How To Start Building A Career From Scratch

In the eighth episode of The College Student's Guide To Money, Chelsea shows you how to start building your career from the ground up after college, and balance the need to pay your bills with setting yourself up for a fulfilling professional life long-term.

The Financial Diet site:

[joymae]

If you are a recent college grad reading this - just know that the first year is the hardest because you're getting accustomed to the new lifestyle, but you will get through it and the skills you build in the early years will set yourself up when you are ready to go out on your own!

[michellerevisited]

Life isn't a race - it's okay to not be "ahead" or where we think we "should" be at any point in our lives. No need to keep up with others - just have to figure out what works for you at any point in your life.

[pechaberrytree]

who else has been watching this series well after college? I'm 26 and back in school for the third time 🤦 and i just have no idea how to find a job that suits me, especially in these times

[dorothee]

Just remember that your first job won’t be your last- so even if you don’t get everything right from the start, don’t panic, every job is a chance to learn and acquire new skills and experience.

[d]

I was a middle school teacher for 35 years. It was a great career for me. It fit my interests and my skills and I look back on it with fondness and a real sense of satisfaction. And day to day, there were still things about it that sucked. I think you make such an important point, Chelsea; there is no such thing as a job or a career that is always wonderful.

[darkstormynails]

Something I learned being a recruiter, just one step in my career, was keeping my LinkedIn up to date with all of the skills and achievements related to each job.

Implement a new process? Put the before and after numbers on LinkedIn. Win an award? Put that on. Learn a new program or system? Put that there too.

Recruiters are constantly looking for keywords and if you tailor your LinkedIn to have a focus on the skills that are in the direction you want your career to go, the right job eventually will come to you. This also allows your LinkedIn to serve as a master resume when tailoring your resume to a specific role.

4 companies and 7 years, I went from a sales rep to operations support to operations manager and Salesforce administrator.

[davidliang]

Navigating the corporate environment after graduating college was & still is quite the experience 😅

[husanboy]

She did what colleges don't teach - 'what to do in real life'

[CaseyBurnsInvesting]

Keep your expenses low, your freedom high, and your options open.

[laurenconrad]

Advice on networking: don't think of it as networking while you network. First, find out where the people who have jobs you like hang out. And know that these places are not always in-person. Github? WordPress forums? Instagram? Specific slack channels? And then just spend some time there. And then just think of it as talking to people for fun. Also, do not network with the intention of landing a job. Network with the intention of meeting enough people that it might lead to an opportunity five years from now after you're sick of the boss you'll have four years from now. None of this is easy. But it helps.

[IndigenousExotical]

My first job out of college was the most horrendous horrible year of my life. It does get better and the lesson I learned was that it’s okay to quit when something isnt right. Wish i hadnt wasted a year of my life but better to learn that lesson sooner or later!

[trailminx]

This advice is useful for anyone who wants to restart their career! I'm sure there are plenty of folxs who have a career change during this pandemic and could use advice on starting fresh. Thanks, Chelsea!

[drsavithasrirama]

I love her so much...with her advice to start a side hustles to earn money..and millennial money advice, 3 minute guides and life style fix tips, finally started my own YouTube channel about food and fitness...thankx Chelsea and team for all efforts they put out here...it shows in your work..I am a binge watcher of TFD from India...never commented on this channel before and first comment here😍 love Savitha

[SynterraSteen]

I just cannot work a 9-5 and I had to learn to be ok with that. I need job flexibility more than job security

[Liz.]

Graduated college last year and weirdly enough I've seen more job opportunities to work from home during quarantine than right after I graduated so thanks a lot for the advice! they are quite comforting too

[issamissa]

Have in mind we're mid 2nd recession in 10yrs. The job market may not be as bright as our parents were.

[marlafincher]

Wow. As a manager, I really appreciate that you said that it isn’t realistic that you will find your ‘dream job’ or that you will always love your job. I try to be flexible, understanding and kind to employees and it’s always a goal to pay people fairly. It’s a great place to work with great benefits but some people seem to feel that if they don’t love every aspect, or if they have to work hard the whole time that they are there, that it is a bad job. If they don’t love it, they hate it.

[CriticalHealingMoment]

Can TFD do a video about freelancing as a main source of income? That's where I'm finding myself restarting in my career at the moment and I feel like many are in the same boat.

[shivanirai]

Love this series 😍 please make a same episode for people who started at low salary career job but wanted to landed in good job.

[makesaveinvest]

Finding out what I wanted to be once grown up was a bit of a complicated task!! 😅