New talk Bob Mitchell’s farewell address at the 1990 All Staff conference is LIVE.
Check out the first 3 “Top 7” bits of advice for entering the real world. WEEK 1. WEEK 2. WEEK 3. Now here are the last 7 tips and tricks. The theme is professionalism. One quick word before we jump into the advice:
With James Madison University’s graduation a little over a week away, many of the soon-to-be grads I work with experience deep bittersweet emotion. Many have a sadness starting to envelop them. Some of this is natural as they are moving away from newly developed lifelong friends but some is from wondering if their best times of life are over. So many adults claim your best years are in college. This is sad. The rest of your life is downhill? If you get married and if you have children, that time with your family is a slow, downward spiral? No. This is NOT TRUE. Every season of life brings with it an increasing capacity for joy and experience. As you graduate and enter the “real world”, your best years are yet to come! Onward.
- Be early. EVERYWHERE. Especially to work. This shows people you value their time (as well as your own).
- You go from top dog to underdog in about 2.3 seconds. We often have an unrealistic perspective when it comes to finding a career. You want the job now that you will earn in 10 years. That’s OK. How do you get there? Work really, really hard, be loyal, be a go-to person, and be unselfish at work.
- Dress up and be well groomed. Dress how you want to get treated. When in doubt, shave and dress up. Don’t give people any reason to doubt you. You don’t regret overdressing (a couple taunts) as much as underdressing (people doubting your ability). You don’t get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression.
- Purchase 2 or 3 “ballin” outfits. These are high quality, correctly fitting, great-looking whole outfits that you can wear for all kinds of different occasions. They are worth the investment. For the fellas, this also means one really good suit and one pair of really good shoes.
- Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. We are all very busy, but hurry communicates all kinds of negative things. Prioritizing and precision are better goals.
- Write compliments down, share criticism orally. “Insults should be written in the sand and praise carved in stone.”
- Have a professional email and a professional voicemail greeting on your phone. Your potential new boss doesn’t want to email you at youwishyouwereme@aol.com or hear freestyle rapping on your voicemail.
- Figure out how to manage email. One of my mentors, Michael Hyatt, has some great articles on this. Find one HERE. Only touch each email once and only check your email a couple times a day. That and social media/indiscriminate web surfing are the 2 biggest time wasters of the day. Make sure that your social media accounts portray the image you want to portray. One that you would be comfortable with your boss seeing and reading. Once it’s on the interweb, it’s there forever.
Remember grads, your best years are ahead of you. Great things are in store! Many blessings on the journey.
What advice or counsel would you suggest to a graduating senior?