Sometimes students need permission to stop fretting over landing the perfect job.
There is a lot of pressure among college students to land the “perfect” job right after graduation. Somewhere along the line, students often begin to assume that there is a job out there that will check all the right boxes of personal and professional fulfillment, and financial satisfaction. After all, why else did they spend the last four years – and tens of thousands of dollars – getting an education?
Leif Nordstrom, a second year Ignite Industry Mentor, has been out in industry for nearly eight years and is happily employed with STV Inc., which happens to be his third company of employment since graduating from the George Fox Engineering program in 2015.
As someone who faced the same job anxiety as a student, this is a topic that Nordstrom discusses with his Ignite students.
“There is a lot of worry about landing the right job. You don’t need to worry about finding the perfect job right after college – or even the second job. It’s perfectly fine to take time and work on something for a time before you find the job that’s where you want to be long-term. That’s normal.”
Along with this sound advice, this year, Nordstrom has helped his IGNITE student polish up his resume and cover letter by offering feedback on things employers are looking for.
“I’ve enjoyed seeing my Ignite student realize things he hadn’t thought of before based off of something I’ve said.” For instance, Nordstrom advised his student to look at his resume through the eyes of the employer and highlight character and value traits in addition to experience and academic qualifications. “It’s not what you already know, but are you a good learner, problem solver, etc.,” Nordstrom coaches.
Industry Mentors like Nordstrom are making a significant impact in the way students approach the job market, not only giving sound advice to help alleviate anxiety, but providing feedback and wisdom to instill confidence and equip students for professional success.
Leif Nordstrom is a mechanical engineer working in the transportation and infrastructure industry. He currently works for STV, an architectural engineering company, in the Transportation and Infrastructure division designing light rail stations for LA METRO and electric bus charging stations for Boston.