December 2, 2024 • 30 mins
In this episode, we get to do two things. First, we get to amplify some work that is happening in another area on campus. The State of Wellbeing podcast is hosted by Caitlyn Walters, who is one of our wellbeing specialists on campus here. Her podcast contains a multitude of topics that I'm confident you can learn from, so please check out State of Wellbeing however you listen to podcasts.
Second, we get to showcase a member of my staff earlier this spring on the state of wellbeing. Stephen Miedema was featured in an episode titled Career Transitions. The conversation between Stephen and Caitlyn covers different themes on life after graduation, while also touching on Stephen's background.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:04):
Welcome to career connections. I'm your host Kevin Fullerton. In this episode, we get to do two things.
First, we get to amplify some work that is happening in another area on campus.
The State of Wellbeing podcast is hosted by Caitlyn Walters, who is one of our wellbeing specialists on campus here.
Her podcast contains a multitude of topics that I'm confident you can learn from,
(00:24):
so please check out State of Wellbeing however you listen to podcasts.
Second, we get to showcase a member of my staff earlier this spring on the state of wellbeing.
Stephen Miedema was featured in an episode titled Career Transitions.
The conversation between Steven and Caitlyn covers different themes on life after graduation, while also touching on Steven's background.
(00:46):
So I hope you enjoy learning from these two in their conversation. Welcome to State of Wellbeing, a podcast from South Dakota State University.
The State of Wellbeing is a holistic wellbeing podcast with the goal of supporting the campus community as we strive to be a growing,
high performing and healthy university. Welcome to State of Wellbeing podcast.
(01:09):
This episode we're going to be talking about career transitions and just transitions in general that we go through in life.
I'm Caitlyn Walters, I'm the wellbeing specialist, and I'm here with Steven Miedema,
the assistant director for career education in the Office of Career Development.
Hi, Steven. Hi, Caitlyn. How are you doing today? Doing well. Thank you so much for joining us.
Absolutely. A pleasure to be on here. Yeah.
(01:31):
So we're really excited to talk about career transitions and who better than to come in and talk about it in the Office of Career Development.
Stephen, can you tell me about your career path and what's brought you to where you are today?
Um, yeah. So, um, my career path started here at Sdsu, so I came here way back once upon a time, uh, as a biology student.
I initially came to Sdsu thinking I wanted to be a doctor. Really?
(01:53):
I had no idea what I wanted to do. And I knew that doctors use science, and they made a lot of money.
And I thought that would be a cool gig. So I got here, and then I started working in health care as a CNA.
Part time job for me while I was in school. And I realized health care wasn't for me.
And so going into my senior year, I had a backup plan of doing research and a research lab.
I started doing research, working on genetics, and realized that I didn't get to talk to people,
(02:15):
and that made it for a really long shift for me when I was doing that work.
So I ended up kind of panicking and going to grad school,
and ended up going to the Counseling and Human resource department, where I graduated with my master's of education.
While I was doing my master's degree, I really didn't know what was going on either,
and so I ended up getting an internship in my final semester because I heard the crew development office was short staffed.
(02:36):
So I said, hey, I need one more internship to be able to graduate, and you guys are short staffed.
Would you like an unpaid intern? Of course they said yes, right?
So then I graduated from there and as I was finishing, um, you know, really with like three weeks left of that semester, my supervisor left.
And so her job just fell into my lap. And so I ended up staying here at Sdsu.
(02:58):
Since then, I worked as a career coach full time for about three and a half years before transitioning into the assistant director role.
Wow. That's I mean, that fits really well into what we are going to talk about today.
It sounds like you went through quite a few different transitions.
Some of those may have been intentional and some of them were maybe not so intentional.
And I think that's really important is a lot of times people think like,
(03:20):
I have to have this career plan laid out and I'm going to stick to it and I'm going to commit to this.
But things come up right. And like you might change your mind after experiencing that career.
Can you tell us a little bit about, like, any of those notable big transitions you went through,
like anything you learned or observed when you were going through those? Yeah.
So that's one of the things that's been interesting is a lot of my transitions have been.
(03:42):
Really subtle. Almost. It's just been like almost a role change, but still in the same location.
And so I had to navigate that transition of going from, you know, when I went for an undergrad, I was, you know, going to classes with peers.
