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.

What do you want to do?

So, I guess we all start with the obvious question: What do you want to do? Well, isn't that the dumbest question ever.  This might be pessimistic but I don’t think what I want to do is on the table.  Not unless I can find a job that lets me travel the world, eat at the best restaurants, drink all sorts of drinks and write at my leisure.  

Coming from a liberal arts college where the motto is learn everything you want to, not simply learn what this career path needs you to learn, I have no idea what my path is.  I learned so much in college that I still feel like the world is wide open to me.  Furthermore, I feel like I've grown in so many different ways during the four years I was in college that there is no singular thing I want to do. 

Ugh, back to the question at hand. What do I want to do?

Well, my real love is writing. I’d love to be able to write stories, articles, and columns and so on for the rest of my days.  I know it would take some time to work my way up to doing anything substantial, but I think it would be a thrilling way to make a living.

I would also love to read for a living, being an editor or any job where I would be able to make comments on someone else’s work before it goes out to be published would also be ideal.

I know I have many skills that would help me in any career.  I know how to use Microsoft office, Social Media; I like to think I know how to sell ideas to people and how to get people to care about. Everything there seems to point me towards advertising, sales, marketing, or some other office work.

More recently and that is to say after working for YMCA Green Bay’s Camp U-Nah-Li-Ah, I love the idea of working outside, being outside. Working for a non-profit or a job where I get to be outside more seems very appealing. 

Now, because I think this question is ambiguous and downright stupid, I think I should tell you the answer to a much better question for today’s job market situation.  Maybe someday in the past you were able to walk right into a job and say I want to do this and they’d give it to you, but today those looking for a job have to be more practical.  We have to ask ourselves what I am willing to do OR what am I not willing to do to support myself.

I could try to be funny and say I’d sell my body for money, but anyone who knows me knows that wouldn't make me a dime.  So in all honesty, what I won’t do is go back to fast food.  I know I could walk in and be a manager but I refuse to put myself in a position where I’ll hate myself for the rest of my life.  I’ll be a trash man, a mailman, I’ll work retail but I refuse to work in fast food ever again.  I worked at a Culver's restaurant while I was in High School and I was seriously just done with it, the hours sucked, I ate the food all the time, the managers were truly awful people, and I became such an angry person while I worked there.

As I've been writing this, I cannot help but think that I am thinking about this the wrong way. Maybe there isn't such a divide in the two ways of thinking.  The two questions certainly have merit. The former has everything to do with what you aspire to become. While the later has everything to do with how you want to get there.  I hope that you can see some need for these questions as I have.

Please leave a comment, question, or concern for me to answer.  Thanks for reading and I’ll write again soon.