I have been out of college for over ten years now. I get asked many questions from college instructors, students, clients I take work on for, about hiring, freelance work, agency work, where to get a job, you get the picture.
I want to talk about the “experience” portion of what you bring to the table.
Right now, I am referring to anyone wondering what the heck to do now? It could be for you, or a friend, your kid who might be considering college, but ultimately, it is just some insight that I hope is helpful sooner than later.
When I left school, I took an internship that lasted over four months. I was so invested in the company that I didn’t look anywhere else. When it came time to find full-time work that paid, I was stuck. I had an excellent education but little to no experience working with marketing agencies, freelancers, or creatives in general. Yet, I wanted them to hire me and trust me in a full-time setting.
Over the past ten years, I have learned that just like sales, you always need to be prospecting opportunities. You still need to be creating content for the industry you want to be a part of to make you a thought leader in it.
You need to go to events, and socialize and get to know the people you will work with, for, around, even if it is competition, no one place can do all the work. Once you do that, you realize how supportive the network can be.
I have had success because I volunteer a lot of my time. I always have. I do a lot of free workshops and events around North America to ensure I am still giving to my audience. My ask is that they share with someone it can help potentially, so they mitigate my mistakes.
When students who are still in the middle of their program ask me if they can work at ICS, my honest answer is, ” You better get to work now”!
I would, however, suggest buying domains to your website. Make the website. It doesn’t have to be amazing. Start a blog. Ensure you are creating content on LinkedIn. Go on every podcast and blog you can get featured in or on. Talk to everyone in the industry around you and see if they have any low hanging fruit ( work you could help with). Get all the free Hubspot and Google certifications you can. Your portfolio is now well underway.
I would suggest being open to a variety of opportunities for the first couple of years. For me, that is where I found my footing. I did not know 11 years ago, this would be my career, but through the variety of mentors, volunteer and paid work experiences, I have gotten to be a part of a vast ecosystem. I rely on my ecosystem and always have, always will. That is my advice for anyone asking today.
If you have any other questions or thoughts, please leave them below 🙂
