It's officially summer, and if you have a road trip planned, you know the importance of asking for directions. When you don't have any cell service, it's better to stop and ask directions at a gas station than drive 50 miles in the wrong direction. The same goes for career planning. It's all too easy to spend time and effort thinking about your career path before you have all the information you need. Getting started with informational interviews is the best way to "ask for directions" before you're too far down the wrong road. Or worse, taking a permanent detour.
To better understand the value of information interviews and get some tips on making the most of them, watch these short videos:
For tips on informational interviews, head over to our blog:
Better yet--take advantage of the summer and set up an informational interview this week. Download our Informational Interview Worksheet to get your start on asking for directions.
Taking A Permanent Detour: The Cost Of Underemployment
Asking for directions can be key to your "career road trip". Taking a detour can be costly for college students when they start their first job after college.
Source: Burning Glass Technologies and Strada Institute for the Future of Work
A recent study found 43% of college graduates are underemployed in their first job. Women are more likely to be underemployed regardless of major. And getting lost on the first turn often means those who start out behind tend to stay behind:
67% will still be underemployed five years later.
Of those workers underemployed at five years, 75% will still be 10 years later
These detours can be costly, with grads underemployed in their first job earning $10,000 less annually. By contrast, college graduate who have a first job that matches their background almost never fall into underemployment.
Stay Up To Date On Best Practices For Landing A Job
Times are changing, and that means the job application process is too. This article from Glassdoor digs into these recent shifts. The biggest takeaways: do your research about the company and role for which you're applying, show that you're open to feedback, and be transparent with hiring managers-and expect the same transparency from them.
Just make sure you adapt your strategy for each job you apply to and show the hiring manager that you don't just want a job-you want this job.
College Majors Make A Difference in Your Confidence
College majors can have an impact on your financial future: no one's surprised that computer science majors tend to make more than dance majors. But did you know that your major can affect your financial confidence as well? This studylists the college majors that give students the most confidence in their career prospects. The top three: Political science/government, engineering, and teaching/education.
Cross-Disciplinary Skills Are The Key To Your Journey
Anyone who's held a job will tell you: Being successful in a role requires something beyond subject-matter expertise. And that's why people are now suggesting we prepare students better with "experiential competencies." Instead of focusing on the knowledge you'll gain during your college years, we should be focusing on the skills: creative thinking, problem solving, confidence, and more.
Whatever your major, make sure you're working on developing skills outside of it: skills that are broad enough to help you land-and succeed at-any number of jobs.
