Last August, as I was completing my journalism minor courses, one of my professors encouraged me to reach out to a guest speaker. From that, I gained the confidence to connect with people in fields I’m interested in. I’ve had the opportunity to chat with many people, including Berkeley alumni and working professionals, about my postgrad options. I’ve also talked to other campus ambassadors about their career goals and opportunities for Berkeley students. Through this, I’ve gotten a much better sense of where I want to go.
Although most of the people I’ve talked to have been in marketing, journalism, or the humanities, their advice can be extrapolated to many fields. I try to learn about people’s life stories rather than sticking only to work. Their career journey might seem straightforward when you first hear it, but there’s so much under the surface; there’s many gaps and jumps and mistakes. It’s reassuring to hear that most people feel confused at various points in their life, especially fresh out of college. I’ve picked up on some underlying themes throughout my past year of career chats.
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You don’t have to know what you want to do. I remember applying for college in high school and being super anxious about choosing the “right” major. Now as a rising senior, I’m worried about choosing the “right” job. But if I look back on high school, even though choosing my major felt like such a big decision in the moment, there was actually so much more time and so many more opportunities once I got to college. Just like how I wasn’t locked into a major, I won’t be locked into a job. This is relatively reflective of what the career professionals have said to me. Although some of them did choose a major that defined their career, that wasn’t true for all of them. Many of them hopped around. Even those that knew what they wanted have often taken on side jobs or done unexpected things before getting to their current role. So even people who seem super confident and happy in their positions today have once been uncertain about their life direction.
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Find your niche. I have been asked over and over, “which part of marketing do you want to go into?” And it’s because there are so many options: social media marketing, analytics and insights, brand writing, graphic design, and much more. Most of the marketing people I’ve talked to specialize in one or two of these, so they want to give me as relevant advice as possible. Some will also very kindly offer to refer me to a colleague in a different marketing area. Since I don’t really know what I want to do yet, their suggestion is to try out the ones I think I might like through internships. All of them have said that it’s just as valuable to learn what you dislike as what you like. That way you can narrow down your career options and hone your skills for a job that suits you well. Once you have a niche, you’ll also feel more confident in where you’re going. And interviewers love to see that determination.
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Do passion projects. When you are younger, nothing feels impossible. You have the time and ignorance to jump into doing big things. A lot of people have mentioned doing cool projects on a small budget out of passion. And sometimes those projects become a core part of their work portfolio. It’s passion that gets you hired.
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Priorities change as life goes on. Knowing when to pivot instead of being stuck is a common theme amongst the people I’ve talked to. Once they have a family, stability and quality time become more important. Whereas in the past they may have worked crazy hours for incredible projects, now they have to tone that down a little. Health can also play a factor, since work requires more energy as time goes on. It seems that many people tend to do less passion projects once they’ve established a solid career, partly because of time limitations and partly because of burnout from work. It’s not necessarily “bad” to enter a more stable career as life events happen. This includes pivoting in accordance to industry shifts as well.
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Keep up with technology trends like coding and AI. As someone who grew up in the Bay Area, I’ve been taught that coding makes the most money, so I often ask people in creative roles if they feel it’s necessary. Many of them have mentioned that times have changed since they first started work. You can still get hired without knowing coding, but as we become more digital, it’s more and more of an advantage in the job market. And almost every professional has brought up AI, regardless of which field they’re in. I think people in the creative industry tend to struggle more with the considerations and ethics of AI. However, it’s clear that many corporations are using it, and for marketing specifically, analytics and processes can be more efficient with AI. So I’ve gotten the advice to pay attention to technology innovations and familiarize myself with at least simple forms of coding and AI.
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Go to community groups. There are tons of these. Of course there are the corporate networking ones, but there are also groups for creative writers, game designers, journalists, and more. If you want to know about updates in an industry, you can attend talks for specific fields. Some of these are more professional and require registration, while others are free for anyone to join. Depending on what you like, you can scour the internet for nearby meetups. This isn’t limited to career events; anything from games to sci-fi to fandom groups can bring you more friends. You’ll get to meet people with similar interests, and it’s fun chatting with someone who likes the same thing as you. And in the future, you could just end up creating cool things together.
As for my advice on conducting career chats, I’d say to prepare well and take notes. I have all my information on a Google document. I’ll create a header with the date, the person’s name and position, and any pre-notes. I try my best to skim the person’s LinkedIn and personal website (if they have one). Try to tailor your questions to the person you’re conversing with. For instance, if you are interested in marketing and are speaking to a brand writer, you can tell them you are curious about brand writing. I recommend preparing a little about yourself too. They usually want to know where you are in college/life and how they can provide value to you.
For the notetaking process, it really depends on you. I usually take bullet point notes during meetings, since most of my chats are virtual. But sometimes that can interrupt the flow of conversation. It’s also a bit difficult during in-person conversations. For those, I try to jot down minimal notes and go back to summarize later. Then I’ll put brief information about our conversation next to the date in the header. I like to bold the points that resonate with me most.
Lastly, try to follow up with a thank you note within a few days. I will usually include a few things from our conversation (to show I paid attention!!).
Thank you to all the classmates and career professionals who have inspired me. And to anyone reading, best of luck on your career journey!