The 3 Biggest Mistakes You Could Be Making TODAY That Keep You From Finding Work You LOVE At Graduation

If you want to find work you LOVE, work that pays you enough to meet your loan obligations and move out of your parents’ basement when you graduate, then it’s critical you address the 3 biggest mistakes that most of us make while we’re still in school. Putting some thought and action into your job search at the beginning of your education will allow you to increase your chances of finding not just any old job, but one you LOVE.

1. Focus on Your Strengths

What ARE your strengths? What passions, personality characteristics and personal values make you excel? What is the main area in which you excel?

For a whole host of reasons, many of us leave high school more able to list our short-comings than our strengths. Further, we don’t have a clear understanding of the kinds of employment we can find or create using these strengths and passions, and as a result we often find ourselves without work we LOVE. We get a short-list of ‘careers’ as we go through school — doctor, lawyer, plumber, teacher…. without ever really knowing the wide variety of ways that our strengths can be used to contribute value to our communities. And when we contribute ‘value’, we can exchange that for a decent salary or a fee.

It’s more important that we know our strengths than it is to know ‘what we want to be when we grow up.’ (See Book Review StrengthsFinder 2.0 for more info on strengths.) What we really want to be is who we are, and to be recognized for being ourselves. Without a doubt this can be the most difficult part of the Personal Branding process - but it’s critical. Find a career counsellor or personal branding specialist who can help you discover and put words to your strengths.

2. Establish A Focused Online Presence

Once you’ve determined your personal direction by putting your strengths into words and creating a Personal Brand Statement, then you’re ready start getting your ‘brand’ online.

Your online presence works for you 24/7/365! It’s there to ensure that people looking for you online find you AND see the message you want them to see. It’s there so you have the confidence to direct people to your online network and it provides a tool for others to spread the word about you to their contacts.

3. Understand, Establish and Work Your Networks

The ‘Hidden Job Market’ is made up of positions not advertised publicly. Sometimes a position becomes available and is filled by a person already known to the company or one of its current employees. Sometimes positions are created specifically to include people the business realizes it needs to have on board. Finding these hidden jobs requires having a well-developed personal network.

Networking effectively means understanding what a network really is. Think about the ‘six degrees of separation’ concept. If you want your information to move beyond those who know you directly, you need to provide people with a reason and the tools to pass your information along to others in their networks.

• Having an online presence makes it easy for others to pass your information along.
• Knowing and communicating your strengths effectively makes people want to pass your information along.

Now is the perfect time to get started putting together your personal brand, getting it online and beginning to spread your ‘buzz’ through your personal networks. Getting started has never been easier as career counsellors and personal branding specialists have their own established online presence - and offer lots of opportunity to learn more and engage with them on social media.