Some of those peers didn't graduate with me.
Well, I got to my grad program and I ended up being a teaching assistant within the biology department was and I had Tas who were my friends.
(04:05):
And so I had to figure out how to transition through that. So that was awkward.
I go through grad school, I finish grad school, and also I'm still here on campus, and all of a sudden I'm navigating,
well, how am I going to be a professional when all these people on campus know me as a student still?
And how do I establish that?
So most of my transitions have been, you know, pretty stable, you know, just here at Sdsu, not really moving or having a big, like, break or anything.
(04:29):
Uh, one notable transition, though, that I do, really I am really thankful for it now is when I graduated high school, I moved out.
Oh, my sister had just bought a farm up in northern Minnesota.
I'm originally from like western South Dakota, and so it was a big transition from and move up there.
But she lived in an area where there were a lot of part time jobs that paid pretty well.
And so I could go up there, work on the farm and make some money to pay for school was then I moved seven hours away where I didn't know anybody,
(04:56):
and so I had to learn how to like, also meet people. For the first time in my life was growing up in a small town.
Never had to accomplish that. So that was like the one big transition.
In some ways, it was a lot more intimidating moving someplace where you don't really know anyone.
But in other ways, I thought it was easier because I had that break and it was a physical transition.
And when you go through those bigger transitions like that, if you like, you can almost sometimes have more opportunity for growth.
(05:21):
Yeah, I love the idea too, of like moving somewhere where nobody knows who you were.
You know, I think like I moved somewhere that nobody knew who I was in high school.
Nobody knew, like, you know, my background. And so you not necessarily reinvent yourself, but I think you get to, like,
put yourself out there in ways that maybe you wouldn't have if you knew everybody and they knew who you were.
So I love that idea of like, being able to, like, try something new.
(05:43):
And, you know, I think transitions can be a time of a lot of stress and a time of like,
just I mean, it's a big change and it's hard and it can be really scary.
But I think it's also just that, like beautiful opportunity to test out some other, like,
facets of your personality and try out some different interests or hobbies that you might
have that you might not have before because you felt so comfortable in like where you were,
(06:07):
whether that was career wise or, you know, location wise.
I think that transition can be a really awesome time as well. So we're, you know,
talking during this time where a lot of students are getting ready to graduate and getting ready to move on to maybe their first full time job.
Can you tell me, what should college students expect moving into their first full time job?
(06:28):
Was there anything that surprised you when you started your first full time job that you weren't expecting?
You know, the the number one thing was lack of expectations. Um, you go through school, right?
We're following the syllabus. We've been doing that since we're in kindergarten. You're trying to get A's.
You're trying to 100% on it. You know, clear exactly what you need to accomplish to be successful.
(06:49):
And then you graduate. You get this job, you walk in day one. You say, what's the syllabus?
What do I need to do?
And your boss is going to say something along the lines of, okay, get comfortable, get settled in, and then we'll talk about it here later.
And then you'll talk a little bit and they'll give you one assignment or one project. Okay, cool.
We get that. And then you say, well, did I do a good job on that?
Well, you don't know because they're probably not going to give you much feedback unless you ask.
(07:12):
And so all of a sudden the transition goes from have very clear structure all the time to all of a sudden it's a little bit more vague.
All of a sudden you have to ask a lot more questions.
You have to get to know what your boss expects, and they might not be the best at articulating that.
And so I think the number one thing that students need to be prepared for is really being able to
just ask questions and be ready to kind of go with what their supervisor is thinking at the time,
(07:37):
and try to just do their best. At the end of the day, that's that's really all we can do is do our best.
And as long as we are communicating what we think is happening,
the supervisor is going to appreciate that and they'll be able to give you some feedback.
Yeah, I absolutely agree. You're not going to get like an A-plus, plus some feedback on every project you do in your career.
Um, I also think that asking questions, it can start as early as the interview process, right?
(08:02):
Like you don't have to wait until your first day to say, like, what am I supposed to wear to work today?
I think, like, I think finding out what the dress code is during the interview process is so valuable because then, you know, like what to expect.
And if that's not going to fit your personality or your lifestyle, like you can make some decisions on that.
I think being able to ask expectations and even laying out your own expectations, right?
(08:23):
I'm someone who I really thrive off of feedback and whether that, you know, I want to know, like what can I do to improve myself?
