Young professionals graduate with the ambition and excitement that comes with starting a career. From job searching to securing their first professional role, LinkedIn has become an integral part of how young professionals are able to present themselves to potential employers.
On Friday, November 21st, I will be conducting a panel at the annual Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) Advertising Career Conference, teaching advertising students how to optimize their LinkedIn profile to help land their dream job. This event has helped launch the careers of many top advertising and media executives. But finding employment is only the first step in one’s career.
To help young professionals get started, here is advice from other marketing and advertising professionals – recorded at Advertising Week 2014 in NYC – on how to make the most out of your first job and launch a successful career.
What Career Advice Would You Give Your Younger Self?
Looking for more wisdom? Take a step further and discover career advice from LinkedIn Influencers in marketing and advertising who have made the most out of their careers and shared their insights in a recent “If I were 22” segment.
Career Advice from LinkedIn Influencers
Guy Kawasaki, Chief Evangelist at Canva
“Accepting the known and resisting the unknown is a mistake. You should do exactly the opposite: challenge the known and embrace the unknown. Now is the time to take this kind of risk because you have less to lose and everything to gain. Great things happen to people who question the status quo.”
Mark Roberge, Chief Revenue Officer at HubSpot
“If you are passionate about marketing, lean into technology. Align yourself with the principles of growth marketing that are taking the industry by storm. Learn to code. Learn design skills. Learn quant skills. You will be an extraordinarily valuable marketer.”
Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-In-Chief at The Huffington Post Media Group
“Don’t just climb the ladder of success – a ladder that leads, after all, to higher and higher levels of stress and burnout — but chart a new path to success, remaking it in a way that includes not just the conventional metrics of money and power, but a third metric that includes well-being, wisdom, wonder and giving, so that the goal is not just to succeed but to thrive.”
Deepak Chopra, MD, Founder of the Chopra Foundation
“The instinct to be free is very strong when you’re young. The flame of discontent is still fueled by idealism. If you consciously attune yourself to the best in your nature, you will be holding tight to the invisible thread …. Uncertainty isn’t something to fear. It’s an absolutely necessary prerequisite if you want to kick-start the age-old process known as the beginning of wisdom.”
Nicholas Thompson, Editor at newyorktimes.com
“Many of the good things that have come in my career have come because of the people I got to know in my early twenties. When I was that age, I thought that networking meant meeting people who were more influential than I was. The connections that have proved most helpful though are the ones I made with people the same age in the same field. It wasn’t meeting people who were influential; it was becoming friends, and developing working relationships, with people who would become influential.”
You may not have all the answers when starting your career, but leveraging advice from successful industry leaders is a good starting point for any young professional. The next step is to ensure your LinkedIn profile is optimized and seen by the right people who can help jumpstart your career. Check out this post on LinkedIn profile best practices.
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