Why your first job out of college matters

You can’t control what company will hire you, but you can manipulate your career trajectory to some degree by being thoughtful in your job search. Your first job right out of college might not be the perfect fit, but it’s still one of the most important because this begins to build experience within your niche. Regardless of what opportunity you have been given use it as a learning opportunity because in your next role you will come in with instant value add on what has worked for you in the past and what doesn’t work at all — some call this experience or domain expertise.

Here’s the typical job trajectory - associate, manager, senior manager, head of/director, VP, C suite. If you wanted a job in marketing, but you began in an operations role than you might take a job at the associate level and restart this career trajectory. Additionally the longer you have spent in a specific job function the more experience you build which leads you to becoming too far removed of transferring to a different function without taking a salary and title hit — which is still fine if that’s what you truly want. As you can see your first step is the most important to mapping your trajectory, but if you’ve made a mistake do not wait too long to switch to a job function you truly desire! If there’s a company you’d like to work for but they don’t have the perfect role for you, accepting another job within that company may not be a bad career move since companies tend to work with their top performing employees to retain them. Make your ambitions known, and work to prove yourself a top contender for that desired position for when it does open up.

Your first job is the perfect chance to develop your skills and learn from your mistakes when little is at stake. There’s nothing worse than a high ranking hire that comes in and actually has little to no knowledge of their job function. Dive into your first job like a pro and become a great team member, understand what actions matter to the business and thrive there, tackle your time management stills. And if the job is not the perfect fit, build the skills that will make you a perfect fit for your desired role in your spare time.

If landing a job right after college is one of your main goals, preparing ahead of time and mapping out your wants, desire companies, titles, and type of work will help you stay focused while job searching. You’ll also want to keep a list of your top companies saved somewhere to regularly see their latest job listings — the perfect fit may pop up at any time.