Launch & Early Career

A young boy dressed as a businessman raises his arm in success as his homemade box car is in first place. Both boys are wearing helmets and goggles. The last years of school and establishing your career can be exciting and trying. If you are looking for your first job and haven’t found the perfect one, can’t get your foot in the door, or are working but find yourself browsing job boards, you’re not alone. Your career launch may need a boost. If you are in a position now but it feels like it’s not the right fit, just bouncing to another position is not the answer.

Studies show that a pattern of random job-hopping during career launch can delay important skill-building that provides traction in developing a satisfying career path and improved lifetime earnings. Today’s statistics show that the majority of people are not happy with their work. These trends can be directly attributed to a lack of comprehensive and realistic career planning.

Employment is a two-way street. It’s not just what I’m looking for in the job. The employer is trying to figure out if you’re a good fit and if they’re willing to invest in your development, and you’re trying to determine if they’re going to support you in building the skills and experiences you need to develop a career path. Without a realistic understanding of what we want and what an industry needs, then our willingness to try anything — that good old “can-do” attitude — can actually serve to push us into dead ends. The bottom line is, we don’t consider the factors that contribute to our personal job success and job satisfaction in making our decisions.

While career launch and early career positioning are major life events, the process to get there takes a little planning. A little pre-work that emphasizes understanding who I am, what I have to offer, and how I’d like to contribute can clarify direction. A Career Vision gap analysis between my current situation and where I’d like to be five years from now can help define my options and the related steps I need to take. There really is an art and science to good career planning. Are you ready to create your Career Vision?

While we are not a job-placement organization, we are experts in helping you identify good options for you to explore, strategies to present your strengths in ways relevant to your chosen direction, and educational options to close the gap if needed.

Learn more about our Start SMART Career Launch & Early Career Program.