Great things to know before you turn 25

My friend tweeted an article a couple weeks ago and as soon as I saw the title, I immediately clicked over to read.

11 Things to Know at 25(ish) – published in Relevant magazine.

How could I not read this post? Shoot, I’ll be 23 in July….what if I only know a couple of these things? What if I don’t know ANY of them?!

I think this is the fastest I’ve ever read an article. While I don’t agree 100% with everything listed, this is a wonderful read for any college-grad.

(1) You have time to find to find a job you love &  (2) Get out of debt and stay out of debt. As a young college grad there is SO MUCH time to figure life out. I’ll be the first to admit, I have a hard time not stressing about, well, everything. Life, love, job, future, family, finances, friends, world….career, career, career. See? List goes on and on.

But when I take a step back and really look at the big picture, this is a time to be happy and LIVE. Things always fall into place. As for the second point – learn to budget and stay out of debt. I feel if I could give any college student financial advice it would stick strictly to budgeting. If you have time to go out on the weekends, eat out and shop, you have money to save. It can be a real slap in the face when you start paying rent and bills and debt can be the scariest monster of all.

(3) Don’t rush dating and marriage & (4) Give your best to friends and family. While there is nothing wrong with dating now (obvious of my relationship status) and getting married, this is the time to figure out your values and what you’re not willing to compromise. This is a great time to learn about yourself and what you really want in a relationship. Don’t think that marriage needs to happen right now, or tomorrow or even next week. Relationships take time to develop – and you need to be happy and settled personally before embarking on mature relationship.

This flows right into the next statement: give your best to friends and family…I’ll take it one step farther. Find out your true friends. Who is going to stand by you in a year? OK, scratch that, who will stand by you when you need them? Finding out who matters now, and showing them your thanks, is a great way to build relationships that will last.

The list by RELEVANT Magazine continues as such:

(5) Get some counseling
(6) Seek out a mentor
(7) Be part of a church
(8) Find a rhythm for spiritual disciplines
(9) Volunteer
(10) Feed yourself and the people you love
(11) Don’t get stuck

I believe the first four are extremely relevant (and important), but I do want to touch on the last seven.

(5,7,8) Find something to believe in. Prayer, faith, karma…SOMETHING. When the world travels 1,000 miles a minute and a young professional is finding his/her footing in the real world, sometimes religion/faith is the only thing that stay solid. It’s a great foundation to build life.
(6) FIND.A.MENTOR. That may need to jump to to number one. Find someone that you can turn to when you need help with a résumé, a job search or a situation at work. Make note: this is not a best friend, this is someone who will help you in your career. This is a person that cares for you – but will be honest when giving critiques and feedback.

(9, 10) We’re so blessed – share that. Go out and see the world and give back. I truly believe one person can make a difference and it is so easy to get involved with the community. As for cooking, well, it saves money and it’s healthier. I’m slowly falling in love with the kitchen and nothing makes me happier than inviting friends over for drinks and appetizers (that I made). Your wallet, and waistline, will thank you when you start cooking at home.

(11) Don’t get stuck 

“Don’t get stuck. Move, travel, take a class, take a risk. There is a season for wildness and a season for settledness, and this is neither. This season is about becoming. Don’t lose yourself at happy hour, but don’t lose yourself on the corporate ladder either. Stop every once in a while and go out to coffee or climb in bed with your journal.”

I love this excerpt from the article. Around the age of 25 you need  to know how to say no to a beer, but network at a happy hour. Know that you can change the world and can chase your dreams. Nothing is set in stone – and mistakes can be fixed.

Great way to end a wonderful article.

 

Résumé – life on paper

I received the biggest complement the other day – a friend emailed and asked me to look over her résumé. Not a huge deal, but I’m always sending my résumé to my contacts it’s nice  to have someone ask for your feedback.

Resumes matter! And in my opinion, they need to be flexible works of “art”. This is a single piece of paper that represents YOU – those years of college, internships, co-ops, classes, projects, clubs, volunteering – everything one a piece of paper.

It can be hard to stand out from your competition, but if formatted correctly, can be accomplished. To have a great resume you need to spend quality time really deciding what is important and what needs to be highlight. Is this job looking for experience? Skills? Volunteering? Relevant course work?

There is no perfect example and every leader/contact you have review your résumé will focus on something different, but there are a few golden guidelines to follow. (Again, resume are flexible – which is these are only guidelines. My five tips are consistent with what I’ve experienced myself and advice I’ve received from teachers, employers and mentors.

– One sheet. One. Not two, not one and a half, one. Yes, you have lots of experience and tons of things to say about each internship…but as a young professional stick to ONE PAGE. When we have a few years of work under our belt maybe we can grow to two pages, but for now it should stay at one.

– Keep it clean, keep it precise. While we want to touch on everything we’ve ever done and make sure our possible employer knows how awesome we are – it’s easy to cram in unnecessary information. Leave some things to be discussed in the cover letter and in the interview. It’s a fine line between too much white space and not enough, but it’ll feel right when you find balance. Don’t make your potential employer dig through an ocean of type and words to find out the needed information. I also thing leaving off an objective helps. Use that space for something else!

– No random “action words” or numbers. Again, a fine line, but one that needs to be considered. As college students and young grads we constantly hear to have strong words and as many numbers as possible, but don’t throw them in for fun. Employers know when it’s just BS and that’ll put your resume into the trash. Print out a draft and really see where you can highlight budgets, impact, number of people you led, ect.

– Review and revise. Typos can lose you a job. This is one of that hardest things for me, which is why having several pairs of eyes read your résumé is fantastic. After staring at your computer screen for hours you may not catch that silly typo or frustrating auto-correct, but it doesn’t matter to an employer. A mistake is a mistake, and getting careless could be what puts your résumé at the bottom of the pile.

– Have more that one resume. It’s great to have a base then tailor your résumé for specific jobs. I love reading descriptions and really trying to figure out what each job wants. Are they looking for writing experience? Or perhaps social media? Maybe they want leadership examples from different clubs. Find out what a job is looking for and then show that company you are the perfect fit.

I hope my hints helped! Resume are always growing and changing – the more people you have look over them the better. Each revision makes you improve and makes your résumé stronger.

What are your tips for resumes?

Thanks for reading!