Top Exec Blog (Web Log)

Congratulations! You've just graduated from college and you're basking in the joys of graduation: family, friends, grandparents and others are wishing you the best, showering you with gifts and promising you a happy and fruitful future. The next question you can expect before, during and after the festivities is, "so what are you going to do now that you've graduated?"

For too many new grads, the problem is knowing exactly what to do with the new degree. Some say a year off from any "real" work or further studies is the best approach. Successful PhD's (now) are happy to report the best time in their lives was that year after school, when they moved to San Francisco to wait tables and tend bar. Others, with a bit more "guidance" take the grad school route, and though they have sunshine and fun times during the immediate summer after school, they're bound and determined to take that next step to success through more studies in an MBA, PhD or other graduate program.

Regardless of the route you choose, it can be a kollege kid konundrum (apologies to all of our English teachers, but higher education doesn't mean better spelling skills, especially if you're used to text-messaging your way through school) to figure out what to do next. Here are some tips:

1) Never stop networking - this means even before you graduate from school, you are using all the tools available to build up a "rolodex" of contacts in all walks of life, especially areas where you might hope to make your mark professionally. Ask for introductions, email your long-lost cousin in Barcelona, take a step outside of FaceBook and get yourself over to LinkedIn.com for a "professional networking" experience. Most of all, be willing to seek out people of all ages who might be willing to make an introduction for you, suggest some ideas or listen to what you're going on about and offer their take to help you network onward and upward. Jobs and opportunities, of all sizes, colors and variety are most often found through a network of personal or professional/educational contacts, so keep this skill sharp and use it constantly to help you in your post-graduate activities.

2) Explore the universe - really, what's local and what's global these days? Everything is available in some fashion via the web, and if not, then there is that old fashioned source called a library, or even your imagination, to help dream up and scope out the possibilities for "after school". Some people even take their exploration all the way to Ghana, Uganda or some other far-flung locale, because they really want to explore the universe! What's stopping you?

3) Talk to your parents - believe it or note, they have some very serious life experience, and while they do also have some distinct leanings about what their favorite college grad might be doing other than channel surfing or pool-side bronzing, you might actually pick up some very good tips about how to approach this important step in your life. So, if you've told them you're going to medical school, but you really want a year off to "chill" or do something totally unrelated (safari, anyone?), now's a great time to open up the topic and see what develops. (hopefully not a migraine or a shouting match).

4) Talk to someone else's parents - sometimes the viewpoint of adults (the older ones) who are not directly related or involved in your life (your roommate's dad, or the neighborhood mom who did all your scout activities with you and your friends) can be a refreshing place to get insights into what life might hold after college. Ask them! Be open. Talk about what you like, and don't like. What you're eager to explore and what you're afraid to get near. (Are you really sure about going after that high-pressure job, just for the money?). This, too, can be a great way to develop some alternatives to "work" or "school" or "joining the Peace Corps", none of which are bad alternatives, by the way.

5) Career Counseling Center - as long as you have or had a relationship (paid tuition) with a university or college, you probably can avail yourself of the career center and all the resources (people and information) that reside there. Go find out about internships, part-time work, full-time projects, research grants and all the other opportunities that are funneled to people just like you through that part of the university. You can get help with a resume, advice on your goals and lots of other excellent assistance for the career-minded. Even those not-so career-minded can get some ideas for what life's like outside of the ivory tower campus. Check it out!

6) Read! - yep, it's that simple, read books, magazines, newspapers, on-line sources and whatever else you can dig up to broaden your thinking. You'll be surprised how many new, useful ideas you can find this way. Here's one now: click here, an article from the Wall Street Journal that might be interesting for new grads.

7) The money conundrum (see, we do know how to spell it!) - Invariably, some of the things we want to accomplish in this world cost money. This is a fact of life. Nonetheless, if you're networking, exploring, asking and seeking, there's a good chance that fortune will smile on you and provide in some fashion for what you want to do. Remember, where there's a will, there's a way.

So, new grads, riding the Career Path Express™ can certainly be challenging, but make the most of it! The direction and speed your train rolls is entirely up to you, so hop on board and blow the whistle! The same for those with a few more years on their resume. They, too, should be exploring, networking and reaching out for new ways to approach career, family and life. We all ride the same 24 hours each day, so why not make the most of it?!

Thanks for reading, and whatever you do, enjoy your ride on the Career Path Express™.

© Daniel A. Cabrera, All rights reserved, 2007.

