What happens if you graduate with a college degree that you owe $100,000 for, worked really hard to get, and gave you no skills you can earn a living other than minimum wage jobs you probably could have gotten anyway, and you aren’t passionate about what you studied?
I appreciate the authenticity of this question, and unfortunately it is not an exception. This is a question that is far too common. Gen Z, those born between 1996 and 2012 (ages 7-23) are entering the workforce for the first time, and rather than this scenario be the exception I am afraid it is more the rule.
It makes parents crazy. They either feel they have failed their children, or their children have failed them. What if neither is true? What is we are not preparing students for how to find work they love that loves them back that pays the bills?
As Gen Z’s enter the workforce, many are lost without a clear vision for what is as leaders we owe them an understanding of this context and what they value, how they like to work, and how we can create workplaces that bring out their talents.
Let’s consider Patti’s story. Patti is 22. She loves animals, speaks Russian fluently, and studied biology because at one point she was going to be a doctor. She was an excellent student, and went to a small, elite liberal arts school. She got some funding, but the high cost of tuition meant she had to take on personal debt to pay for college. At some point during junior year, she realized that being a doctor was not her passion. She was someone who valued natural healing and became a strict vegan. She got a summer internship at a large hospital system in DC and found the for-profit nature of medicine antithetical to her values. Yet, she was three years into a degree that she had already racked up over $70,000 to get. She kept going. Then, she graduated. She took a job at a doctor’s office as the office manager, and then after three months quit with no plans for her future. Her parents were beside themselves. They had emigrated here from Russia, and struggled to provide a lifestyle for their family, a lifestyle they are proud of accomplishing.
Then, she found Love Sunday Nights. When Patti came to us she had been applying for jobs on job boards like Career Builder, and Monster. Those are fine, and if there is any group who should use job boards it is the entry-level cohort of job seekers. However, she was frustrated that all of the jobs she seemed to be able to get were minimum wage jobs. There was no way she was going to pay her student loans, and be able to live on her own with a minimum wage job. What was she to do?
Here are the FIVE steps to getting out of your parent’s basement:
The first thing to do is get clear on your financial situation. What are the obligations you have to pay to whom by when? You might not be able to do anything about them now, but just knowing your obligations is important.
Now that the boring pragmatic stuff is out of the way, the fun begins.
2. What do you love doing? Don’t worry about the voices inside your head telling you what you should love to do, what do you actually love doing?
Patti loved gardening. She was at her happiest when she was outside digging in the dirt. Over the summer after graduation she started an herb garden, and she discovered she had a green thumb. She taught herself how to make herbal tinctures based upon the healing process of the plants.
Think about times when you “lose time” meaning, you are so engrossed in the process that you literally forget what time it is. Minutes, or hours pass by and you look up blissfully unaware of your surroundings. Write that down no matter what it is.
What are you good at?
It just so happens Patti is good at what she loves gardening, but there is more. She was good at video production. She has always been a visual person, and was not afraid to learn something knew mostly by watching You Tube videos. As she was learning about the healing properties of herbs on line, she got the idea to create her own You Tube channel about herbs. Then, she did just that, and she started to pick up a following.
What can you get paid for?
While I am not a huge fan of relying on the Google to tell things, it is helpful to kick-start your discovery process. When Patti typed in “gardening jobs in Chicago” 6 pages of jobs came up. She was thrilled.
Now here is where most job seekers go wrong. Most people looking for work are savvy enough to use Google in this way. They see the six pages, and scan them over. Then, they immediately go to Indeed.com (a job Board) to apply. 9 times out of ten nothing happens. I have had students who have been using this approach for months, and the only response they receive is the automated email from the applicant tracking system thanking them for applying to the job.
The next steps is where the magic happens, and it is a step most people don’t consider or if they consider it don’t do their homework to really know how to position their unique skills in today’s workplace.
What does the world need?
Upon first hearing this, you might think this is a spiritual question which for some job seekers that might be true. How Love Sunday Nights defines it is what are the current trends impacting the functions or industries you have identified that you love that you are good at. This is a step many people don’t understand the significance not take the time to explore. This is why people end up stuck for months alone in their house wondering what they are doing wrong. Here is an example of trend facing technology today:
The rise of the Customer Success role has created a new hybrid between technology, hunter and account manager. Big tech companies are leading the charge, but this new approach is cascading down across all sales roles creating new jobs where people’s purpose and passion play a bigger role than just their sales acumen.
