Nicholas Fainlight | Business Development Associate, Hartford, CT

Nicholas Fainlight is an aspiring finance professional.

Category: Career

Nicholas Fainlight 6 Tips for Dealing with Life After College

6 Tips for Dealing with Life After College

By

On December 13, 2017

In Career, Nicholas Fainlight

No matter how ready you think you are, graduating from college and firmly entering the adult world can be jarring. You might be heading off to grad school, but even then, you’ll eventually be done with school and no longer in such a structured environment. While being a full-fledged adult is exciting, there are also a lot more responsibilities you’ll realize and you’ll have to take complete control over planning your own future, since you no longer have a clear goal like graduation to work toward and set steps on how to get there.

Accept the changes

The first step to adjusting to life after college is accepting that it’s happening. You’ve been spending most of your life working toward graduation and everything else likely seemed fairly distant. Now, you need to seriously think about a job, your career, professional opportunities, what you want to do in the near and far future, and how to achieve those goals. You’re soon going to be financially responsible for yourself (if you aren’t already) and you may be getting married and starting a family sooner than you think. Acknowledge these changes are all possible and begin planning.

Find a routine

Something that’ll keep you sane now that you’re out of college is creating a solid routine. Try to go to bed and get up around the same time, make consistent plans with friends, and consider regular workout times or something else. As long as you have a routine, you’ll have something to rely on and keep you focused.

Make a plan

After you’ve gotten used to no longer being in college, it’s time to make a plan about what you want your next steps to be. What kind of career do you want in the long run? Where do you want to live? Do you want to buy a car or a house? Begin crafting one, five, or ten years plans and you’ll feel a bit more in control of your future.

Prioritize

While in college, it’s completely normal to frequently multitask and juggle various responsibilities like class, work, socializing, video games, and clubs, but once you’re out of college, it’s harder to do so many things. One big reason is you are now spending a significant amount of time each day at a job (hopefully), so you don’t have the short breaks you used to enjoy between classes. Realize this reality and instead prioritize what you want to do outside of work. Do you want to go to the gym or go home and watch television? Do you want to get dinner with your friends or run some errands? These decisions are very real out of college.

Create a support system

You might no longer live next door to your best friends and you might work somewhere far away from your family. However, it’s important to create a strong support system. Make new connections with coworkers or other people where you live or reconnect with people in the area if you moved back home. Regularly talk to your friends from college and your family, even if you can’t see them often.

Take care of yourself

Finally, make sure you’re taking care of yourself. You’ll have to adjust to a new schedule and phase of your life and it’s going to be stressful. Give yourself time to sleep each night, eat healthy, drink lots of water, and get regular exercise. Avoid becoming burned out or too stressed at your job and take some time to do something you enjoy each day.

 

A man and a woman in business clothes walking next to one another, no faces shown, image used for Nicholas Fainlight blog on the importance of having a mentor

The Importance of Having a Great Mentor

By

On December 7, 2017

In Career, Nicholas Fainlight

It does not matter what you are doing in your life, you could always be improving. To seek out the help of another is a sign of maturity and can make a serious difference in your future. Put another way, having a great mentor is a real sign of maturity and a great way to grow in whatever area of life you need to, particularly in your professional career.

Mentors provide you with new knowledge

The first inescapable benefit of having a mentor is the fact that they can provide you with knowledge that you do not currently possess. They have walked in your shoes in the past, so they know what it means to do what you are attempting to do, even if you don’t work in the same industry. You can bounce questions off of them and see what knowledge they can pass on to you.

Motivation is key

Inc.com wants all of us to make sure we fully appreciate the fact that mentors can provide us with the motivation we need to keep going and crush our goals. Simply motivating a person to stay on the right path and keep striving for greatness is a huge asset in and of itself.

No one gets to climb a mountain all by themselves. They need others who to push them along towards the summit. If you attempt to do it all yourself, you will likely not make it very far. Having a mentor means that you can get over the difficulties and struggles to see things through to the end because you have some guidance along the way.

