After College, What's Next?

Every now and then we read about success stories in the papers. To name a few successful entrepreneurs: Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, Mrs. Soccoro C. Ramos, founder and general manager of the National Book Store; Entrepreneur of the Year, Mr. Henry Gozon, who wants to maintain GMA Network Channel 7’s leadership position in TV networks; and Mr. Henry Sy, Sr. Top Retailer, Visionary of Philippine Retail, with his chain of SM Malls all over the Philippines and a global reach in China. Then there are outstanding recipients in the Philippines for such important awards as the Palanca award for literature, National Academy of the Science and Technology award for outstanding research and award for outstanding dealer or award for successful franchise. When asked about what helped the awardees realize their achievements, the answer almost always revolves around vision, focus, and hard work. In this brief article, I would like to write about vision. In Collins dictionary there are two definitions of vision that I found meaningful, no pun intended. Vision is the “act, faculty, or manner of perceiving with the eye, sight:…”the ability or an instance of great perception, esp. of future developments…” Vision then goes beyond what the eyes see, it uses our other faculties that enable us to see beyond and create images of the present, retain pictures of the past and perceive or build images of our future Vision allows us to see ourselves, our capabilities, strengths, as well as our weaknesses. It also enables us to be aware of the outside world – the diverse opportunities and challenges open to us. Today, we see that globalization and technological innovations are bringing about rapid changes and diverse influences on our economic, political and social lives. They are opening up our doors to diverse nationalities and varied experiences and opportunities. The world indeed has become “flat”, a concept introduced by Thomas Friedman in his book entitled The World is Flat (2005). He describes the unintended consequences of the flat world as putting different societies and cultures in much greater direct contact with one another. It connects people to people much faster than people and cultures can often prepare themselves. China, India, the Philippines and many other countries have become part of the global supply chain. There are tremendous opportunities out there but we need vision to see beyond our four walls. We need to take advantage of the educational information we can obtain from reading about other cultures, other ventures and from meeting people and building networks that will help us in the future. Vision helps us decide what to focus on – what capabilities and strengths to explore and how to prepare for the challenges ahead of us. Focus and hard work are the two other significant instruments for success. Focus helps us to aim at a target, stay on track and with hard work and perseverance we end up with success.
Somehow, thinking about successful people brings me back to the sad story of Ann. I knew Ann when I was director of employment at a major health care center in the United States. Ann was the only child, with parents who were very protective and she lived a sheltered life. The choice of a major in college was made by her parents who expected her to be a successful corporate lawyer someday. Her father, after all, was a frustrated lawyer. Ann spent all her college days in school and home, not having any extracurricular activities at school or in the community and not having participated in any of the school field trips. When her parents suddenly died in an accident, Ann decided that she would not pursue a law degree but she would find a job. Although a business venture could have been an option, she did not know how to invest the little sum of money that she got from insurance after her relatives took their share from it. When I first met Ann, we talked about her and possible jobs in the organization. She had just finished her Bachelors degree. Her parents thought that she would move on to law school after college, but Ann was not at all interested in law. Having finished college, Ann surprised me with her naiveté. She did not know much about what was going on in the world or even in her state, New York. She was at a total loss as to what she could or should do. She was hired as a patient receptionist at the health care center where I worked. We thought that this job might open her eyes to possibilities in the health care field. After five years in the same position, she felt that she could do better, after all she was a talented and good natured lady. She just did not have enough self-confidence. During that time, She witnessed a lot of employment activity around her - co-workers have been promoted, some went to college to further their education, others changed jobs or employers. These activities helped her see the need to move on. I referred her to our organization’s career counselor and the last time I heard, she had finally established a career goal.
There are some people in this world who, like Ann, are unable to answer the question: After college, what is next? Like Ann, they do not know what to do and where to go from here. While in college, Ann apparently never put to practical use what she was learning from books and from her lessons. She did not have the opportunity to look beyond her “little confined world” to experience the challenges and prepare herself for a competitive and demanding world. College is transition stage in life where one should see and discover oneself and observe the “outside world” – watch people succeed and others fail and vicariously learn from these experiences. We are in a fast moving world open with tremendous opportunities but we have to see, grab and pursue the opportunity that fits our capabilities, keep focused and support it with hard work. College provides us with the tools for successfully pursuing these opportunities. College students need to use their vision and the tools offered them while in school to enable them to answer with confidence, the question: After college, what’s next?


By: Melva M. Diamante, D.B.A.