When I graduated from college, in the wake of the Drexel Burnham Lambert crisis, the economy was awful and I was unable to find a job.
Instead of readjusting my expectations, I tried to work on Wall Street and, while I eventually landed something, it was not a very pleasant experience.
So, if I could share three pieces of career advice for coping with the downturn, it would be:
(1) Reset your expectations: don’t attempt to chase after yesterday’s top career choices.
(2) Look for new areas of growth: instead of Web 2.0, private equity, or hedge funds, try to find a new growth area.
(3) If there are no strong growth areas, don’t beat yourself up trying to chase after something that isn’t there anymore, do something that will add to your skill set (ex. go teach English in China and learn Mandarin; work on an ethanol project in Colombia, etc.). When the economy turns around, you can go back to chasing your dream and your newly earned skills will make you more attractive to potential employers.
Good luck!
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