So, what do you (really) want to be when you grow up?
Graduating? Now it's getting real.
An excellent former student (and an excellent ONE subscriber) is graduating soon and looking to begin her career. We were chatting, and, I said it would be a good topic for ONE. She agreed, expectingly and…well, here’s the result:
Cowboy, nurse, fireman, teacher, princess, astronaut, superhero: All noble pursuits. That’s when you were 6-years old.
Now you are about to graduate from college.
Life’s coming in hard now.
It’s time to step up and start contributing to society.
How do you see work?: Is a job and work something you just do, and life is beyond that, or is your work a big part of a fulfilling life?
I've learned from experience that if you work harder at it, and apply more energy and time to it, and more consistency, you get a better result. It comes from the work.
Louis C. K.
For us Non-Dentists
In high school a friend said she wanted to be a dentist. And she did become a dentist. And for a while, she was my dentist.
I feel a little sorry for people like that. They have eliminated all other paths in their working life. Though we need dentists!
For us, non-dentists, where you start and where you wind up is likely to be very different. Me, I started in investment finance, worked in IT, taught, worked in small business, built websites, consulted, taught, wrote, worked in project management, got an MBA years after my undergrad, taught more, developed courses and programs, worked in marketing. Teaching: It was never on my list. I liked it, so I kept doing it.
Take time. Give it some thought. Understand who you are and how you like to work. Be careful. But, expect that you will change direction. And, that’s ok. That’s a good thing.
My advice:
The job is theirs, the career is yours. Take responsibility for your own career and life.
Work at an organization where people are valued.
Don’t work for money, work for purpose.
Things change. The economy, the market conditions, competition changes. Presently, in Fall 2024, employment conditions are favorable for new grads in Japan and likely elsewhere. But, conditions change. Expect a downturn and restructuring in the economy. When this happens, and it will, as sure as the Sun rises, then changing jobs will be much more difficult.
No one gets rich from a salary, so don’t grumble about a “low” salary. Beyond your work, focus on creating wealth for yourself. ← no one teaches this in school There is no course called: Wealth101. (Why?)
Work somewhere where the windows open: where you can have fresh air and daylight. It’s more important than you think. Think it’s a status symbol to work in a “modern” hermetically sealed office tower, security turnstiles, lanyard? Tracked, imprisoned and sealed off from the outside world. But, if you are ok with that, have at it.
Know when it is time to move on.
(But, as many in this generation do, do not quit so soon and so easily. you don’t like your boss, your co-workers, the working conditions? Think it will suddenly change at the next company?)
Changing jobs often looks bad on a resume
Advice to students: Form good habits early. Employers know exactly what they are looking for. They are well-trained (and use AI) to spot them. You cannot suddenly acquire the skills, ability and experience before you start interviewing. employers, and professors, can see this quite clearly. Suddenly, it’s time to do job search and suddenly you are serious, diligent, organized and professional at a job interview? No. It doesn’t work that way.
—> Great interview advice: … (thinking: create an entire posting on this one)
What I learned from architectural drafting is that everything has to have a plan to work. You just can't wing it. I can't get all the materials I need for a house and just start building. Whether it's a career, family, life - you have to plan it out.
Ice Cube
The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else. Job security is gone. The driving force of a career must come from the individual. Remember: Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career!
Earl Nightingale
EmployeeONE - The course for everyone with a job.
Learn all the stuff you didn’t learn at school: what you really need to understand and thrive in the working world. A course in three parts:
PART I - You - how you work
PART II - The World - how the (business) world works
PART III - You in the World - how you ought to work in the world
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ONE more thing
Cowboy or Princess?
Are you living to work or working to live?
From many, ONE