Your Career and You: "You ARE the Future...Are You Ready?"

As the semester winds its way to the end at Curry College, I seem to be having more and more conversations with bleary-eyed seniors looking for the "answer."

"Will I find a job when I graduate?"

"What should I do when I graduate?"

Both very good questions that merit some serious thought and equally serious response.

Will you find a job? Yes. Probably not as quickly as you would like, and maybe not exactly what you were hoping for right out of the gate, but you will find a job.

I've talked at length in previous posts about planning for the future. But here's another thought: "You are the future...Are you ready?"

This is, in itself, a worrisome thing. In some cases, my own response is, "Yes, you're ready. Go forth and make us all proud!"

But, in other cases, I'm not so sure...there are still some rough spots that a few folks have to take care of...things like being able to write coherent sentences in a professional manner...being able to identify potential employment opportunities without someone else having to do the upfront research...the basics.

Am I discouraged? Far from it.

Am I bubbling over with exuberant enthusiasm? Ditto.

What I have to do...as professor, mentor, friend, adult...is continue to make it crystal clear in my classroom discussions as well as one-on-one counseling with my public relations concentration students that finding a job is hard work. And the competition is fierce. But I deeply and sincerely believe in your ability to succeed.

Those of you who get it...who understand the deeper meaning of the term "public relations professional"...will rise to the top of the pile.

And you will do this by excelling in your studies; by undertaking one, two, or three internships; by regularly participating in on- and off-campus professional activities; and by networking like crazy.

Employers are looking for that "extra something" that differentiates the "ok" applicant from the "must-have" applicant. That "something" is intangible but it's definitely there.

It's that attitude of quiet self-confidence...that eager but not fawning interest in the opportunity at hand...that passion that I so often talk about and so seldom witness.

The world truly is just around the corner waiting for your arrival. And you truly are the future of my lifetime profession of public relations.

The question that you have to answer...and believe with all your heart once you find that answer...is, "Are you ready?"

"Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man."
Francis Bacon, "Essays...Of Studies" [1625]