Meeting with Valerie (HR at USM)

I would like to start off by saying how lucky I am to have a mom who is willing to talk to her colleagues to see if they would be willing to help me.  So far I have only talked with Valerie, who is USM's Human Resources Manager, but I have a meeting with Tim, who is the head of communications.  Having meetings with people like Valerie and Tim are so important for someone who doesn't really know where to start, like myself.

As I have written previously, we started out with the maybe not so absurd question of what is your Dream Job? For me, I want to be a writer, so a job that I want to do to start that would be getting involved in the world of publishing either in the publishing house or newspapers/magazines. Valerie had some really good ideas, most of which had never occurred to me.  Like looking for Freelance writing gigs, grant writing, as well as some websites that I can check out to see what is out there.  The best piece of advice from Valerie was actually something that should pop up in everyone's mind, because it's pretty much common sense.  Valerie, as she was looking at a job I would not be qualified for on milwaukeejobs.com, said something to the effect of 'do you know how to do this?' Of course I looked at her and said 'no.' "Well," she said, "that's what I think you should do, as you go looking at what jobs you think you'd like to do, be cognisant of things they are asking applicants to know. A lot of them can be learned on your own, others there are certificate programs or other ways you can learn them.  As you learn more of them, you get to apply to more jobs."

Wow, if that isn't the most common sense thing you've heard today I don't know what is.

As I was writing this down, I was reminded of what my college football coach always told us: "Can't, Won't, Don't Know How!" To me, this phrase has taken on a very simple meaning as far as my career search is concerned.  Know what you Can't do.  Know what you Won't do. Learn what you Don't Know How to do.  So I know I can't be a doctor, I won't go back to fast food, and I need to learn a few more skills.

Right now the job search is continuing, and I have to say that friends in the same situation as I am look to be finding interviews and jobs faster than I am, which I understand is frustrating for people, but for anyone who is in a position like mine just be aware of some common sense things.

1. You and your friend are not the same person.  You have different experiences, skills, strengths, weaknesses and desires.
2. Just because they have an interview doesn't mean they'll get a job.
3. You don't know how much help they are receiving.
4. You don't know how long they have been looking. 

As always I hope to keep you all in the know of what I am learning and doing in my life post college.  Feel Free to share and send this to your friends and family.