To the Class of 2015
Posted by
npocpas1
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npocpas1
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It’s the time of year when the sun is burning bright, and there are back yard barbecues going on around the country to celebrate the most recent round of college graduates. Another group of young men and women have completed the years of hard work and dedication to achieve their goal of receiving a College Diploma. In addition to the celebration of leaving academia, there will also be a barrage of questions. You know the ones we mean - What are you going to do now? Have you thought about applying here? Are you going back to attend graduate school? Are you moving back in with your parents?
Often these questions are asked with well intentions, but they can feel overwhelming. It can feel as if the fact that you didn’t have a position lined up at a big firm months ago has put you behind, before you knew the race even started. While there are advantages to having jobs or internships lined up before your graduation date, we are here to tell you not to count yourself out. So you were not chosen to be an intern at the elite firm you applied to, or maybe not even at the not-so-elite firm either. So the road did not go exactly where you pictured it would. What do you do now?
The way we see it, you have two options. You can re-tool your resume and apply to another round of firms with renewed effort. If you are one of those people who will not be content until they have the job they were hoping for, this is probably the option for you. As for those of you who are a little more flexible, may we encourage you to live a little. You have spent most of your life in school, working towards these goals, and while a job is still desirable, it is not everything. Give yourself a set time of 3 months, 6 months, a year - what living do you want to get done while you have the chance? The time after you graduate from college is still a time when you are getting to know yourself. Do you want to volunteer abroad? Did you always want to take a surf trip to Bali? Has visiting the Grand Canyon been on your to-do list since childhood? Now is the time when you still have the freedom to go on these adventures. The personal and professional lessons learned from life experience are just as important as those learned in the classroom - if not more so. And to be totally honest, often times, life opportunities - career included - will find you out in the world, while doing something else you enjoy.
We are in no way suggesting you forget all responsibility and abandon your life goals as you have always seen them, simply that you also recognize the benefits of a life well lived. Put yourself in the shoes of the individual in the hiring position. Now think of the advantages you may see in a graduate who has a degree, in addition to the experience of a summer traveling, volunteering, or interning in a field other than the area of their college studies. More experience and knowledge only adds to the appeal of a potential employee.
Whether you choose the road of persistently pursuing a job until you land one, or you take a little roundabout adventure to find the right career path for you - there is no wrong answer. Whichever path you choose is the right one for you. Do not let pressure from parents or aunts and uncles push you in a direction other than that of your passion and dreams, but even if they do, do not fret, you will eventually correct the course. Every path is the right path if you are learning and growing along the way, being made into a more well rounded version of yourself.
So, congratulations on your achievement graduates, we commend you on this wonderful accomplishment. But, with our heartfelt congratulations, we issue a challenge. We challenge you to take your educated self out into the world and take the path that suits you. We challenge you to not be discouraged in the face of rejection or hardship. We challenge you to put all that knowledge of yours into practice, even if it isn’t balancing ledgers in a big fancy office. Take all those life lessons, all those personal hardships and bumps in the road and every moment of effort put into your education and synthesize those experiences into fuel and a hunger to keep learning and growing because there will always be a job for the people like that.
Often these questions are asked with well intentions, but they can feel overwhelming. It can feel as if the fact that you didn’t have a position lined up at a big firm months ago has put you behind, before you knew the race even started. While there are advantages to having jobs or internships lined up before your graduation date, we are here to tell you not to count yourself out. So you were not chosen to be an intern at the elite firm you applied to, or maybe not even at the not-so-elite firm either. So the road did not go exactly where you pictured it would. What do you do now?
The way we see it, you have two options. You can re-tool your resume and apply to another round of firms with renewed effort. If you are one of those people who will not be content until they have the job they were hoping for, this is probably the option for you. As for those of you who are a little more flexible, may we encourage you to live a little. You have spent most of your life in school, working towards these goals, and while a job is still desirable, it is not everything. Give yourself a set time of 3 months, 6 months, a year - what living do you want to get done while you have the chance? The time after you graduate from college is still a time when you are getting to know yourself. Do you want to volunteer abroad? Did you always want to take a surf trip to Bali? Has visiting the Grand Canyon been on your to-do list since childhood? Now is the time when you still have the freedom to go on these adventures. The personal and professional lessons learned from life experience are just as important as those learned in the classroom - if not more so. And to be totally honest, often times, life opportunities - career included - will find you out in the world, while doing something else you enjoy.
We are in no way suggesting you forget all responsibility and abandon your life goals as you have always seen them, simply that you also recognize the benefits of a life well lived. Put yourself in the shoes of the individual in the hiring position. Now think of the advantages you may see in a graduate who has a degree, in addition to the experience of a summer traveling, volunteering, or interning in a field other than the area of their college studies. More experience and knowledge only adds to the appeal of a potential employee.
Whether you choose the road of persistently pursuing a job until you land one, or you take a little roundabout adventure to find the right career path for you - there is no wrong answer. Whichever path you choose is the right one for you. Do not let pressure from parents or aunts and uncles push you in a direction other than that of your passion and dreams, but even if they do, do not fret, you will eventually correct the course. Every path is the right path if you are learning and growing along the way, being made into a more well rounded version of yourself.
So, congratulations on your achievement graduates, we commend you on this wonderful accomplishment. But, with our heartfelt congratulations, we issue a challenge. We challenge you to take your educated self out into the world and take the path that suits you. We challenge you to not be discouraged in the face of rejection or hardship. We challenge you to put all that knowledge of yours into practice, even if it isn’t balancing ledgers in a big fancy office. Take all those life lessons, all those personal hardships and bumps in the road and every moment of effort put into your education and synthesize those experiences into fuel and a hunger to keep learning and growing because there will always be a job for the people like that.
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