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You just turned in your exams, you're on summer vacation and the last
thing you want to think about is unlocking your life purpose, whatever
that means anyway. You want to be left in peace ALL summer - away from
deadlines, nagging parents and pain-in-the-@$$ professors.
But what if I told you that the key to helping unlock your life purpose
entailed little more than lying out on a blanket under the hot summer
sun? You pack a little imagination, an open mind and a long-forgotten
thing called a pen and some paper. Yeah, that means no laptops, cell phones,
PDAs, IM's or BFF's. Game?
All you have to do is spend some quality time with yourself - time to
daydream, assess your goals, and write out your likes and dislikes. Ultimately,
you will take one giant leap toward defining and finding your personal
definition of a happy, successful and purpose-driven life.
What makes me tick?
"Students need time to ask themselves, 'What are my dreams? What
do I want?'" says Robin
Ryan, a nationally respected career counselor and author of numerous
career-advancing books, including "Soaring On Your Strengths",
"60 Seconds & You're Hired" and "What to Do With the Rest
of Your Life." Ryan advises that students sit down with a piece of
paper and a pen to do this task. "Write out what you like,"
says Ryan. "Don't type it out on the computer. When we're on the
computer our minds edit as we type and we're deflecting things out."
Start by writing out your likes and dislikes and then try to imagine what
kind of life would make you most happy. Ask your friends, relatives and
teachers, "What do you think I'm good at?" If you fill out Campus
Calm's quick survey here
we'll send you our free worksheet package (valued at $25) to help
you out. It's called, "Unlock Your Life Purpose: It All Starts With
Y-O-U." The worksheet package features a series of targeted questions
designed to help you discover exactly what makes you tick. It was recently
updated to include a section on career exploration & self-assessment.
Many students have already filled out our survey and we've found that
career worry tops your list of stressors. College is expensive and many
of you are worried about picking the right major and then deciding after
that you don't like the career you've chosen.
Instead of agonizing over finding the "right" major and the
"perfect" career, what if you instead focus on building your
passions and transferable skills? That way you will be marketable no matter
what career you end up in ten years down the road.
According to Ryan, students should work on developing the following transferable
skills that will serve you your entire working life and beyond:
• oral presentation & public speaking
skills
• customer service skills
• teamwork skills
• time management skills
• writing & communication skills
• research skills
"Hot job, hot careers, what other people tell
you is never going to be as important as what you find interesting and
what you enjoy," says Ryan.
If you start off in a career that you don't like, change. Ryan advises
to keep your doors open and recognize that the process should be fun.
"Putting a lot of pressure on yourself is damaging, like when you
say, 'I have to make $50,000 a year as soon as I get out of college because
everyone else is,'" says Ryan. Instead, say, "I have to have
a good job with a boss who will be a mentor to me and help me learn the
ropes."
If you're looking for ways to jumpstart your career search, give the following
tips a try:
5 steps to summer sun & career exploration
• Hop online
and do some career research. Ryan advises that students find the
association for whatever profession you're interested in. "The professional
association is most likely to have accurate information," says Ryan.
• Get a summer
job or an internship. According to Ryan, any summer work experience
is good experience, even a McJob.
"A summer job teaches you basic skills like showing up on time, teamwork,
responsibility and serving others," says Ryan. "It also shows
an employer down the line that you have ambition and you have a track
record that you will show up for work. Generation Y is really bad at showing
up for work and all the employers know it."
Ryan advises that students look around close to home. Ask yourself, "Where
is there something that I do like?" "If it's swimming,"
says Ryan, "maybe work at the swimming pool or at an amusement park.
If you like weddings, go work in a restaurant where you're working in
the catering area or you're working with the sales person or the florist."
To the guys who say that they can't stand working indoors, Ryan says,
"Look to see which people have yard work that needs to be done. Is
there a construction site near you that could maybe use a pickup person
that you could do some work for? If you like landscaping you could mow
lawns and get your own little business going." A summer job can give
you valuable insight into a career and a sneak peak into what the industry
is like. "Until we work in an industry, it's all pure fantasy,"
adds Ryan.
For those of you who want to launch a mini-business online, Ryan says
to proceed with caution. "You have to be really careful if you're
doing something like that because you probably don't have enough business
savvy yet unless one of your family members is helping you who has a business,"
she says. "Even selling things on Ebay is fine but work with someone
who has done it before so you know what you're doing."
• Visit your
school's career center. Summer is often a great time to visit your
campus career center. For one thing, it's easier for commuters to find
a parking spot in the summer and it's much easier to get an appointment
with a career counselor. My career counselor was practically my life coach
through college and the year after I graduated. Six years out of college,
I still utilize my college's career center.
If you need help with career exploration, a majority of college career
centers offer interactive interest assessment tests. You can use these
tests to help you learn more about your personality type and what it means
for your studies and your career. Colleges use many forms of interest
assessment tests to help students - look for names like the Strong Interest
Inventory, Discover, Focus II, Sigi or others. Some of these tests are
available online but they could cost up to $150 to purchase. Save yourself
some cash and drop by your career center and talk with a counselor one-on-one.
• Read.
Check out books like What Color Is Your Parachute? or What To Do With
The Rest Of Your Life.
• Talk to strangers
- and everyone else you happen across. Ask them about their careers
and learn more about their lives. Never stop learning. For students who
are shy and are afraid to approach professionals and ask about their careers,
Ryan suggests that they ask family members for help. She also suggests
that students join a professional organization and network that way.
It's summer - remember to relax!
Don't worry so much about having THE plan for life. According to the Department
of Labor, we average five to seven career changes and eleven job changes
throughout our lives. "We are constantly evolving and creating new
kinds of jobs," says Ryan. "Jobs that didn't exist before. Being
a life long learner will advance your career and keep you marketable your
entire life and you won't miss interesting opportunities either."
Enjoy your journey through high school and college and let the possibilities
unfold. Now it's summer so stop worrying and go have some fun!
Sites to check out:
www.jobhuntersbible.com
Career Zone http://www.nycareerzone.org/
(tailored to New York State residents but valuable to anyone)
www.robinryan.com
About the author:
Maria Pascucci is the President of Campus Calm - the award-winning online-forum for today's stressed-out students, and their parents and educators. Download your Student Life Stress-Less Kit with 4 FREE gifts at www.campuscalm.com.
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