One in the MyIPO series of posts about life in the first decade in business.
To you, the recent graduate: Congratulations! …Now what…
You may have noticed that a lot of people are finding it difficult to get a foot in the door where they really want to be from the get-go. According to the New York Times, in February 2008, MonsterTrak, found that 59 percent of 1,200 employers in a national survey anticipated hiring 2008 graduates — a drop of 17 percent year over year. Almost twice as many companies (29 percent) were undecided on the question in 2008 than 2007. That’s not the best of news to people entering the post-college job market for the first time.
But perhaps you lined up a sweet deal through your on-campus connections or a job fair as early as last October. When I was preparing to graduate from Azusa Pacific University in December ‘05, I interviewed with Disney Animation Studios and landed the job I wanted in a one and a half hour interview. I was set to start in April, so I made money coaching gymnastics as I had through college.
In January, Disney merged with Pixar and things took a turn for the worse as far as I was concerned (stupid Steve Jobs!). Hundreds of animators, art directors, production assistants and the like were let go in the months that followed. The project I was hired for was canceled, as were many others. My dream job vanished before my eyes. I had to start over from scratch. I was persuaded God had plans for me, but I have to admit I was a little angry about the merger.
In truth, my start wasn’t quite from scratch. I had a lot of experience in business administration and marketing. …Well, a lot for a recent grad. I had managerial experience in a marketing company during my first couple years in school; moved on to intern for a record label, then signed a band and started my own label. Reflecting on the one that got away at Disney, I have to admit I was and am an entrepreneur at heart. Almost everything I have ever enjoyed doing has been very freelance.
Three years downstream, I’ve interviewed with top companies, traveled to distant lands, and prayed a whole lot. The organizations I’ve worked with have ended up hiring me, but not for the positions I walked in for. Instead, they’ve hired me as a consultant. Since graduating in 2005, I’ve consulted with ten plus companies on 3 continents. At first I was shocked by that. I thought people would never take a bright-eyed still-could-be-sixteen freelancer seriously. But the advantage of looking youthful is just that: Youth. And in the business world, having a fresh mind means you have a perceived advantage when it comes to really knowing the much sought-after youth market.
If you have recently graduated, you know how difficult it can be to land a job doing what you spent four years and a whole lot of money studying to do. It seems terribly unsatisfying to be working retail or taking minutes for a law firm when you studied computer science and would rather be working at Google right now. Things change. It takes some time to figure out where you fit and what that looks like. While you figure all that out, freelancing what you actually love can give you a little extra cash and build the experience you need in order to get a paycheck for your passion. Whatever it is, pursuing your passion even in the smallest degree will help you move toward where you want to be: Doing what you love.