I don't just want to hear like a good job. I want to hear like, oh, I think you could do this better next time.
And so setting those expectations in the interview process, even even once you get the job of like,
hey, this is what I'd love to see from my supervisor, this is what I need to succeed.
(08:43):
Um, and that might be feedback. It might be having clear expectations on policies in the workplace.
Um, I even think of, like, understanding your work hours.
I so I used to oversee student employees, and I would always try to warn them, not warn them,
but give them a heads up that when you leave here, you're not just working three hour shifts,
(09:04):
you're working nine hour shifts, not nine hours, but you're working, know,
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with an hour long lunch break, maybe, depending on what the, you know, settings are.
But the number of messages I received, you know, a couple months after my students had graduated,
reaching back out to me to say like, thank you so much for rewarding me.
I didn't take you seriously, but you were right. Like the hours are very different from what I'd been working as a student employee.
(09:27):
I think just like trying to set those expectations up ahead of time.
Super important. Yeah, that was a really interesting transition there coming from undergrad, because you're all working all over the time.
You know, I remember my senior year, I woke up at 11 a.m. every day because that's when I had class.
Well, I also worked evenings as a server.
(09:48):
And then once I got done as a server, I was going to the gym until midnight, and then I would study until 3 a.m.
And so it wasn't that I was just sleeping all the time. It was just that was my schedule.
And you're always bounced around. You're going to one class, you're taking a break, going to another class,
and then you get to work and all of a sudden there's not that built in break.
You know, that was one of the things I had to learn for myself when I started was, oh, I need to take breaks.
(10:10):
I need to be intentional about this, to just give myself that time to kind of like, collaborate and go forward.
So that's a really interesting thing for students to be aware of, like going forward, is sometimes you can also build your own schedule.
Um, it really does depend on jobs. Some jobs. Absolutely. You have to be there from set hours to set times.
I remember when I started at CSU full time, though, I was talking to my supervisor and I noticed that.
(10:35):
She would come in most days at 10:00, and she would work until 8:00 in the evening.
She didn't have kids at home anymore. Didn't really have anything to go back to.
And so she knew she was more productive at that time. I also recognize that I'm not a morning person and that students often aren't either.
And so when I started, I said, well, what if I came in at ten to.
(10:57):
And that worked out better for me because then I would stay until 6:00 or so.
And then when I'd get off work, well, hey, the gym was quiet cause you didn't have that after your after workout rush at the gym,
and so I could go and have a routine that worked for me better.
And so that's one thing where just having that conversation really did allow me to have those opportunities there.
Yeah, that's a great point. I think it's something else that students often find to be maybe a big surprise.
(11:20):
Moving into that full time position is when you're a student, you are looking forward to maybe winter break.
You're looking forward to those beautiful summer breaks that we're about to head into.
And depending on the job, I mean, unless you're maybe in education or something that's a little bit more seasonal,
you really don't have that really nice long winter break. You don't have a nice long summer break.
(11:40):
Um, there's not necessarily a spring break. You'll get holidays here and there, but I think that can be a big surprise to you.
And just trying to navigate like that feeling of like, oh, okay.
Like I don't have a big break to look forward to. I think that could be a big tricky one for people too.
It is tricky. You have to find times to give yourself a break.
(12:02):
Sometimes that makes sense, right? So sometimes you do have a job that's very seasonal.
You know, you go through those busy periods, you have that done and then it's a great time for a break.
Or maybe you get done. You reflect on your end of the year, um, review and then you have that time for a break.
Sometimes you don't, though, and so you have to kind of build that into your own life,
because I think we have to continuously you know, we're talking about transition. Well, we have to continuously transition throughout her career.
(12:25):
If you don't build in a time to be intentional about growth in that transition into growth, aka a vacation,
how are you supposed to have those moments to kind of like reflect and then come back to it rejuvenated,
to be able to embrace who you want to continue to grow into? I think that's a great point.
I think it's like setting good boundaries too, that like finding that work balance.
(12:48):
Um, as soon as you start and trying to set those boundaries as best you can.
I know sometimes when you're starting in a position,
you really have to take a lot of opportunities and you might be working hard for your first year or two,
but also trying to set those healthy boundaries of, you know, I'm going to not have my emails on my phone from work.
