Own Your Career

Chapter 1Are You Lost?

Your dream job doesn't exist. If there was a single piece of advice I wish I had known the day I started my first job out of college, it's this. Young adults are not prepared for “real life.” No amount of internships or college classes can equip you for the realities that are corporate America and the working world. It's a tough lesson to learn, but once you realize it, you're ready to take your career to the next level.

The Nine-to-Five Fallacy

It's likely you grew up with an idea of what your dream job would be. For me, I always thought I'd be a lawyer or a doctor or something very professional and highly regarded. This is because I was told in school that I was smart and capable, and the results spoke for themselves: I got straight As, I rarely struggled, and I didn't have a hard time getting into the college of my choice. Because of my academic experience, I figured it only made sense for me to pursue an elite career path. I had no idea what it actually took to enter these fields.

College humbled me. Straight As weren't easy anymore.

The thought of taking a college-level science class? Hell no.

The idea of struggling through a political history class with 48 hours' worth of reading a week? Not a chance.

I ended up choosing business—finance, specifically. Money has always been my thing. Not only were my classes interesting, but the information came easily to me. I loved the numbers, I loved working in Excel, and I loved sitting in the finance lab ...