In this baby-boomer obsessed economy, here's a provocative question for career seekers or hiring managers on the Career Path Express™:

If gray matter matters, then does gray matter?

This is not just a tongue twister, but really a philosophical question about who gets hired and whether or not the best talent is being matched to the right career opportunity.

Some say that age is a matter of mind; if you don't mind it doesn't matter. But in the hiring process there is invariably some challenge for the candidate who shows a bit of gray at the temple (highlights?), or a whitened moustache, or somehow has garnered the wisdom, experience and maturity to be known as a "gray beard" (or the female equivalent). While this is a visible manifestation of gray, it does not necessarily translate into success, based on gray matter, i.e., brain power.

In studies published here and there, some data suggest that younger workers are quicker and show more mental agility with certain tasks (numeric, etc.), while more mature workers have a far deeper reservoir of experience upon which they can draw to solve challenging problems and work up solutions far more readily than the younger cohort. Does this make a difference? Is this where gray matters, in terms of effectiveness on the job?

Given that societies, including the US, Western Europe and Japan, in particular, are faced with a pending labor shortage, as the "baby boomers" retire and withdraw from the workforce, it behooves companies and hiring managers to find ways to better utilize the talent that remains, whatever its age, that has somehow been constrained in its career hunt by that pervasive issue of age. Isn't it possible, all things being equal, for hiring companies to use new thinking in terms of matching the job with the candidate? Can't we find ways to use written, verbal or other test mechanisms to match the gray that matters (brains, experience, results) to the task at hand, without being concerned about the shades of gray in a person's coiffure?

With society looking for ways to a) keep the tax dollars rolling in (to sustain Social Security and other such "retirement pledges"), b) keep the economy's labor force competitive and productive and c) forestall the implosion of the economy due to the "burden" of all those boomers who will soon demand their fair share of Social Security's IOU, doesn't it seem logical to realize that gray matter does matter, but gray, per se, doesn't?

Thanks for reading and riding on the Career Path Express™. Care to comment?

© Daniel A. Cabrera, All Rights Reserved, 2007

Invariably, when a career seeker gets a rejection slip or some other form of "Thanks, but no thanks" from that industry-leading firm with topnotch talent and world class benefits he or she has been pursuing it adds to the frustration of being on the Career Path Express™ and riding the thermals (updrafts) and downdrafts of the job search.

What should you do? Yes, the process was going well. Didn't you speak with a) the screener, b) the recruiter, c) "Manager A" and d) "Manager B"? Weren't you following and succeeding at the game plan as their HR representatives spelled it out to you? Didn't it appear that your answers were solid and your questions were well founded? Wasn't it seemingly ontrack for you to have a face-to-face interview, job offer and career nirvana in the near term with "Bull's Eye, Inc.", your fantasy employer?!

Yes, but then the "thanks, but we can't go forward" memo came or "thanks, but we've decided to go a different direction" or worse, nothing at all! What should you do in the face of this egregious error, oversight, slap-in-the-face?

Hot heads and the impolitic will want to send a flaming response telling the (fill in the blank) company and its (most colorful adjective) minions that they should all be summarily fired, and they should be sent to Siberia without long johns for the next 60 years, while you are telling your trust advisor to liquidate all of your holdings in Bull's Eye, Inc., and won't touch their stock, products or logo'd clothing ever again. So, there!

Calmer thoughts, however, should prevail. We must learn the joys of poise, especially because by answering and responding to them with grace, yes, and good manners, the chances are we will connect with a real human being. They do exist in HR departments and hiring companies, believe it or not. By withdrawing from the battle field with grace, sending "regrets" and not blistering words in retreat, we keep the door open to future interaction and opportunity at Bull's Eye, Inc. So, even if the impulse is to send a flaming arrow into the haystacks of HR, and burn them with your best shot, think twice. It's far better to express your disappointment and tell them you're keeping the door open should their situation change. You want the opportunity, and you're still interested! Chances are good that a real human being, HR or hiring manager-type, will remember that grace and the poise you show in accepting their decision. Other opportunities will arise, and people of grace, poise and humility will be called again.

So, while the challenges of career hunting are many, and the frustrations legion, it's always best to keep your wits about you, show your best face at all times, and be graceful about those opportunities that don't open up to you immediately. Your turn will come, and those with poise throughout this process will know the joys of the "offer" sooner, rather than later.

Thanks for reading. Good luck in your career activities or wherever you travel on the Career Path Express™.

© Daniel A. Cabrera, All rights reserved, 2007