Lindsey is 22 years old and she has a story that every young job seeker should hear.
Lindsey's story began about two years ago. This was in the middle of our recession, and Lindsey found a part-time job at a fast-food restaurant. It was a start but she wanted more hours. So she found an additional part-time job at an arts and crafts store. After a while she started looking around for something more. She shared that "My dad told me 'You don't quit a job until you have another.'" Smart dad, smart daughter.
Lindsey landed a job as a doctor's assistant at a national franchise vision center. It did not strike her as the dream job she was thinking of. In fact, she had no interest in working in a medical field but it seemed like a good opportunity.
And she loved it! She had never had an opportunity to learn that she loved helping people. "It was always different," she said. "Everyone had a different vision problem to solve. I loved helping them."
Then a pending family relocation prompted her to begin a new job search. She did not feel she had to go with her family, so she really was "just looking around." She went to a job search site, www.indeed.com, entered the city they would be moving to, and entered "eyes" in the job field. When the list of job postings displayed she picked the first one and opened it. It requested a resumé with the application. She downloaded a simple resumé template, filled in her brief job history and submitted it.
She got the job and starts in two days! She will be in a training program to be certified as an Ophthalmic Assistant.
Lindsey did everything right in these two years. She started where she could. She added a job without losing a job. Then she took a chance on a job in an area she had no interest in, and found that she was totally attuned to the work and contact this job offered. Then she planned and explored a job change while she was still working, with no urgent motivation to change, and she had the option to stay where she was.
When I asked Lindsey what she would say to other people in her age group, she spoke from her heart. "Even if a job does not seem interesting, don't pass it up. Even if it is not your dream job that doesn't mean it won't become your dream job. My job at the vision center drew out of me a desire I did not know I had. I loved working with the children and seeing them at that "Ah ha!" moment when they suddenly have clear vision for the first time. My new company has a special Pediatric section and I can't wait to work there."
Lindsey is young but has wisdom beyond her years. This young lady is going places, and she is loving the new journey she is on.
