Career advice for grads, and the rest of us

Getty ImagesGraduation speeches are long on lofty advice, cliches that ring true, and humor: follow your dreams, be authentic, wear sunscreen. But they are often short on career advice. So now that we've all watched videos of the best of the lot on YouTube and shared them by email or on Facebook, it's time to get down to what new grads need to know about how to get a job and build a career. And since 50-somethings and 20-somethings are likely to be competing in today's market, most of these principles make sense for the rest of us as well.



Think projects, not jobs. When you talk about work, the important thing is what you are working on, not where you're working. So don't focus so much on what job you are going to take, focus on what you'll be working on whether it's in a job, as an independent contractor, or in your own start-up venture. You will likely have many jobs and a couple of careers; the key is acquiring experiences and skills that take you to the next place you want to go.

Experiment. Use this time to do some experiments and learn what you like to do and what you're good at. Think about traveling or living and working in another country where the cost of living is low. Join a group of friends who just launched a start-up. If you are passionate about the food you eat and where it comes from, consider a stint living and working on a farm.

Volunteer. Regardless of what you do for income, find time to volunteer about issues you care about. Volunteering will surround you with like-minded people and can lead you to your next career move.

Pay attention to money. If you keep your overhead and expenses low, you'll have the luxury of doing work that you enjoy. Cultivate an occupation you can do part time or as a freelancer, or start a side business that can help you earn extra cash so that you can say "yes" to opportunities that might not pay well. Think about a slash career (blogger/speaker/teacher/author) so that you have a variety of income streams that feed into each other.

Get your resumes ready. I said "resumes" in the plural intentionally. You'll need your resume in both traditional and digital formats, and you'll need to customize those resumes every time you send them out. Have a look at the advice I just gave for those recently laid off about resumes and Linkedin.

Master the informational interview. Go on informational interviews all the time, not just when you're looking for a job because you can always learn about where you might like to go next. But before you schedule any of these, make sure that you are prepared. (Here's my take on how to prepare for an informational interview, and a few pet peeves.)

Nurture your network.
Even if you are fresh out of school, recognize that you already have a network. It consists of your friends and family, your classmates, any co-workers from jobs you've had. You also have an extended network in the contacts of all of those people. Start finding natural ways to stay in touch, to be of help to others, and to let people know what you're doing and what you'd like to be doing. If you're active on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, use those places to connect with and and follow people and organizations in the fields you're interested in. Avoid these networking faux pas.

For you summer reading, have a look at these books: Lindsey Pollak's "Getting from College to Career,"
Penelope Trunk's "Brazen Careerist," and Jonathan Field's "Career Renegade."

Readers, is there any career advice you wish you'd heard when you graduated?