Skip to main content

Dinner at the College


A couple of weeks ago, I was invited by my alma mater to a dinner where college students deciding on what major to pick would get the opportunity to hear from different people and about their chosen career paths.  I had never done anything like this before, but I decided that this is what workforce development is all about.

At the dinner, students received an opportunity to sit with the professionals to hear about their careers and to ask questions. Before the dinner wrapped up, every alumni and alumna received the opportunity to speak to the group.  Thinking back to having been a college student, I remember that feeling that I knew that going to college had something to do with work, but I was not sure what exactly and how did this translate to a job in the real world.  I have decided to summarize that information given to the students from the alumnus for everyone in workforce development land.

 
Advice to College Students:

  • The road is different for everyone. Many people said that the choice of college major doesn’t matter. I think it does. It all depends on what job you are applying for at the time you graduate. Some jobs require a specific degree for licensure, credentialing, or due to technical skills. 

  • The lesson from college is not necessarily the theory, but the process for competing the degree, where you learn to work hard and achieve a goal.

  • Education only begins when you leave college. If you have the opportunity to get a professional certification along the way, take it. If you find an employer to pay for one, even better. Never turn down the opportunity for professional development.

  • Sometimes a Master’s Degree is appropriate, sometimes a second Bachelor’s Degree is the way to go.   Education is a personalized decision.

  • Give 100% to everything you do. Even if you think that you are doing a “boring” task at a job, you never know if it will lead to something greater in the future.

  • Find something you love. You will find more success if you love your job.

  • Finding that career that you love will not happen overnight. It will take time. Maybe you will love your first job out of college, maybe not. Maybe you will have to try a few different things until you find a match.

  • Meet people. Networking is key. Seek out a mentor to help and guide you along the way. The opportunities you receive will most likely be because of your connections along the way. If you don’t know what to ask Google, it will not give you the answer.

  • Act professional, dress professional. Leave the flip-flops at home. You never know when you will have to chase a bad guy.

  • There will be paperwork. Everyone does paperwork. It is not exciting, but it is a major part of many jobs in the world.

  • Get work experience. Whether you find an on-campus job, an internship, or a part time job that is not affiliated with the college or major, gaining experience on what it is like to work will help you when you graduate.

  • It doesn’t matter if you enter college as a “teen mom,” a “stoner,” or an “honor student.” Eventually everyone that graduates finds themselves in the same real world. Sometimes you will succeed despite yourself. Sometimes you will succeed because of yourself. Life is full of contradictions. It is all the same in the end.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to attend this dinner, but I was glad that I attended.  The one thing that none of the alumnus discussed about their career is money. Not one person said that they chose their careers for money. Do people want to be paid well? Yes, but no one was motivated by that. Each alumnus honestly, sincerely, and truly loved their job.

I am very social, but I tend to keep my personal story to myself, but on that night, I put myself and my bag of contradictions out there for these students. This was not an experience that someone happens upon every day, but if anyone out there ever gets an opportunity like this, then I suggest to take the time to share your experience- good or bad- with someone starting out. You never know when someone in the audience is “just like you” and is thinking if “she can do it, I can do it.” 

Questions, comments, or advice to college students? Feel free to comment below. I can also be reached at kcirincione@gmail.com~ Karen Cirincione

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mastering the Grilled Cheese Sandwich Project

An engaging book club discussion about email, how we work, and also just how we as people manage our lives. The more we talked the more I started to realize that essentially project management is essentially a life skill everyone needs to master to be successful. If we simplify Project Management down to the easiest way of explain it and applying, we can define it as taking a big end goal and break it down to smaller goals, figuring out the tasks with each smaller goal, and then allocating lots of resources along the way. Ultimately at the core of project management is planning and organizing, but communication is really at the heart of it all. A project may be big, like building a bridge, creating and implementing software, or it can be as small as figuring out what to make for dinner. Along the way to said goal, every step needs to be clear and everyone needs to communicate about all the said steps along the way. Sounds easy, but apparently it is not so simple. One would think ev...
Post a Comment
Read more

A WIOA Fairy Tale

I thought it was time to have a little fun with WIOA and write a fairy tale. My last fairy tale was published in June of 2014 and was before WIOA legislation. To read the first workforce development fairy tale, check out the archives. Once upon a time in a far off land called Weeoha, lived a community of residents. Many of these residents had jobs and careers, but some found themselves in need of services and assistance to get jobs. Some were reliant on the government for assistance with basic needs because they could not find jobs. Three of these residents, Jack Butcher, John Baker, and Josie Candlemaker, found themselves not satisfied with their lack of opportunity and decided to go on a pilgrimage to find the legendary Cup of Career Success.   According to urban legend, whomever drank from this cup was promised eternal employment and self-sufficient wages as long as they desired. Jack, John, and Josie set out on foot to find the legendary cup. Their first stop was to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How do you Birthday?

Another year in my life has passed. It’s time for another birthday. Each year as the day approaches, I take the time to reflect on my past year, my accomplishments, and my goals for the year. My birthday is like my personal New Years’ celebration with another opportunity to have the best year ever.   I am not afraid of a birthday. Age is just a number, but each year is what you make of it. Each year I have seen the sun rise, the rain fall, and the snow melt, I have been given a gift from the universe. Many people do not get to see another birthday. I owe myself the opportunity to set goals and feel proud as I work towards achieving them. Sometimes these goals have been born from unhappy feelings and bad situations, but growth brings wisdom.   In my working life, and especially as a workforce professional, I know some of my growth must be professionally. Having experience working with job seekers looking for jobs, I understand how crucial professional growth is...
Post a Comment
Read more