Let’s say you are looking for a job on campus and it feels like you’re out of time or there isn’t a place for you at a particular department. The best thing to do would be to keep looking, but not in the same place, in different departments. Sometimes we can’t identify our particular strength, but the department looking for a suitable candidate could recognize that potential skill of yours and give you exactly what you are looking for. However, this leaves more to chance. I cannot stress enough the importance of identifying your strengths and weaknesses so you can narrow down your search and even put more probability into the odds of you being the one they pick up.
A simple example would be a friend of mine who is also new to campus and eager to find work but has no idea where to begin. He seemed to be focused on just one or two directions where he could land a job and could not crack it initially due to the sheer volume of the competition itself. The way our minds work is that we tend to pick up a particular strength from our roster—sort of like a lottery—and go with it. This particular habit advances into one of the most common problems we see today, that is being stuck in a job that you thought you liked. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen this happen, and it is always good to look at a prospective opportunity from many angles before jumping into it. You will thank yourself later for it. Variety is a spice in life that everyone should cherish and not be pressured into jumping into a category by any means. It is truly where we discover things about ourselves and the perspective of others which is very valuable by itself. Listening is a skill not many possess, and it is extremely valuable; it has even made some people millionaires and billionaires just by their ability to absorb loose conversations, fine-tune them and come up with a world-changing idea.
Another ability to use in these situations: intuition. I am sure many young students have a problem trusting their intuition, maybe because it has let them down in the past, and they instead go by the facts. A great decision comes from a mix of both the facts and your internal intuition. This calm and collective duo rarely lets anyone down and can lead to greatness if applied right. Many CEOs of top companies use this ideology to direct a workforce of several thousand or even more. How does one decision affect others? How does one person at the top command several others? The gruesome path to the top included many hurdles and tears shed. But once you are at the top of the mountain, there is nothing more to climb and you will know you have made it. Your mind, body and heart all scream it out loud, and that is a feeling consistency will ultimately bring. But what happens when you’re at the top? Everyone needs a piece of it, especially the people who have charted their own courses to the top. A small secret shared by people heading the largest conglomerates: change with the times or the times will change you. I cannot stress how important this one sentence is, and it can shape your whole career. As always, it’s a pleasure to give some insights, and good luck to everyone coming back to campus for a busy semester.