I remember I was stressed about my future career when I was just a freshman in college. And it’s funny because, looking back, I think to myself – “why was I so worried about my career so early in college?!” But at the time this was a huge worry for me and I thought that every decision I made would significantly impact my future career - from grades to internships to community involvement.

So, I have been there and know exactly what kind of stress you are experiencing right now about your career search. But the good news is that I survived my first career search! In fact, I’ve made it through several searches and have learned some valuable lessons along the way that I’d like to share with you:

1. Get rid of the mentality that a career is a way of “saving your life.” I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard a student tell me “if I just get this one job then everything will be fine.” You need to remember a job is just that – a job – and it cannot bring you complete happiness so don’t treat it like it will.
2. Stop thinking of your first career search and job as a destination and start thinking of it as part of a life-long journey. Your first job will more than likely not be your last so stop trying to find that “perfect” position because you’ll only drive yourself crazy searching for it.
3. Relax about the career choices you have to make. If you try something and don’t like it, you can always try something else!
4. Get organized and create an action plan to help keep you on track (or hire me to do it for you!) This really helps when you feel like you have too much to do and not enough time to do it!