About Post-Grad Compass
College teaches us a lot of things. But it doesn’t teach all of the skills we need to succeed in life after graduation. Things like how to build an effective informational interviewing strategy, or how to find a new apartment, or how to deal with evolving friendships and relationships as life and work change. There’s a pretty good reason why that’s the case:
While it may feature more independence or choices, college is a continuation of the educational experiences we’ve had in the past. In assignments, courses, and even graduation requirements, we’re given a map, a route, and a destination: complete this assigned journey, and you’ll be given your next one.
But life after college looks very different. There is no map. Or rather, the map includes infinite possibilities. There are no built-in directions for the way we should go, or even how we should choose our destination.
That’s where Post-Grad Compass comes in. My goal is not to give you an assigned career or life destination but to offer tools to help you find your own direction and path. And hopefully to ease your journey along the way, whether with tips on how to find your next job or apartment, how to set up a kitchen on a budget, or how to make meaning of it all.
If you have any questions, thoughts, or ideas for topics I should cover, please reach out on the contact page. I’m glad you’re here!
About Jacques
When I was a senior in college, I assumed–based on what I saw around me–that there were only about three different types of career paths out there: investment banking/consulting; graduate school; or Teach for America/Peace Corps. As a liberal arts major who hadn’t participated in on-campus recruiting for the big banks or consulting firms, I felt pretty lost as to where I could fit in. And with many college seniors and young adults I speak with, that’s still a feeling that many seniors and recent graduates face. It often goes something like this:
If I’m not continuing down a specialized path (e.g., medicine, engineering, architecture), then how can I translate the interesting things I’ve learned into some concrete ideas that can help me get a concrete J-O-B. And ideally, one that is related to my career goals.
My goal in starting Post-Grad Compass is to share some of the things I’ve learned along the way and insights I’ve learned from other people.
In my twenty years since I was that senior wondering how to find my next step, my own career has taken a number of turns. I’ve worked as a higher-education professional, in the non-profit world, and as a federal government analyst, manager and director. At each step along the way, including through non-profit board posts and informal conversations with 20-somethings, I have been at my most engaged when talking to young adults about their journeys. I decided that now was the time to start capturing some of those conversations, and now I’m thrilled to be sharing them with you.