Get unbiased opinions from them

Mentors may provide some people with unbiased opinions about the things they are doing. We all have ideas that are interesting from time to time, but we may not know what to do with that creative energy. Is the idea a good one or not? Is it actually sustainable? These are questions that can only be answered by someone who provides honest and unbiased feedback.

A mentor is a person you can rely on when it comes to getting the feedback you seek. They provide insights about the ideas and thoughts you have that you may not have been able to think of yourself. Only when you hear those thoughts can you grow and expand on the ideas you previously had. Even better, when you have an idea that is not a good one, it is a great thing to have a mentor in your pocket who can tell you that.

Group of people sitting around a table with papers and computers, image used for Nicholas Fainlight blog about great networking sites

6 Great Professional Sites for Networking

By

On December 3, 2017

In Career, Nicholas Fainlight

No matter where you are in your professional career, networking is a vital part of ensuring success. Whether you’re looking for a new job, new employees, or advice, networking is the way to meet new people. Building an online presence and creating a professional look can be incredibly beneficial to your professional career, especially if you’re just starting out in your field.

LinkedIn

Obviously LinkedIn is the most obvious on this list. LinkedIn has almost 500 million members, so you know you’ll have the opportunity to connect and follow some of the most influential thought leaders from all over the world. This website allows you to fill in plenty of relevant information on your profile about your job and education history, any publications you’ve appeared in, and various other categories. There are also lots of sites that allow you to connect your LinkedIn, including lots of job search platforms.

Levo

While this website was originally started and directed toward young professional women, anyone can join and utilize it. Like LinkedIn, you can provide a variety of information about your professional and educational background, but there’s also more room for creativity and creating a unique look to your profile.

Beyond.com

This site isn’t nearly as large as LinkedIn, but it’s definitely useful when it comes to making connections and finding job opportunities. You can search positions by industry and also check out industry-specific content. You can make an account for free and enjoy many of Beyond.com’s benefits, but you can also purchase a monthly premium membership that features a few extra features.

Google+

You may have thought Google+ was not longer relevant, but for many industries, this website is their preferred platform. Whether you use Google+ as a social site or for more professional pursuits is up to you, but you can join various communities and contribute to collections on specific topics.

AngelList

This website is geared toward investors and those looking for investments, but anyone can join and use AngelList. If you have projects you’ve worked on and significant professional experience, AngelList is a great site to utilize.

Facebook

Facebook may be the last social network you’d expect to see on this list, but it can certainly be useful for networking. There are lots of groups and pages you can follow on Facebook that encourage networking, often for specific industries and niches. Take time to explore the groups and see what fits your professional career and interests. Just remember, if you’re using Facebook for professional reasons, make sure your profile is professional!

Change spilling out of a glass jar, image used for Nicholas Fainlight blog on how saving doesn't have to be hard along with how to get started

Saving Doesn’t Have to Be Hard: 3 Tips to Get You Started

By

On November 21, 2017

In Career, Finance, Investing, Nicholas Fainlight

The value of saving money is pretty apparent to most people, but the actual process of doing so is a lot more difficult. As human beings we often do not actually want to save up the money we have worked so hard to get. The temptations to spend that money are all around us and it can sometimes be challenging to see the future benefits of saving it. While saving may be more difficult than spending, there are some tips on saving that can take away at least a little of the pain of doing so.

Save money from windfalls

Windfalls of cash do not happen often to the average person, but many can claim the event has occurred at least once in their life. Take the idea of a tax return as an example; most people can relate to this because so many of us elect to have a tax return come our way at the end of the year and end up with a decent sum of money.

When that money does come in, consider banking it rather than spending it. The government and economy might benefit if you spend it, but you as an individual would be better off pocketing as much of it as you can muster. A possible exception to this rule would be if you have significant debt to pay off. Then, using a windfall to get out from debt could be equally beneficial, just remember to save the money you would have used for that debt.