I'm going to turn my brain back to personal life. When I leave work, I'm not taking work home with me as much as I can.
(13:11):
Um, I'm going to use my vacation time, as you said. Like I'm going to use that.
I'm going to intentionally use it. Um, I think it's much easier to set those boundaries upfront when you start,
then like, go backwards from there when they start to understand how you work.
And so being able to like really set yourself up. Well when you start off like, this is what I'd like to get out of this job.
This is what I like to set for my boundaries, for my work life balance.
(13:34):
Um, I think that that's a really valuable point. You know.
And that's some you talked earlier about asking questions. So it starts in the interview.
But that's also something that starts in the interview is you have to be honest with who you are.
You know, students always come into my office and they want to ask, well, what's the best answer to give during an interview?
You know, they think there's some magic perfect thing out there and there isn't.
(13:56):
I always tell students, well, you have to be authentic because it's not about being the absolute best wellbeing specialist.
It's about being the best Caitlin as a wellbeing specialist.
And so that's what we really like to push is if you're not authentic, then also and that's where we can start to see some imposter syndrome coming in,
we can start to feel like those feelings of isolation and just like your job isn't going to work for you, and that's the end of the day.
(14:19):
I want people to understand they're not working for their job.
Their job is working for them because there's so much more than life.
I mean, it's probably a little counterintuitive here in that from a career coach, but your life is the important part.
Your job is just the thing that helps you get that. I think that's really great.
I love that. I think one thing to help with reducing that stress during transitions, too,
(14:42):
is when you do start, do you have any, I guess, advice on finding a mentor?
Have you ever, like, actually asked for someone to be your mentor?
Have you just kind of like fallen into it? I'm curious what your thoughts are on mentorship.
So mentorship is always one of those interesting things to me. Um, I was raised in rural South Dakota.
(15:05):
As a guy, we're not allowed to ask for help. We're not allowed to show weakness.
That's just not us. No. That's right. Wrong, right.
Very different story. But I remember that was one thing. I came to college and I would hear people talk about mentors.
Oh, you got to find a better. You got to find a mentor. And I was just like, oh, that's something that just kind of happens.
But turns out finding a mentor really comes from asking questions and asking for help.
(15:25):
And so it's awkward to put yourself out there, you know, because you think, oh,
why would this person want to go out of their way to help me with other things?
But at the end of the day, that's what it comes down to, is you need to find somebody.
We've never made it this far in life before. Right?
Every single day is a new day for us.
So finding a mentor that has maybe just a few more years of experience on us than what we currently have is so valuable,
(15:50):
if nothing else, just to, you know, pitch ideas to and just have a third party to maybe just talk through ideas with.
And so it's awkward. It really is awkward.
And it takes some vulnerability by going out there and finding someone who is doing the work you want to be doing or doing,
the things you want to be doing, and just talking to them about their story.
(16:11):
I can tell you, we all like to talk about ourselves. So that's that's a thing.
At the end of the day, I tell students all the time, hey, ask questions to any employee that comes to campus.
They're going to tell you stories. That's what old people do, right?
Oh, I'm starting to get to that point that I'm an old guy and I'm telling stories, too.
But at the end of the day, if you ask questions, people are excited to tell you and to share their wisdom because,
(16:33):
you know, we're all proud of how far we've made it in life.
And we all want to give back and help somebody get through it a little bit easier than we did.
And so while it's intimidating to ask for somebody to be a mentor, even just starting off with saying,
hey, you know, would you mind just sitting down with a cup of coffee with me? I have a few questions and you seem like you have it all together.
Can we talk about that? Absolutely.
I think like, I think a lot of what we've been talking about goes back to just being willing to be a little bit vulnerable to ask questions,
(16:59):
um, to, like, seek information from people that you want to like, learn from.
Um, I also think on the flip side of that, as people who have been in positions for a longer period of time,
you know, faculty, staff on campus, like we should be thinking about being a mentor to those that were coming across,
right, to that new hire that has just started and like reaching out and taking them out to coffee or just sitting down and saying like,
(17:24):
hey, let's, let's eat our lunch together today. And I think just being willing to maybe offer up some mentorship, um,
because not everybody's going to be comfortable asking, but I think everybody can benefit from it, right?
