A common graduation gift comes in the form of advice, sometimes verbal, or, more often, through a well-intentioned career or self-help book. For earlier generations, it was The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck.
For many millennials, including myself, it was The Defining Decade by Dr. Meg Jay. The book encouraged me to think seriously about the decade of life ahead, but only in reflection of my 20s can I truly understand the value of this advice.
The book is split into several sections: Work, Love, and The Brain And The Body. This article will highlight advice provided in the “work” section through a recruiting lens.
We speak with many candidates who are post-graduation or facing unhappiness and stagnation in their early careers. They are often uncertain of what they want and, more importantly, how to figure it out.
With Jay’s advice and our years of experience working with candidates, we will explore a framework for navigating this uncertainty.
With this intentional approach, you can dramatically increase the likelihood that your career aligns with who you are. Careers do not need to be dreaded, and work can be a source of fulfilment in your life if you follow these guidelines.
Our adult life is built on “who we are with, where we live, and what we do for a living.” The third piece, what we do for a living, is a substantial part of our lives, and shouldn’t be ignored or thought of just as the thing that allows us to live.
Start with Self-Discovery
You need to start by asking yourself three imperative questions:
- Who am I?
- What do I want?
- What are my values?
While these questions seem simple, answering them honestly requires real reflection. Many people spend more time researching careers than they do understanding the person who will ultimately build one.
Finding your identity can involve tracing back over your life, looking for themes in the things you enjoyed: what has fulfilled you, and how can you translate this into a job?
These themes do not need to translate one-to-one. However, understanding what fulfills you in your personal life can offer an entirely new lens in evaluating career opportunities.
Jay notes that who you are will not suddenly be revealed to you; you need to search for it.
Two key considerations need to be made for your career:
- Are you mission-oriented, financially driven, or seeking a combination of both?
- What quality of life are you seeking in and out of the office?
Once you understand what you are seeking from a career, you are standing on much firmer ground when evaluating potential opportunities.
This is not groundbreaking advice. However, taking time to ask yourself the right questions is more than many professionals do. Frankly, many people do not have the option to craft their career with such intention, so honor this opportunity and take advantage of it.
Take Stock on Your Identity Capital
Pressure to figure things out can lead to stagnation. Yes, it is overwhelming to feel limitless options ahead of you.
Jay recommends starting with your identity capital: “Identity capital is our collection of personal assets. It is the repertoire of individual resources that we assemble over time. These are the investments we make in ourselves, the things we do well enough, or long enough, that they become a part of who we are.”
Some examples are obvious, like degrees, jobs, and clubs, while others are broad and include how we look, how we act, how we solve problems, and even where we come from.
Part of building your identity capital involves crises. In other words, confusion, mistakes, missteps, and side quests are not evidence that you are failing; they are the opposite: you are building experience and narrowing down your scope of possibilities. options.
The key is to make active choices rather than coast.
Without action, we learn nothing of value about ourselves.
Reaching your full potential must start somewhere and be earned, not handed to you.
Sometimes, the opportunity with the highest identity capital comes with tradeoffs: lower pay, longer hours, relocation, or less glamorous work. The capital gained is the important stepping stone in this scenario.
The Recruiting Connection
Especially in the finance industry, jobs are often gained through connections, a strong identity, and an intentional, go-getter attitude.
Jay touches on something commonly discussed in financial recruiting: weak ties, or more widely known as social networks. She specifically highlights the value of weak ties, or people we have met or are connected to but not well.
One big misconception is that networking is about asking for jobs. Realistically, networking is about gathering information and strengthening ties. Conversations with people once or twice removed can expose new industries, career paths, and opportunities we may never have encountered.
View How To Strategically Leverage Your LinkedIn Profile for tips and sample messages for successful networking.
As Jay says, “Make yourself interesting. Make yourself relevant. Do your homework so you know precisely what you want or need. Then, respectfully, ask for it.”
Craft Your Professional Narrative
Once you have developed a sense of yourself and your value, begin to craft a professional narrative and own it. Your narrative is imperative while maneuvering the professional world and can also be useful for cover letters and professional summaries.
“Those who can tell a good story about who they are and what they want leap over those who can’t.”
Jay shares that a good story establishes a professional identity by claiming our interests and talents and forming a narrative with it. She notes that interviewers want to hear a cohesive, well-organized story about your past, present, and future.
One way to do this is by finding the throughline. The throughline is the consistent thread that connects seemingly unrelated experiences and explains why your career decisions make sense when viewed together.
Here is an example of my throughline: I grew up in Girl Scouts and filled my free time with volunteer opportunities. I have always been an empathetic person, able to view things from other perspectives and provide an extremely understanding ear. In college, majoring in Communication felt like a strong way to translate the two traits into a job. I wasn’t sure exactly what that would look like. After graduation, the job market was challenging, and I was presented with an opportunity to teach abroad. The potential identity capital was massive. I moved, I taught, and I loved it. It led me to pursue a degree in special education, which still aligned with my throughline of serving others through empathy. When I chose to leave teaching, I stuck with my throughline. Today, I work in a role where the skills I developed while building identity capital converge writing, education, helping others, and leading with empathy.
Final Thoughts
Understand yourself, build identity capital through action, and communicate a clear personal narrative.
The pressure to have everything figured out in your twenties can be overwhelming. Fortunately, that is not the goal. The goal is to make intentional choices, learn from them, and continue building a life and career that reflects who you are.
This clarity is not found in a single moment; it is built over time. With each intentional choice, you strengthen your understanding of who you are and what you value, making it easier to build a career that feels aligned with both.
Resources
The Defining Decade by Meg Jay
Note: All quotes are from The Defining Decade by Meg Jay.
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