FIRST JOB out of college: what you do vs. who you are

Subscribe to the FIRST JOB summer series here to get each new post the second it goes live, as well as exclusive tips/links just for subscribers! =)

Where are you going to college? What are you majoring in? What do you want to do with your life? What do you do? When are you getting married? When are you buying a house? When are you having kids? 

The typical party questions. The ones we get sick of answering, and yet always find ourselves asking.

Because it's just part of our social construct. It's a safe way to move a conversation forward.

But, more often than not, they cause us great anxiety when we don't feel confident in our answers. They make us worry about what other people think. They make us worry that we are not where we should be in any given stage of life.

And I never felt this pressure more than when I was looking for my first job out of college. 

For the first time, I was supposed to be able to answer the question: what do you do? And I felt like my entire identity was wrapped up in the answer.

I had been in school my entire life. I was always a student. It was pretty easy to answer the early questions (especially once I figured out my major). I felt confident in my identity as a student - you are going places, you are learning, you are smart.

And now, it was time to get a job that said: college paid off, you are making money, you are successful. 

I couldn't find that job. I felt overwhelmed. I felt like I had failed. 

And then I read two simple things that transformed my perspective:

1- "People always ask 'what do you do,' how many people ask you 'who do you want to be?'"

This came from one of the quarter-life crisis books and it reminded me that no matter what job I had, I could still be myself. I could still do my best, give my all, and continue to learn. I was not my job, I would never be my job, and I would be much better off focusing on being the kind of person I wanted to be, contributing, learning, and not being so caught up in how other people perceived me based on my job. 

2 - "Live the Adventure"

This came from the biography How to Be Like Walt by Pat Williams. I highly recommend reading biographies of people you like and find someone who really inspires you. Walt Disney is one of those people who inspires me because of his ability to dream big, risk everything, and maintain a childlike whimsy. 

This quote reminded me that finding a job was an adventure. I looked at Walt's life and it was fraught with failure, tragedy, risk, and disapointment. He didn't wake up one morning and build Disney World. His first job was not running a billion-dollar business; his first job was a huge failure. 

Your job is not who you are. Your job will change a lot over the course of your lifetime. Who you are may change too. But it's important to keep things in perspective, remembering that you can make a great contribution in any job. It is an adventure. And like any adventure, it will be scary, hard at times. You will get lost. 

But the great part is, when you realize it's just an adventure, it becomes sort of exciting. You have the zest and motivation to keep going, to blaze new trails, to learn from those who have gone before, and to endure. 

So don't put too much stock in what you do. Never feel like you have to be embarrassed at a party when someone asks what you do. State it proudly, and talk about what you love about it most (even if you hate most of it). 

And remember that your job says a lot less about you than you think. When people ask you what you do, they are really just trying to make conversation. Try to move that conversation to other things, and realize that a job is just a job. It changes. It moves. It pays the bills. But you can take who you are with you to any profession, and let the adventure grow you. 

Subscribe to the FIRST JOB summer series here to get each new post the second it goes live, as well as exclusive tips/links just for subscribers! =)

I'm accepted to my transfer university - now what?!

Darryl Arcales has just made a big change - she recently moved from south florida where she has just graduated from Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus, with her AA in International Relations, to the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL to pursue a BA in Political Science. 

Miami Dade College is the largest and most well-known community college in the country. And the University of Florida is a "most selective" institution. 

Darryl on the left, posing with the incredible president of MDC, Dr. Padron

A huge congrats to Darryl!

She recently agreed to share her transfer story so that you can see how she made this transition, and what you should start doing now to prepare. And at the end of her story you'll find her amazing checklist to help you prepare to make the transfer once you've gotten that oh-so-exciting acceptance letter.  

How did you make your transfer decision? What influenced you?

"At first I had planned on going to a college out of state in North Carolina, but as I was bombarded with the transfer process, I started to really think about what I was doing: how will I be able to handle my new environment? Is it going to take a long amount of time to adjust? Will I have the support around me that I need to succeed? Could I afford a plane ticket every time I wanted to visit home?" 