And I think it's one of those things that it just it takes a little bit of vulnerability on both sides.
But I think it's it's so valuable when we can, like,
connect with people who have a broad range of experience and different perspectives and maybe who've been here longer than we have, obviously.
(17:52):
You know, one of the things you're talking about there with mentoring.
I've spoken with Travis Jensen about this from the alumni mentoring program that the mentee,
you know, the one who's being mentored isn't the only one to get something out of it.
You know, mentors, it's valuable to do that, too, because it rejuvenates you, because you get excited again.
You remember what it was that drew you to that career, and you remember that passion because it's tough not to see that passion when
(18:15):
you're working with somebody who is in a situation that you used to be in.
You know, we all know that working with college students is extremely rewarding.
Well, there's ways to do it outside of what our daily job is to. Yeah, I think that's such a great shout out for that program.
Um, do you mind like again saying like, where can we find that program?
How do people get in contact with that one? Yeah. So Travis Jensen, he's with the alumni mentoring program, um, with the alumni center.
(18:38):
Um, so, uh, getting in contact with him. Easy enough.
Find him on the website, or, um, just stop over there and say hi at the foundation building,
and they'd be happy to connect you with them for students. Um, there is an application that they send out once a year.
I'm not sure when that due date is. Um, but they then get matched with mentors who are happy to work with those students.
(18:58):
And we see that right now we have lots of students who are interested in that.
And so if anybody is interested in being an alumni mentor, they can reach out to Travis and I'm sure he can connect them with somebody.
That's great. I think we you know, we talked a little bit about faculty and staff being willing to be mentors,
but could you maybe talk a little bit about what you think faculty and staff could do to help support students as they prepare to leave college,
(19:21):
whether that's going to grad school or going on to their first career?
Um, any advice for faculty and staff out there listening on how they can support that?
It's exactly that. It's listening, you know, being there and being supportive.
We all go through different transitions in life.
You know, I talked about how I had moved out, you know, right away when I turned 18, it was a month later, I moved out.
(19:43):
Well, some students say, don't do that.
Some students, they, you know, are from here in Brookings, and they have an experience going to someplace completely new.
And we have some students who come from other countries here. And so we all are at different places.
We've all had like different terrifying moments or those scary big what ifs.
And so just being there and remember that, you know, even if it seems like some kind of reveal like,
(20:05):
oh, grad school, why would you be worried about that? You know, you start off grad school and it's great.
There's a lot of structure there to help you. We were in those shoes to at one point.
And so just remembering that we can be there to listen.
To give a friendly face, to smile and to encourage them, you know, because at the end of the day,
(20:25):
having somebody in your corner really does make the world of a difference when it
comes to taking risks like trying something new or going through a transition.
Yeah, absolutely. I think even just like having these conversations in your classroom or in your staff meetings, if you oversee student employees,
I think just like having conversations with them as much as you can to like,
(20:45):
just like talk about changes and talk about like what it's going to be like when they leave or ask if they have any questions.
Um, I found like when I've been really honest and, you know,
I've been through a couple career transitions at this point and I've told them, like, you know, I was really scared to make these changes.
And then someone, a friend of mine said, you know, you're always like, you can always change your mind, right?
(21:05):
Like, it is never like, too late to change your career. You can always find something new.
Try something new.
And I would say that to my students, as much as I possibly could, just hold those, like, open and honest conversations and just say like, try it out.
Like try whatever you can and and be willing to be flexible and open to changes because
I think it can be really valuable if you just encourage that in your in your classroom.
(21:29):
I think also obviously plugging the Office of Career Development.
So I'd love to hear a little bit about what what do you all do over there.
Because you do so much. And I just want to make sure we really take the time to talk about what you do.
Yeah. So really, to summarize it, we're here for students when it comes to their careers.
Now careers is a big concept, right.
(21:52):
It's everything from that part time job when a student comes in, maybe need a few extra bucks and, oh, I worked a work study job.
I needed to pay for school somehow. And so that was a big deal, right?
So we can help students find those jobs on campus. We also can just talk about some of those conversations about what is your major, the right fit.
You know, we have tons of really great academic advisors on campus, tons of great professors.
(22:13):
We also have, you know, a really, really good exploratory studies program,
but they don't always necessarily have the time to sit down and have those dedicated conversations about just what options are out there.
