This month, U.S. college graduates enter one of the most favorable job markets in memory with a record 11.5 million job openings that await them. Between the pandemic and Great Resignation, they have the option to work from home, the office or a hybrid, pursue a nomadic lifestyle with no set address, ask for compressed workweeks and the list goes on.
In short, those at the entry level are blessed with endless opportunities to shape a career around where and how they’d like to live, as well as pursue nourishing and fulfilling work. When LinkedIn asked leaders to pass along their career advice to newly minted college grads with its #CareerKickstart campaign, I lunged at the chance. Mindful that the nature of life is to grow, college grads need to know that it’s okay for their career path to evolve. It doesn’t have to be a linear climb up the corporate latter or about how much money they’ll earn.
I majored in psychology but later realized that it wasn’t for me upon learning about the educational requirements and initial pay. One of my podcast guests who’s a leading Fortune 100 executive coach started as a professional musician and then enrolled in graduate school at age 40 to become a psychologist. Young people need to assess their unique needs and focus on the qualities they’d like to develop, people with whom they’d like to work and what community they’d like to serve. They’re also in the enviable position to adapt their work to a lifestyle and author a life that is fully aligned with how they’d like to live and who they want to serve.
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