Finding The Good Advice

I find myself bombarded with advice as a recent college grad.

People always feel the need to warn or direct you in a particular manner to save you from heartache that they may have encountered.

To this I (and most others in my position) choose to have selective hearing. With your parents you listen closely and take it with a grain of salt. With your peers you try to align their experiences with your own . With most anyone else, I find myself dismissing their advice completely. Not out of rudeness, but out of the fact that I’ve probably heard it all before.

Advice is not hard to come by. Good advice takes a little digging.

Personally, when I want good advice, I have a strong stable network of people to go to. I know that this in itself is hard to come by, and I try hard to not take it for granted.

Staying in touch with your past teachers has proved to be a huge asset for me. I have an amazing alumni connection with my school program. Whenever an alumni has a job opening in their workplace a mass email is sent out to all Graphic Design grads alerting them of the position. Just seeing what jobs are open and where people are hiring in the area is interesting and helpful. I also feel very confident saying that if I ever needed help with a resume or looking to apply elsewhere, they would be very willing to help.
My parents keep me more aware not to get completely lost in the world of design. They keep me grounded and remind me that I’m still new to this whole working world stuff and that what I’ve accomplished is a big deal. They help me learn about being managed for the first time in my life and to never apologize when I do something wrong. I’m just learning after all (until I really screw up, then apparently it’s just fine to say sorry).
My peers from school also give great disguised advice. Just hearing about their experiences in the working world (another awesome aspect of my education is the 100% job placement within 6 months of graduating) helps me be better prepared if something happened like what they are describing. We can banter about what it’s like to explain to your higher up something that went wrong or dealing with colleges that are less than enthused to be there. The work place is like no where else and discovering it with other people makes the drastic change a little easier.

It’s easy to stay in contact with anyone and everyone with this newfangled internet thing. I’ve learned that people love giving advice so never be afraid to reach out and contact someone that you’ve always valued their opinion. One helpful hint could direct you in a way you’ve never imagined or help you see your situation in a completely different angle.

Good advice can do that to a person.