Video Transcription
Jim 0:09
Hi, welcome to Career Track Coaching Minute. My name is Jim Frisch, where we help young adults find meaningful careers through a coaching process. And once a month, we bring past clients of ours. And we ask them a couple of questions to help others with advice. And today, we’re lucky to have Toni Mecklenburger. And welcome, Tony. And so Tony graduated recently from Vanderbilt. And she, her focus was environmental and sustainable studies. And what’s great news is, she recently accepted a position working for an energy company, helping them with the sustainability report that they’ve never done before. And Toni, so when do you start?
Toni 0:58
Next Monday.
Jim 0:59
Next Monday well, good luck. I’m really excited for you. You worked hard for it.
Toni 1:04
Thank you
Jim 1:05
And yeah, so what, as I mentioned before, there’s a couple of, you know, pieces of advice, I was hoping you might be able to help others. But if there was one that you could think of through this process that you really learned with someone that’s coming right out of college, what do you think that might be?
Toni 1:25
I guess the main thing would just be not to freak out, you know, you’re at the very start of your career, and you’re just trying to find a direction, something will come. Don’t be afraid to apply. Just kind of look at any and all opportunities, even conventional ones, eventually, you’re going to recognize a pattern and what you’re drawn to. And then you’re just going to get faster and better at applying to those positions and kind of recognizing them. It can be really easy to psych yourself out. But you just have to kind of trust the process and know that you’ll find something. And then kind of like a second thing is that people out there really want to help you. Most people like to talk about fields that they’re passionate in, and they’d like helping out people, they like talking to other people that are passionate. So with any networking connection or job interview, just remember that you know, they’re interested in you, and they want to help you. So just know your worth and know that you’ll find a direction to go.
Jim 2:22
Yeah, I was teary, so great. Did you, what was kind of the the turning point for you in terms of when you said like, you know, don’t freak out. And you know, others are there to help and so forth whether specific turning point that you started to kind of like, calm down and you know, like, hey, this isn’t that bad.
Toni 2:44
Yeah, I guess I would say I’m just kind of getting really into the networking process. I think there was one connection I made with like a former club leader, who I was for sure what it like get back to me, but he ended up giving me some really useful advice. And he did say like, people want to talk to you. Jim also said that a bunch. And I guess it finally clicked with me that like, yeah, people do want to help?
Jim 3:10
No, absolutely. Yeah, they definitely a lot of people are interested in helping because quite frankly, everyone has been in that same position one time in their career just starting out. So thank you on that. And then is there you know, maybe a habit or two that’s really helped you through the coaching process, not coaching through the job process? Is there a habit or two that you felt was helpful?
Toni 3:34
Yeah, I definitely say that. The best habits are ones that kind of get you into a routine, motivated, and let you kind of track your progress. So my best work was when I would wake up early, and head to a cafe, it kind of gets me out of the house away from any distractions gets me in a good working environment. And then I get some caffeine too. And then I also kept an open window on my computer that was just dedicated to job boards. So it’s kind of just like one less barrier of access to like accessing any job-hunting opportunities. So I could just easily switch to that window and kind of scroll through any new postings of the day. And then there’s also, staying focused, which is really important. The main thing I use is an application that kind of tracks how long you’ve been working tracks your progress and then also blocks any social media that you might kind of be tempted to check out while you’re working. And so that kind of just like, keeps you from getting distracted but also like, lets you see that you are making some progress. You know, the first step is always kind of the hardest for me. And so if you can just make that a little bit easier. It will really help you out.
Jim 4:43
So that was awesome, you know, and I don’t know if you’ve ever told me this before but what’s that application that will keep you posted?
Toni 4:51
I will look it up right now.
Jim 4:55
Actually. Yeah, go ahead if it if you have a sec, because that is one of the biggest things for me, is, you know, I get text messages and, and even though I put on silent, I’m constantly, you know, I’ll be looking at my phone and so forth. So anything to keep me focused would be great if you could share it with someone you know with us.
Toni 5:19
Yeah, so I use forest, which is basically you kind of put in like the sights, you’re blocking, and then you put in like, maybe like a timer, and then you hit, hit start and it basically tracks your progress. And then I also for like organization, I also use task aid. You know how that window that pops up when you open up a new tab? Yeah. It kind of sits in that. And so you always have like, your tests for the day ready for you.
Jim 5:46
So I know those were some really good applications. And so I really appreciate it. And thank you again for your time. And good luck with your new position. And until then, thank you very much. Talk to you soon.
Toni 6:03
Yeah, no thanks for chatting.
Jim 6:07
No problem.
