How to Find a Job You Enjoy After College

Figuring out a job or career after college can be seriously daunting. I suffered a lot from anxiety during college and this was mainly due to not knowing what I wanted to do in the future.

My major was English: Creative Writing. Of course, I could try to publish a book, work for a publishing firm, or become a teacher. Yes, I wanted to get published, but I also suffered from writer’s block most of the time. And I didn’t really want to become an English teacher or edit someone else’s writing.

So what else was there to do? How could I get past this anxiety and deteriorating self-esteem? How was I going to figure out what I wanted to do in life?

Here are a few steps I took:

Take classes outside of your major

• We all have electives and undergrad requirements to fill. Try picking classes that fulfill both the requirement and engages you in a new way. I chose to take an American Sign Language (ASL) class, which then led me to take a course in disabilities. These elective classes revealed another level of interest of mine and alternative career paths that I never even considered before!

Write down a list of your interests

• What are some things you enjoy? Shopping? Nature? Helping people? There is a huge void of jobs out there. This will help to narrow down and organize your ideas. I created a bulletin board!

Research the jobs

• Find out what the requirements/qualifications are. This is a good way to determine if you’re able to land the job.
• Don’t waste your energy researching a job that has unreasonable qualifications. For example, you have to have a degree and ten years of experience. Come on, how do we get any experience if no one allows us to work. Sorry, mini-rant over!
• If the qualifications seem doable, try becoming a more qualified candidate. For instance, while researching special education jobs, I found that a common thread was being CPR certified. So I signed up for a class and got certified. And even if it doesn’t land you that particular job, at least you can add it to your resume!

Talk with professionals in the field of your interest

• One of the best ways to gain clarity is by talking with people with extensive experience in the field. Try interviewing them. More often than not, people are flattered by this!
• Some of the questions I asked were: Why do you like your job? What are some of the pros and cons of the work? What does a typical day look like? Are you able to balance work, social, and personal life? Feel free to create more questions specified to the job you want.
• You can even go a step further and shadow them for a day. This could be a major deal-breaker for you.

Try on different hats

• Experience the job for a while. You’ll be able to figure out pretty quickly if the work is suited for you or not. Want to become a nanny? Start working as a babysitter. See if you like spending a lot of time with children. If you do, then great. If you don’t, then try out another job that interests you.
• Remember: the first job you take after college does not have to be the one you stick with for the rest of your working life. In fact, it’s very common for people to have multiple careers in a lifetime. Change your thinking from, “what will I do for the rest of my life” to “what do I want to do for the next few months/years?” This will definitely take some pressure off your shoulders!

Be gentle with yourself

• Often times we are our own worst critics, so when starting a new job venture, don’t be so hard on yourself. Allow yourself time to learn the craft and rhythm of a new job. Perhaps after a few months, you can determine if the job is the right fit for you.

Those are some of the steps I took to find a job I would enjoy after college. These methods not only reduced my anxiety but made me feel more confident in finding a job well suited for me.

At the end of the day, it’s completely okay to not know what you want to do in life. Most people don’t.

Take a deep breath and allow yourself to explore your opportunities and interests, whether that be through internships, entry-level positions, or volunteer work.

If you have any suggestions for finding an awesome job after college or high school, feel free to write them down below in the comments!

Good luck on your journey,

Harumi