"Thus, I decided to pursue my acceptance at The University of Florida because it would allow me to still be able to afford to go home when I needed to, and would give me the opportunity to study at one of the top programs for Political Science."

Darryl also explains that she has friends at UF already who have been helping her adjust to the new enviornment. While it is really important for you to step outside of your comfort zone when you transfer, any head start you're able to get when it comes to help, familiarity, and guidance is huge. Definitely start making those friends and building those connections early. 

What are you majoring in and how did you choose the major?

"I was undecided at first, but my involvement with Student Government and getting the Goal 2025 fellowship from the Lumina Foundation really influenced me in declaring a political science major." 

What were your biggest obstacles in adjusting to your transfer institution?

"Finding my way around school because UF is a big campus that accommodates over 50,000 students! I use the RTS buses (the transit system for Gainesville) just to get from one building to another. Another obstacle is living on my own. There is no mom or dad to clean up my messes or cook meals for me when I am hungry. I’m starting to really learn what it means to be independent and taking responsibility for myself."

What helped you the most in getting adjusted at your transfer institution? 

"Staying later on campus and just see what’s going on and getting involved in clubs and stuff. Also, I have really good friends from Miami here helping me go through this time of change."

What helped you make friends at your transfer institution?

"Being myself and being straightforward from the get go. I know that every transfer student (myself included) is nervous and scared because we’re in a new environment; we're trying to get situated and we see the people around already with their little groups." 

I definitely experienced this too. Being yourself and not being afraid to talk to people and try out clubs on the first day of class is essential. And like Darryl says, find the other transfer students! They'll be glad you did. 

What advice can you share that you wish someone would have shared with you before you transferred from community college to a university?

"Get lost on campus so you can find the interesting places to hang out or quiet places to study besides the library. I found out that the UF wellness centers provides spa massages if you’re feeling stressed from school!"

What advice can you share with readers based on what has worked well for you in transferring?

"Trusting your instinct and doing what’s right for yourself. Not letting anyone’s judgment faze your decision making process."

I would love to hear your story on the blog as well. To learn more, visit http://isaadney.com/blog/you/

Darryl has also become the resident go-to person for all her friends during their transfer process, and my guess is that is because she's just such a nice, helpful, and together person. If you are going through the transfer process right now or plan to relatively soon, Darryl had an incredible checklist to share (she recommends starting this as SOON as you are accepted to your transfer institution)!

Once you have received your college acceptance letters and narrowed down your choice: 

• Ask for a credit evaluation of all the classes you took for the past two years; it takes a week for the school to process. Some schools will make you retake credits.
• Confirm that you have filed out your FAFSA and/or the CSS Profile. Check reward statuses and tell your transfer school that they are receiving additional aid such as Bright Futures and Prepaid or other scholarships from outside sources.
• Sign up for orientation. The earlier orientation date, the better so they can immediately register for classes.
• Start preparing the immunization forms and insurance verification forms. President Obama signed a bill making it possible for college students to stay on their parents coverage until they are 26.
• If you are looking for on-campus housing, sign up immediately because those spaces tend to fill up because you'll also be competing for space with freshmen. 
• If you are looking for an apartment, start gathering your roommates and start hunting. Ask yourself if you prefer individual or joint leases, furnished or unfurnished? Whats great is that some student apartments offer all inclusive-meaning utilities are included with the rent. American Campus Communities are great because they are practically in every state. Or some schools such as UF have websites such as SwampRentals.com to help narrow down choices according to your preferences. Call ahead to some of those complexes and ask how full are they in terms of occupancy and for an appointment to tour and potentially sign a lease. Take your parents with you because some student apartments need the guarantor (person who will guarantee you will pay rent on time) to be there. Bring necessary identification.
• Talk to your parents about finances. Me and my mom have been dividing up who will be responsible for what when I transfer. Like for example, my mom is paying for my rent and I will be paying for food, books, tuition, travel and miscellaneous expenses.
• Look over the conditions under which you are accepted to the college. For example, I wasn't officially admitted to the UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences until I passed Government and International Relations with a grade of B or higher and I was granted the AA degree.
• Send in final transcripts (hold for degree) and do the online modules for orientation.

