There’s an interesting article I found on Buzzfeed today: 10 signs you’re having a quarter life crisis.
Confession: I had a quarter life crisis.
Some of the signs I remember experiencing:
I daydreamed about doing something crazy but I felt paralyzed by indecision.
I felt incredibly nostalgic about my high school and College days because back then all I had to worry about was getting good grades, passing exams and finishing projects.
The idea of making a budget terrified me. And so, I took it to the mall to “de-stress”. I swiped and I swiped my brand new credit card until I maxed it out. It felt good, it really did to buy all those shiny new items and yes it eased the pain…until I got my credit card bill of course.
I had an intense fear of failure. I quit my full time job to become a freelance writer. I had meager savings in the bank and I had graduate school studies to pay on top of my credit card bill, my gym membership bill, cellphone bill… bills, bills, bills and well I found out that freelance work is so much harder especially when my bread and butter is something I was struggling to do. (I had writer’s block). I remember crying a lot those days to my parents, babbling on and on about the struggles I was experiencing and how scared I was that I was screwing things up, “how could I throw away my bright future?! How?! How?!”
I compared myself to my friends. How come they seem to know what they want to do in life? They’re traveling, they’re in relationships and they were happy with the jobs they have! When will I get there? Will I ever get there?
And yes, I took a look at myself that time and felt like I was nowhere near what I imagined my career life would be.
When I quit my full time job then, my parents’ worried that I may find it hard to land a job again if I ever decided to come back to the corporate life. I honestly did too. They were right of course. Job hunting is a very competitive race. I found out that it was no different when I was applying for a job as someone fresh out of College or someone with a few work experiences under her belt. I didn’t easily get hired again. I had to go to a few job interviews here and there before a new job offer came in for me.
Since I know some fresh graduates are still looking to land their first job offer or are just about to start applying, I’d like to share a couple of tips I’ve picked up through the years that I’ve been working on what employers look for in their possible new hires. These advise I’m sharing are not from me but are actually from employers themselves because I’ve been able to establish a close working relationship with my very own superiors.
Skill-wise:
Employers are looking to hire someone who can communicate well. It’s important that you know how to express yourself – after all, how do you ask support when you can’t tell someone you need it? How would anyone know you actually have some good idea to contribute to the team when you’re afraid to say it?
And employers are looking for someone who can and is willing to wear many hats in the workplace. I’ve had workmates before who used to say “this is my job and this is the only thing I’m going to do”- that kind of attitude seriously turns them off. This is another skill I’ve learned to adopt through the years. I applied as an account executive in a PR firm. But at times since we are a relatively mid size company, my superior would ask me to also play the part of an events organizer, media relations officer, writer and most recently digital community manager. Oh sure, those are not part of my job description but making the employer see that you can do so many more than what they just hired you to do, it makes you valuable to them. And you know, happy employers equals better pay. (“,)
Oh and employers also love employees/future employees who have a desire and drive to continue learning about the job they do and finding ways to expand their knowledge. Since we now live in a world where companies highly depend on technology to do business, being tech savvy is definitely a plus! So it would help you as well to learn that! There’s plenty of ways to do that nowadays. You can check out Webucator for one. They provide onsite and online training on technologies such as Microsoft ASP.NET, XML, Windows, Java, Adobe Flash, HTML5, JavaScript, Dreamweaver, and much more. Right now, they’re focusing on their Microsoft offerings and currently running a free self paced course in Microsoft Powerpoint 2013 to help graduates and anyone else who may be interested to learn.
Values wise
I think that in order for anyone to succeed in the workplace or in anything they want to do in life for that matter, you also need to embrace some values.
Personally, I choose to embrace love and passion. When you love the work you do, it becomes easier for you to get up in the morning on a work day and when you’re passionate about what you do, you’re driven to excel, to give your 100% commitment.
Note: This is a requested post by Webucator for their “Most Marketable Skill” Campaign in honor of the class of 2014.