For some there is an ongoing belief that after graduating from college and beginning the search for success, your greatest strength will be in who you know.
Not so much how hard you have worked to earn your degree or the extra hours you have spent to truly master the major stated on your diploma, but the mere contacts and people with whom you have ingratiated yourself will land you the dream job.
Well, once again, I go against the grain.
Coming into my senior year, I am enthusiastic about the future and yet a little nauseous with the work that lies before me. I have but one goal when I leave the University of La Verne, and that is to have a job. Not returning to my career as a summer camp counselor either, but a position in or around my field of study. For the first time in my life, I think I really had to decide what it would take to see that happen.
After consulting with advisers, professors, my father and my own life experiences, I think I have a pretty good idea.
This will take work. There is no way around it. So many students seem to over estimate their diploma’s worth after graduation. That is not to say that there is little value in graduating from college, but you better have more going for you than a piece of paper. You need experience.
Maybe you are in fact an intuitive individual with an unparalleled sense of professionalism. Most employers will not even look at you unless you have shown some past ambition to get your feet wet.
For some, this might seem elementary. Experience is a common criteria for any job.
So what else holds college students back? The fact that in an interview, no matter what internship, job or recommendation you have, you are a college graduate. You are a rookie. Your worth to most companies is an entry level offer. This is not a negative fact, but it is a fact. Too many students think they are above working from the bottom up. Unless you are my neighbors in the field of computer science who will probably own half of Microsoft in two years, this is a reality.
I recently heard students laugh at the fact that they may make $20,000-$30,000 when they graduate. They overvalue their worth. Ask the question, If you were an employer, would you pay a recent college graduate more than $30,000 when they have not demonstrated any ability?
My father is the one who told me that, “young people are too concerned trying find work that is fun, when really, they should just be looking for work.”
Although this is a glum thought, my father was trying to explain that it is not likely that you are going to find your life’s passion within a month of graduation. Rather, you might find yourself working for the sake of it while you continue to look for promotion or change in venue.
Eventually though, you will find a place of work that you love. And if you love your work you will make all the money in the world. That is how it will be done. You cannot set a cap or floor in regards to how much your salary will be.
The only thing that you can be sure of is that there is always work available for those who show an ability and desire through not just their words, but their actions as well.
There is nothing wrong with having uncertainty concerning your future. Most of the people who act to have their life planned out will be just as uncertain when they put those plans into action.
Just do not bank your future on a business card and a handshake you receive at a job fair or your father’s friend who can get you a job in the business.
If all you have walking into the real world is a lot of contacts, your credibility will dwindle with your lack of knowledge thus killing the relationships with all the people you know.
If you take the time to truly educate yourself while at ULV and focus on getting experience, you will meet everyone you need to meet to get a job.
Danny Craig, a senior journalism major, is sports editor of the Campus Times. He can be reached by e-mail at craigd@ulv.edu.