Use the 24-hour rule

Is one day really too long to wait on a purchase? Not when you are using the 24-hour rule to help eliminate wasteful spending. This rule says that before you make a purchase, you must wait at least 24 hours to decide if it is really something you truly need. Establishing this rule for yourself can cut out so much of the wasteful spending many of us are prone to doing. After a single day of cooling off, many purchases will seem completely unnecessary. It can also be beneficial to carefully think about how you’ll use this item, whether it’ll make you feel good for a little bit or if it’s a long term investment.

Unsubscribe from services you do not use

If you have a cable subscription but practically never use it, why do you have cable? Likewise, if you subscribe to any other services that you honestly do not get your money’s worth out of, get rid of them. It may seem like just a few dollars here or there each month, or each year, but subscriptions can add up to serious amounts of money over time. Besides, if you are not getting the intended value out of these subscriptions, then there is really no reason to hang on to them. It is fairly easy to rid yourself of these subscriptions once you put your mind to it. Spend some time today figuring out what you can cut out.

Two people sitting at a table, shaking hands, one man smiling, image used for Nicholas Fainlight blog post about how to prepare for job searching after graduation

6 Tips for Preparing for the Job Hunt after Graduation

By

On October 30, 2017

In Career, Nicholas Fainlight

Two people sitting at a table, shaking hands, one man smiling, image used for Nicholas Fainlight blog post about how to prepare for job searching after graduation

Graduating college is a joyful, but also daunting time. You’re ready to take a break from constant homework and stress, but you’ll miss your friends. You want to start being an adult, but you might also not really know how to. Often, the most stressful part of the end of college is finding a job. You know you need to have some kind of job, ideally one that pays all the bills and allows you to rent an apartment, travel, and do fun stuff with friends. Maybe your first job isn’t the best, but you need to start somewhere. For many, the job after graduation is the first professional, full-time job they’ll have. Instead of feeling nervous about finding a new job, follow these tips in order to make job hunting easier.

Be realistic

When you first begin searching for a job, you might feel excited and optimistic. You’ll want to retain this feeling for as long as possible, so it’s important that you don’t go into your search thinking you’ll land the perfect job in the perfect place right away. No job is perfect and you’ll need to build your way up from an entry level position. For some people, this isn’t that path the follow and they do get a fantastic job right away, so don’t completely lose hope. However, there’s also nothing wrong with getting an entry-level job. You need to work and you can make the most of it.

Focus

Searching for a job is like a full-time job. You need to constantly check job sites and company pages to look for openings, fill out applications, exchange emails, and schedule interviews. If you’re waiting to hear back from an interview, keep applying at other places! Even if it’s taking longer than you anticipated, stay focused on finding a job.

Update your resume

A mistake many people make is never updating their resume and then sending the same copy to dozens of potential employers. Before applying to any jobs, update your resume. Include internships, volunteer experience, and jobs you had in college. Then, feature the most pertinent information depending on what job you apply for, such as relevant classes or volunteer work.

Create an online presence

Employers love to see that you have some kind of professional, online presence. Do a purge of your social media and get rid of any posts that you wouldn’t want your boss to see, then make your accounts private, unless you want to use them for professional purposes. Create a LinkedIn account if you don’t already have one and consider creating a website to feature some professional blogs you write while job searching.

Network

Most professionals will tell you about the incredible power of networking. Always take advantage of opportunities to build your network and meet new people. You never know who might have a connection that could turn into a future job or some other great opportunity. Make sure to take advantage of any career services your college offers or the alumni network.

Enhance your skills

While you’re searching for a job, you’ll have some free time. Spend this time productively. Consider volunteering and working a part-time job, but also make sure you enhance your marketable skills. Learn something useful, such as some coding or educate yourself on a specific topic by reading and keeping up with industry news.

Page 5 of 5

Previous

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén