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by Vicki Steere, Executive Director
I often speak with job seekers, especially students, who change their mind on a regular basis answering the question “What do I want to be when I grow up?” This was the focus of the first official Jobing Foundation sponsored event last Thursday the Youth Experience at the LA Jobing.com Career Expo.
I’ve found that it’s really about what do I know about. First is your frame of reference. If your parents are in the construction industry, your other family members are in construction, and your friends’ parents are in construction, you might likely end up in construction.
Second, it’s what else have you had exposure to? For instance, we all think of the four year old saying they want to be a doctor, a fire fighter, a nurse. These are the easy ones. Yet companies are moving much faster than this. And frankly, when we grow up we want to be unique… our own person. The job title of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) did not exist only a few years ago. So how do companies recruit for these jobs? How do we train for jobs that don’t exist yet?
The first step is to give students — our next generation of job seekers — the opportunity to see what else is out there.
That is the primary goal of the Youth Experience at the Career Expo. At the first Youth Experience, we bused in 300 inner city high school and Job Corps students to encourage them to open their eyes to the opportunities. The event featured several speakers including LA’s Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Brett Farmiloe and Zach Hubbell from Pursue the Passion. Then, the students were taken on tours of the Career Expo, introducing them to employers that were both hiring teens as well as those that were interested in speaking with them about their futures… and why continuing their educations were so important.
When asking the students what they thought about the event, several said that they really didn’t know that there were so many options for them. Opening their eyes… the first step.
by Vicki Steere, Executive Director
Soon after college, I said “Yes” to another opportunity… To run my own business. I thought I was prepared with a strong GPA in a top business school. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I started on what would be a 13-year journey (to start) of continuous learning.
Entrepreneurism is more than just facts and figures, theories and data. It is people. Working alongside of people, managing people, motivating people, selling to people, and growing yourself. And entrepreneurism is more than running a small business. I believe everyone can be an entrepreneur — of your own career. OWN IT! That’s right. Own it. While you interview for a job and offered a position with a company. The only person that can own your career is you.
The biggest lesson I learned while running a business is that while I had others working for me, ultimately, the responsibility fell on my shoulders. I learned a lot of things because of this rule. I became self-taught in numerous technologies that I wouldn’t have attempted otherwise. I became a skilled public speaker, even though I’m an introvert by nature. I even learned how to balance the books. I’m still not very good at my own personal checkbook, but I know debits and credits and how they affect the bottom line like nobody’s business.
Take this lesson and turn this into your own career situation. If you own it. It is yours to manage. No one gives it to you or takes it away. You might change jobs, even be laid off. Yet, the longer term. Your career is up to you. Take responsibility. Learn from your mistakes. And continually invest in yourself. Just as if you were a business owner.
by Vicki Steere, Executive Director
Exciting Job… to some that is an oxymoron and then to others its reality. I am on a personal mission to ensure everyone thinks their job is exciting! And I believe with every piece of my being that it can be so. Yes, there are some job titles that may sound more exciting than others to the outsider… an astronaut, a movie actor, a skydiving instructor, a sports agent, or concert promoter. They may be cool and yet these are not for everyone. What makes a job exciting is not the limelight, it’s the personal passion. The belief that the job that I have chosen is right for me and that’s just plain cool.
My personal journey to find my passion was not what some may call “cool”. Instead, it was a series of just saying yes. Saying yes to opportunities as they came up. While I’m a huge proponent of “strategically” planning your own career, I admit… mine just wasn’t that at all.
My first ‘real’ job (beyond babysitting and dog sitting for the neighbors) was at Sears. I got the job because I drove my girlfriend to her orientation for her Christmas job. The Personnel Manager asked me if I’d like to apply also… that they were still hiring. I said sure and low and behold… I ended up working there part-time for the next 4 years through high school and college. (My girlfriend quit in 2 weeks.) I loved the job. Starting in the Children’s Department I learned valuable lessons on responsibility, respect for a different type of authority, the basics of retailing (which really is a great start for marketing), and grew within the company moving to several departments and eventually became the store’s Security Supervisor… yes, I chased shoplifters. At that time of my life, it was exciting. And its because I said yes.
A series of other supplemental part-time jobs throughout my college career were very similar. I worked in the admissions office of my college, as a waitress, and as a bartender… all exciting for their own reasons. Each held their own lessons. Admissions I wrote and helped develop a new brochure for the college, as a waitress I learned valuable lessons in customer service and the true value of a smile (and I now overtip), and as a bartender … well… it was just plain a blast… an art all in itself. Each one of those jobs was because I said yes. I was always open to a new way to earn a bit of extra spending money and I just let people know. I never really looked for any of those jobs. (Networking 101.)
After college my career changed a bit. I stayed in retail in management and treasure the experience. I then went into business with my sister running a temporary employment serivce. Wow! The lessons learned there were invaluable. Entrepreneurism… well that’s all for another post. Suffice it to say… I SAID YES! I’m the person I am today for YES.
