Reply To: An overqualified entry-level?

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

Leslie always has good practical advice. I’d second the notion that you should not let yourself get down on what you have not done and work with what you have done because that is 100% more than the person who has yet to do anything. Keep plugging away and don’t be afraid to look at getting experience in slightly different ways as you wait for the opportunity that you want to have to open up.

I had a hard time 20 years ago. Part of that was because I live in Massachusetts with a lot of prestigious schools around and I went to a school that was not going to be a jewel on a company website and quite honestly I was very weak with drawing skills. I took a “filler job” in a small civil engineering company which turned out to be a great thing for me because I gained huge experience in site planning and dealing with regulations. I had no idea that it was going to benefit me very well to get to exactly where I wanted to be from the beginning.

I’m just saying to keep plugging and take the experience that you can get because one way or another it will open more opportunities either through experience, networking, or learning where more opportunities lie.

The worst thing that I ever did was to dwell on what I had not done or what skills I did not have. The best thing that I did was to apply what experience I had and use the skills that I had to grow more.