispensed:

• Don’t feel compelled to make the “right” choice. There is not one perfect job out there. For most of us, there are a range of options that would suit our talents, temperaments and experience. You are not choosing a soul mate; you are finding your first job.

• Do choose something. The worst jobs are the ones you land in by default because you did not devote time and attention to selecting one that would be a good match for you. Do not allow a career to be something that just “happens” to you. Do exercise that freedom of choice.

• Be respectful, and learn from every situation. Contrary to what many students think, your learning career has just begun when you graduate. If you pay attention, you will learn from every work experience, even those you do not particularly like. You will learn what you do not like, as well as what you do, which will help you hone subsequent choices.

• The people you connect with will be as important as the work that you do. The basic unit of measure in the professional world is relationships. Make sure to forge strong connections with people and nurture the networks that you build.

• Character is as important as contribution. The world loves superstars. But over the long haul, it is more important to do the right thing. Be sensitive to issues of integrity, ethics and the golden rule, and make decisions that you can be proud of when you look in the mirror.

• Follow your heart. Your head has a piece in this, too, and we know you want to make “logical” career choices. But also know this: It is your passion, not your logic, that sustains you through the difficult and inevitable challenging moments in your career. Center your work around something that you care about; something that piques your interest and has personal meaning for you.

To the class of 2005, congratulations. The world is waiting for you and is ripe with opportunities. What will you choose to do with them?

Barbara Poole is a leadership and career development coach with Charleston-based Success Builders, Inc. She can be reached at CoachBarbara@SuccessBuildersInc.com or at 795-8315.

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