Got an idea to increase civic engagement/voter awareness? Your project could get a piece of a $25,000 pie and a free trip to NC!

With elections coming up and the millennial generation growing stronger, many are paying attention to how young people vote, and what gets them engaged.

Who knows better than you?

That's what Mobilize.org thinks, and today they are accepting applications for your project to increase civic engagement, community participation, and voter awareness in your local area. 

If you are in North Carolina, Florida, California, Pennsylvania or Michigan, you can submit your idea. Mobilize.org is investing $25,000 in the winning projects, and the winner from each state will be flown to North Carolina for an all-expenses paid unbelievable summit and fellowship program. 

And if you're not in any of the states above, why not consider how to increase civic engagement in your community? It is projects like these that not only make you really stand out on scholarship applications and your resume, but they are the kind of projects that teach you a lot about yourself, what you're good at, and what you want to do (or don't want to do) with your life.

If you're not particularly passionate about civic engagement (still vote, of course) that's okay. But think about the ideas behind this program and what kind of project you would want to create for your community. And create it. Just do it. Always remember - you don't have to do something big. Start small. Small is big. 

If you need any help on where to start, send me your idea at advice@communitycollegesuccess.com and I'd be happy to help get you started on the first steps and give you some ideas on who to connect with to move your idea into reality. 

And of course if you are passionate about civic engagement - you could get your project funded and get trained. What an incredible experience and resume-builder this will be for the winners. You could be one of them. Apply here!

From a 1.3. GPA to a 3.5: How one CC student didn't let his learning disability get in the way

Since I've been writing and speaking about community college students I've heard more stories than I can count about students who've taken a GPA in the one-point digits and raise it up two points and above and graduate with honors. They never cease to astound me. This is not an easy thing to do. But every story affirms it can be done. 

And one such story recently came to me from Austyn who has just graduated with his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Central Florida and is on his way to graduate school.

When Austyn began community college he faced a barrier many students face: a learning disability. His effected his reading comprehension, and college became instantly difficult."I really struggled to understand all the material and it wasn't easy. I had a really hard time my first couple years of college; I felt like I was the only person struggling."

Austyn ended up receiving a 1.3 GPA in his early semesters. 

Austyn admits there were times he felt like giving up. 

But he didn't.

Austyn took the initiative to ask for help - the secret to college success in my opinion, and yet something too few students do. He went to the tutoring center and the disabilities office and took advantage of all the resources his community college had to offer.

These services helped Austyn raise his GPA enough to be able to graduate from community college and transfer to the University of Central Florida. 

While at UCF, he then developed a relationship with his advising research professor. "He believed in me and in turn really helped me believe in myself and work harder than I ever worked in my life. I didn't know what he saw in me when he asked me to do research for him, but his encouragement really invigorated me."

A few weeks ago Austyn graduated with his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Central Florida with a 3.5 GPA at UCF and a 3.0 overall. 

He's now working on applying to Columbia University for graduate school. 

Austyn's advice based on his experience? Simple: "Never give up, try to find some way to believe in yourself, don't let other people's comments get to you, and always try your best. Life is really hard, but if you get knocked down, just get back up.

I would love to hear your story - it's as easy as answering a few questions. You'd be surprised at how much sharing your experience can inspire someone else. Just go to isaadney.com/blog/you to learn how. Thank you so much!

FIRST JOB out of college: how to find one, get one, change one, and learn from one (and not lose yourself in the process)

Subscribe to the FIRST JOB summer series here to get each new post the second it goes live, as well as exclusive tips/links just for subscribers! =)


It’s officially summertime for college students, and for all the graduates of the class of 2012, it’s time to get that first “real” job.

When I first embarked on this process when I graduated with my B.A. the summer of 2009, I was hit with a tidal wave of emotions, all stemming from this one question: What the heck am I going to do with my life now?

To cope, I read stacks and stacks of books on how to find a job. I went on dozens of informational interviews. I scanned online job boards late into the night. I sent my resume out into (what felt like) the black hole of online job applications.

