Congrats Grads — Welcome to Navigating a Recession in 2022!
Last week Beyonce’s “Break My Soul” came out and while we’re fiercely in love with the Queen (and are low key playing the song on loop)… may we suggest not taking her advice too literally, especially if you’re a recent graduate.
This summer IS all about building a foundation. But we’d suggest getting or staying in a basic job while you build it. All that motivation is a little easier to feed when you have a base. And it’s gonna give you a ton of peace of mind while we all feel the stress and bumps with the coming recession.
First things first, these days it may be helpful to think more about the skills you’re accumulating than filling out the old usual resume. You likely don’t have many — if any — jobs or big-name companies to associate yourself with just yet in terms of your budding career. So, we’d suggest sitting down to write out all the skills or things you can do relatively well first. Then move onto creating a list of all the skills you’d either like to develop further or explore. If you’re struggling with this wide open question, there’s no end to the listicles online to skim that’ll tell you which skills or jobs are most sought after.
While you’re thinking about your development, it’s going to help to keep the basics in check. Below we’ll go over all those — from the ones we wish we’d spent more time on years ago to those that’ll help even those non-recent-grads. And finally, income layering is just getting going. Hear about friends who managed to stack a couple jobs at some point during the pandemic? Well, that opportunity’s not going away anytime soon. But there are some smart ways to get more out of all that work — as well as promote the associated skills you’ll develop.
Curious? Let’s dive in.
Skills vs. Resume
Resumes are beyond old school at this point. Some corporate jobs may still require you to submit them. But what they and others are really curious about is what are you good at or do you have tons of potential to nail.
So, here’s the suggestion. Sit down and think about your favorite courses, major and even topics to research. Have you done anything exceptional? Or even just enjoyed certain parts of the last couple years? We don’t care what you were good at or enjoyed. Just about anything you’ve done has the potential to be pitched as a skill — and flourish as a job or a career. Even if you had stunning internships that landed you great job offers, this can be a helpful way to think about where you want to land and how you want to develop yourself going forward. This is a great exercise to repeat every-so-often into your career.
Were you a swim teacher for the last four summers?
o Skills translation: Breaking down complex skills and techniques to others.
o Job/Career Options: Every industry needs those who teach others. Become the next Robin Arzon.
Loved your history major?
o Skills translation: Exceptional researcher and budding writer.
o Job/Career Options: Content writer. Research Analyst. Think tank pundit. Become the next Adam Grant.
Chaired every social committee?
o Skills translation: Internal communications or corporate culture development.
o Job/Career Options: Internal communications Associate. Corporate culture and branding consultant. Become the next Chip Conley.
Got the wheels churning? Now, let’s take that typical resume and flip it to highlight the skills you’ve developed over time — and list the relevant jobs or projects under those skills. Maybe even bring that outline to your interviews to spark a more interesting conversation. It’ll be more fun to talk through those experiences than to provide a canned answer to “what’s your biggest weakness.”
Dig into Your Skills
Feel like you’re building that foundation for what you can become today? Great. Now let’s think about where you want to go.
Just take a breath first. Nothing is final. This is all about exploring and thinking about what might be interesting to learn… and may be on trend with why future employers or clients would want to hire you — for the big bucks.
Like we said before, there are never-ending listicles produced every year by LinkedIn and other sites about which skills are most in demand and, therefore, more compensated. Go through these lists after compiling your existing skills.
Write down the ones that are (1) most interesting to you and (2) most closely aligned to what you’ve already done or do well. This list will provide two purposes. One, when you’re applying for jobs, it’ll help give you a better sense of which jobs and teams you can grow with. And also, give you some ideas about questions to ask in interviews. The second purpose for this list is to give you a sense of which skills you might want to learn alongside your job, so you can either shift into the next one or work a side hustle.
Alright, enough with the skills review and development for now. What else can you do to ride out this stressful time?
Basics Matter, Now More Than Ever
You’re probably getting an earful from every adult around you… But we’re going to get into the ones we wish we’d really paid more attention to at the start of our careers.
Conserve Your Resources — If you can, live at home a little longer, stay on your parents’ healthcare plans, talk to your loan providers about pushing off your payments, keep your food bills low or buy things with a longer shelf-life. This is the time on your life when everyone expects you to be cheap and not have any money to spare — so live as within your means as possible.
Also, start real conversations with your friends about what you can afford and what you’d prioritize splurging on with them. You’d be surprised about how relieved everyone will be once you share your financial limits and expectations. Try preempting a night out with a conversation about how much you hope to spend and where it’s affordable for everyone to go. Guaranteed everyone will have more fun — and will wake up the next morning not worrying about a massive credit card bill!
While we’re at it, keeping track of credit card use is always important. But even more so right now as average interest rates have topped 20%! Any late payments and their impact on your credit score will be critical as you look for that first apartment or go to buy a car in the future. If you’re already underwater, call the lender and ask for a repayment plan to get back on track. It’s uncomfortable and anxiety-ridden up until you have that conversation — and then a huge relief once you work out an agreed upon gameplan.
Automate Your Cash Flow — With so much talk about personal financial management and budgeting, you’d think we’d all be on top of our cash flow. But we’re not. It’s because there’s a tangible difference between what we expect to spend… And what we actually spend.
