Ceasar joined the Office of Career Development in July 2018, as a Graduate Assistant Career Advisor while he pursues his Master’s degree in College Student Affairs at Nova Southeastern University. With his new Career Advisor position, Ceasar is thrilled to advise students in achieving their dream job.
As a Career Advisor, I noticed that often times students worry about not having related experiences to the jobs they are applying for. They forget that even though they do not have relevant experiences, they are still able to cater their transferable skills to the employers. These are the skills and abilities that are applicable across different areas of your life, personally and professionally.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has released an article about college students’ career readiness. The article’s main goal is to provide information about closing the gap between universities and employing organizations in regards to the skills that new college graduates should have when entering the work field. They listed the following to be the top three skills that college students should have in order to land a job: critical thinking/problem solving, oral/written communications and teamwork/collaboration.
Inspired by the book of Neil Pasricha, “The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Nothing = Have Everything”, I would like to encourage students to feel hopeful even without related experiences. Pasricha emphasized the concept of how people try new things. Visually illustrated below, Pasricha claimed that people often learn new skills in a linear way, meaning that students need to feel like they are able to perform the task first before they want to do it and eventually do it.
Pasricha argued that when people do this, they end up not being able to learn new things. So, Pasricha suggests changing this linear way to a circular way. As illustrated below, Pasricha wants people to just do it, which eventually leads to learning the skills needed to perform the task. Then they start wanting to do the task with the newly learned skills, and the cycle repeats.
Following this idea breaks you out of Imposter Syndrome, where you think you are not qualified for the job when you actually are. When I was in my first year of college, I thought I would not be able to perform the task of an executive board member for an organization and that I should wait until my second or third year. Escaping from this toxic mentality, I ran and was elected. This position then led me to multiple amazing opportunities and experiences throughout my undergraduate career. The lesson here is to take risks, do not be afraid if you qualify or not because most of the time, you are qualified; it is just a matter of extracting and catering the relevant skills that you gained from your past experiences.
Whether you are searching for a job or internship, make sure to look out for the skills that the job is asking from you. Reflect on the skills that you have gained from your different experiences. I would also suggest looking at skills listed on job descriptions that you wish to possess. These could be technical skills like computer knowledge, social media experience or project management. Likewise, skills like communication, time management, leadership and adaptability can also help you score a great job or internship. List the skills that you might be missing, and use the opportunities to volunteer, perform research, acquire internships or work part-time to gain the missing skills. Remember, you are more qualified than you think you are.
