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Guest Post: CES Student Staff member Wanda Sok is a graduating senior studying Business and Psychology.

Someone once asked me, “If you could do anything, what would you do?” To answer this question, I had to first do some research and self reflection. I spent the bulk of fall term gathering job descriptions, taking a career awareness class, conducting informational interviews, reading various career exploration books, and researching graduate schools in pursuit of the answer.

Although this seemed like a lot of extra work, a number of themes emerged for me: I love college-age students and higher education; I want to inspire and motivate this age group to achieve their passions; and I thrive on the details involved with planning events. Those themes helped me identify three potential career paths: working as a motivational speaker, serving students as a college career counselor, or becoming an event planner.

I can also credit my realization to one of the books I read. In The Element, Ken Robinson states:

“The element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels.”

I felt very drawn to this quote. It has helped me evaluate my strengths and talents and assess how they could complement my passion for event planning.

After combining my natural abilities with my passions, I was faced with yet another challenge: I would need more experience to get hired. I struggled with this for weeks, tossing and turning at night, trying to figure out how I was going to be able to live in my element.

And then it happened.

I walked into a small boutique on 6^th Ave., excited to be shopping for a friend’s birthday gift. I got to talking with the store owner and after some polite small talk she asked me what I was doing after graduation. I confessed that I really wanted to be an event planner but that I had very little experience and didn’t know how I was going to do it. She looked at me, smiled, and offered me an internship helping her plan fashion shows and dinner events!

Not every conversation is going to result in a job offer, but every encounter is a chance to make another connection–to share your story. And then…who knows? What I learned that day was the importance of knowing what I want, and how to express it when the opportunity presents itself.

I’m excited to continue my personal journey and see where life after Puget Sound takes me; and I’m glad that all the work I did to figure out potential career paths is starting to pay off! I encourage you, my fellow Loggers, to find your element!

CES invited Puget Sound alumnus (and CES Office Coordinator) Ben Bradley ‘08 to write about his experience using LinkedIn while conducting a post-graduation job search:

Networking fascinates me.

I used my time in school to get as many informational interviews as possible. The statement, “I’m a graduating senior, and would love to hear more about what you do” became my mantra. I also began utilizing LinkedIn much more thoroughly. Other social networking sites were great for staying in touch with friends, but didn’t feel appropriate for my professional network.

I had a slow start, connecting first with former colleagues, internship managers, and the people who provided me with informational interviews. But that got the ball rolling. Over time, LinkedIn became my digital rolodex — one that kept me updated on what my network was currently doing. Unlike an e-mail address that changes any time someone switches companies, causing weeks if not months of challenge to get back in touch, I now had a way of staying connected no matter where someone moved.

After graduating and entering the field of Management Consulting, I continued to develop my network at a steady pace. I made one or two connections each week. I maintained this pace until the economy’s downturn created a change in my circumstances. Lay-offs came unexpectedly over night, and I was suddenly, weeks before Christmas, a victim of my company’s revenues running dry. That morning, I had less than an hour to get what I needed off my company laptop. That was when it hit: Unlike an episode of Madmen, where when you leave, you must stealthily sneak your contact’s information out with you, LinkedIn allowed me to take my network with me.

Post-holiday season, I began making phone calls, and sending e-mails and LinkedIn messages to everyone I knew. I let them know of my circumstances, and set up coffee dates, lunches, happy hours, and dinners. Without LinkedIn I would have struggled to remember the names of everyone I had met over the past few years.

At the same time, I realized I needed to continue to build my network. I set a goal of 3 connections a day.

I found people I had initially resisted adding because I had put them in the “friends” category, not realizing that upon graduating, they were also part of my professional network. I connected with professors, university administrators, and others with whom I had informational interviews. I was put in touch with HR recruiters, alumni who owned businesses and friends’ family members who had leads on hiring within their firms. All of these people worked their way into my LinkedIn network.

After months of searching and realizing I wanted to be in a different field than consulting, I landed back at my alma mater, the University of Puget Sound, in the office of Career and Employment Services. I am now working in a role where I am able to use my knowledge of networking to assist students going through the same struggle I endured — trying to figure out what to do when you can’t find a job, or where to begin your career search.

LinkedIn provides a 21^st Century Rolodex that not only holds a name and phone number, but updates, history, and opportunities to further develop one’s network. It kept me actively connecting with new people during my time of unemployment, and held my morale from waning thanks to the ease with which I could keep in touch with my network.

There is a sense of comfort in knowing that a network built with LinkedIn is yours, not that of your company. When you leave, whether by choice or economic pressure, your network is not being “let go” as well.

Want to know more about using social media in today’s job search? Ben and Sue will be leading a discussion on this very topic next week – we hope to see you there!