Getting your first job after college is exciting and can be terribly difficult all at the same time.  I wished I had listened to the famous Martin Luther King Jr. quote:

If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.

After graduation, you will quickly learn the intro to business class, your 3.8 GPA, and being president of your fraternity will not do you much good. Actually anything that happened in college will not apply and that may or may not be a good thing for you. You will also realize most of what you learned will not be applicable to your future!

When I graduated college I was almost fired (twice) within the first six weeks because I thought my diploma entitled me to a job. I thought my success was guaranteed based on a piece of paper I earned.

The first thing I did was take a vacation day without getting permission. Yea…I know a little arrogant and cocky for being on the job two weeks…it is one of those moves that make you hate someone. Luckily I escaped that situation with a warning.

However, the next thing I did was verbally challenge my boss in a raised voice (ok, maybe I was yelling)…in front of 20 other people. That was not a good idea! The next day I was in her office and I thought my stint in corporate America was over. Fortunately, we had a long talk and I escaped the unemployment line. [Continue reading]