With that in mind, there’s a lot you can do with creating different accounts through your bank account and automating how much goes between each of them for your different needs or goals. You can also use tools like YNAB or Mint.com to help with creating these accounts.
If that all feels like too much setup — it did for us — that’s where Lance can come in and help. Especially if you’re juggling a couple different jobs or launching a side hustle (or two). A Lance account can take all sorts of payments from across full-time direct deposits, freelancing and even Venmo-paid projects. And then it gives you recommendations about how much of each payment or paycheck should go toward the basics — like your salary, taxes, spending and savings — and even goals. A lot of people have even used the app to set aside some funds every month toward a new laptop or investing lump sums.
Whichever tool you use, make sure you distribute the right amount for all those must-haves (including taxes — the tax debt in this country is unreal). And — just as importantly — have a place you can see exactly how much you make every year!
Start an Investing Habit — Ok, this is one that everyone above the age of about 36 seems to wish they had taken more seriously. Really. You can make the most money off of every dollar you put away now.
Warren Buffet is smart. But the smartest thing he ever did was start investing when he was very, very young — off of his paper route. And now he’s had the luxury of time — and some other smart moves — to grow that initial pot of investing to becoming the 5th wealthiest person in the world.
Now it’s your turn to start getting smarter. Play with this investing calculator. You’ll see that even with a $20/month investment, you can grow that sum to $15k in 20yrs with market standard returns (which we’ll get back to well within that time frame). That’s $5/week. If that’s too much for you — it was at different points in our lives — start with just $5/month. It’s all about creating the habit of putting something aside and then wanting to do more as you watch your money grow.
Spend on Small Joys — Having shared those basics, we’re not about never having that latte. Honestly, sometimes it’s the latte and call with a friend that keeps you from flipping out on a Tuesday. True? So, our advice here is just to learn a little self-awareness and pacing.
Sometimes we do things out of habit or because we’re feeling a bit empty. It’s been a rough couple of years (waves arms around wildly), and we’re sure you’re all a little exhausted heading into this next chapter. So, just learn to take a breather as soon as you feel an itch to spend. A few tips that have helped us over the years — and maybe, last week.
o Feel like you *need* that $7 coffee? Walk around the block first. Feeling more energized? Have the energy now to make a filtered coffee at home? Sometimes that 5 minutes and some activity can energize you in a way that makes you feel better than the coffee/soda/drink. And sometimes you just remember that $1 homemade coffee is the same roast as the one you were gonna pay someone else to make for you.
o Sometimes you really just need the coffee though. And maybe what’s driving you is that you need a mental break. Cool. Either take it alone or rope in a friend. Suddenly that $5 you’re spending is very present date with yourself or someone you haven’t caught up with in a while. Worth it.
o New hoodie? So personal, but we were coveting a (very expensive) new hoodie a while ago. We’re talking over six months here. So we turned it into an accomplishment reward. After another six months (again, very expensive) and after the accomplishment, we bought it and have been wearing it pretty much every morning. Again, worth it given the amortization. Already down to about $1.67 per use.
The New Skill of Layering
Alright, now that we’ve gone over skills development and some basics that we’ve (painfully) lived through for you… Let’s talk about something that’s very on trend and everyone’s figuring out together.
There are a lot of terms for this trend that’s been growing since the beginning of jobs. But it’s become more accepted — and even expected. We’re talking about the creator economy, freelancing, gig work, independent work, consulting and every iteration of work by job type you can think of today.
Now we’re going to refer to it as layering. Because, most of us are probably at the stage of having tried it alongside school work in the past or new to trying to either layer gigs or a side hustle on top of a full-time job. When we first started out, we were working at the Gap, a restaurant or typing up depositions alongside full-time agency work. To make ends meet and pay for an apartment, you do whatever you can, right?
Today, there are a ton more options in terms of how you layer your income. But this is where we circle back to the Queen Bey and say that you’ve gotta watch what she does. And goodness, does Beyonce layer well. Across her music, tours, moedling, clothing business, she’s now worth over $440 million. Sure, she’s able to scale at a much different rate than most of us at this point. But we can all take some tips from her Highness.
When it comes to your finances and income, create a base and then think about how you want to grow from it. We wrote this article a few years ago that provides a good starting point to splitting your energy investments and expected income.
If you want, start with getting a job along the lines of what already comes easily to you. That’s your foundation. Then add something you’re either willing to show up for a certain number of hours or over the weekends — that Gap job can be enough — to make ends meet or not be an issue. Then make sure you take at least a little time to invest in the development of a skill — something that excites you or you know will allow you to grow your value and income over time.
Coming Full Circle
And this is where we come full circle in noting that layering effectively will allow you to develop and promote another two key skills naturally.
You’ll learn how to manage your time incredibly well. Something that every employer and client will love. Along with future partners or family members.
And secondly, you’ll also develop the skill and habit of diversifying. In the past it served workers to commit to one employer and grow with them over the decades. There were pensions and robust healthcare plans. There were nearly guaranteed growth opportunities. Today, none of that is guaranteed, so we all have to be even more present for our own career development, if we want to grow and succeed. Commit to your own growth and development, track and determine which skills you’re developing, and layer them effectively into whatever jobs or client work works for you over time.
You’re no doubt feeling a lot of anxiety about this next chapter of your life. However, there’s a ton of opportunity in taking stock of your current skills and financial needs, being curious and mapping out your future growth, and layering your financial foundation.