And I had never felt more insecure and horrible in my life.

Before I go on, I think it’s important to mention that this is a first-world problem. My husband and I will semi-jokingly quip to each other “first world problem” when the other is complaining about something going wrong in the apartment or with our cars, like last week when our wireless internet wasn’t working. It’s a first-world problem. It’s a problem that, in many ways, we are lucky to have. It’s a problem that, when compared to so many other problems in the world, is just not that big of a deal.

If we didn't live in the country that we did, with open-access to education, a diverse economy, and the ability to choose what we want to do, how to spend our time, and where to share our talents, we wouldn't have this problem of figuring out what we want to do with our lives. We are lucky to have this problem. 

But with that being said, if you live in a “first-world”, first-world problems are still real problems. They are still your problems. And it’s okay to go after solving them. It’s just vital to always maintain perspective so that you do not dwell in the depths of hopelessness when in reality there is so much to be thankful for.

However, when you’re in the depths of self-doubt, it’s hard to be thankful.

Our generation was told we could do anything we wanted, be anything we wanted, and that if we graduated college we would get a high-paying job.

So we proudly walked down that aisle in the cardboard-square hat. We listened to a triumphant and hopeful graduation speaker. And then we walked back down that aisle with our shiny new diploma, ready to shine all our great potential and make a difference and a contribution in the real world.

And then we trip and fall flat on our faces, scraping our limbs on the concrete.

While I mean this metaphorically, this actually happened to me last week while walking from my car to my apartment on the last day of my job at the community college (I’m now a full time author, blogger (hooray!), speaker, and consultant). I stepped awkwardly on the concrete path leading up to my apartment door, and WHAM, before I knew it I was on the ground, with all my office supplies strewn across the path. 

I  laughed at myself at the time and felt so thankful no one was around to see. But – it made me think about how I felt three years ago when I first was looking for that job.

How I felt like I was constantly falling on my face. And how I worried that everyone would see. 

When we can’t find a job or are in a job we don’t like, we feel inadequate, like we aren’t contributing what we actually have to offer the world. And often, it makes us feel embarrassed and sad and alone. 

When I was looking for my first job three years ago, I found comfort in a lot of books that defined this general feeling of awfulness and insecurity as the “Quarterlife Crisis.” Essentially the books said that in our 20’s we struggle to find our identity, and in this new post-graduate stage of life, we tie our identity closely to our job, which causes stress when we can't seem to find the "right" job. 

And while these books coined the phrase, created the awareness, helped post-grads understand they are not alone, and comforted us that by no means does our job define who we are - I still needed to pay the rent. I still needed a job. I still felt lost. And I didn't really know what else to do.  

So this summer (along with the other content I’ve mentioned such as transfer student and professional success stories) I am going to be doing a series on finding, getting, changing, and learning from your first job out of college.

Highlights: 

• What you do vs. who you are
• Why starting from the bottom is vital to getting to the top
• What do you do if you hate your current job?
• When do you just take any job vs holding out for your "dream" job?
• Secrets of current successful professionals on how they got their dream jobs (hint: their dream job is almost never their first job)
• How to turn a first job you dislike into a dream job
• How to organize your job search process 
• How to find a professional mentor
• When to take unpaid internships
• When to choose grad school
• How to do informational interviews at companies where you want to work
• Why most jobs aren't filled online & how to use the internet to get them
• Why people hire their friends and how to make more friends
• How to know if working from home/being an entrepreneur is for you
• Reviews on some of the best job-hunt and post-grad books
• How to change your job

And as your first FIRST JOB tip for today - start reading anything you can about finding a job. We read and study for classes every semester. And yet we often forget to use those skills to read and learn about many areas of our lives. Turn your first job search into a class for yourself, and dedicate the time and effort necessary to get an "A." To start, I hope you'll keep up with this series :) 

The series will be peppered throughout the blog this summer, so if you want to be sure not to miss one, you can subscribe specifically to the FIRST JOB summer series here. 

You can also join me live Monday, May 14 at 9pm ET for YouTern's #InternPro Twitter chat! The theme: "I'm graduating…now what?!"