And so we can fill out at that point, too. Now we think later on we work with students on things like, how do you write a resume?
How do you apply for internships? You know, we'll also talk with students about things like, what about applying to grad school?
(22:35):
Is that the right fit for you?
We go through all that work, we complete all of our education, and we can work with students on things like, how do you prepare for an interview?
You know, that's what I just walked from before I came over here, was working with student,
preparing for an interview to go and work, um, in her career field for the first time this summer.
Well, really cool to be able to be there and just help support them in those moments.
(22:57):
So those are those basic things. Then we think of the stuff for alumni, right?
Or for, you know, recent graduates, things like how to talk about salary.
We can talk about benefits. I remember that's on that's confusing.
I think everybody would agree that benefits are confusing.
And so sometimes students will come in just to talk through that with us because they don't understand what's going on.
(23:17):
You know, even though I'm not a benefits expert by any means, just having some of that experience can still be beneficial.
Work with those students. And we don't just work with students either.
We do work with all alumni as well, and so we do end up having some of these more conversations about like career transitions,
about things like how to start strong in a new job,
how do you get yourself established in a new place, and just kind of some of the more that, you know,
(23:41):
listening and being there for people because it is scary whenever you go through those transitions.
So yeah, there's so much that you all do.
And I think it's just really wonderful resource here on campus that we really want all students to get out there and utilize it, and alumni as well.
And I think going back to like, how can faculty help support students in that transition is just encouraging them to reach out to the office,
(24:01):
get in there, speak to you all, make sure to have them like help them make that connection with you.
Yeah, we're not scary, right? Let students know that we're here.
We're human too, and we want to make a difference. Absolutely.
I think the last little bit that we wanted to talk about was just how to take care of yourself during times of transition,
(24:22):
um, how to kind of manage your overall well-being.
I think one big thing that I like to think about, you know, I just recently moved here, and so that was a huge transition for me.
Um, and I tried really hard to stick to good habits that I already had.
And so that was maybe like trying to walk my dogs every day, even though I was in a new place.
And it was that sticking to things that I was doing before the transition started helped me kind of move through that because I was like,
(24:47):
this is familiar. I know you put my dogs on a leash. I'm going to take them for a walk around the block.
I know what to expect. Right.
Um, and just like really maintaining those habits that you already have, I think making sure you value you're taking care of yourself.
So getting good sleep, um, again, like nutrition.
What are you eating? Are you drinking enough water? Like, make sure you're taking good care of yourself physically.
(25:09):
Um, and and that physical activity too, whether it's walking, whether it's your favorite type of recreation,
just trying to stay active during those times, I think that can definitely help with that stress and help maintain that well-being.
Anything you would add to that as far as like maintaining your well-being?
You know, I think you touched on a really great point.
There is when we move to maintain those things that you're doing well, but it's also a great opportunity to add in stuff for yourself.
(25:33):
When we move and we like especially a physical move into like a new, you know, apartment, new house, whatever that is a new town.
It's going to completely change your thought patterns. And so why not try to just establish those new healthy routines in your life at that?
Now, at the same point, don't stress yourself out trying to do that when you are going to be going through a lot of stress anyway.
You know, you mentioned water. I can tell you every single time I've started a new job in a new place, I forget to drink water.
(25:59):
Absolutely. Remember that little stuff, right? Have a water bottle.
You know, there's a lot of things I would say is find something like routine, you know, like what you touched on.
I'm going to go a little bit further, and I want you to find a,
a place in the community that you feel involved in, that you feel like you're a local, if that makes sense.
You know, whether that's a coffee shop that you regularly go to and you just spend some time talking to that barista,
(26:24):
maybe that's going to be a new routine where you can feel like you get to know someone that makes you know the.
The place that you move to seems so much smaller and less intimidating, less daunting.
The other part of it, too, is embrace that you're new. Embrace that and ask those questions and get to know what's out there.
You know, if you find, you know, a community group doing something really cool and exciting,
(26:45):
well, there's some people that you can meet, there's some friends you could meet. And so maybe it's going to be like volunteering in town.
Maybe it's going to be a professional group, you know, and Brookings, we have a leadership Brookings.
Right. That might be something that you find. And so you can really find those opportunities.
You just have to sometimes be intentional.
You know, it's really easy to sit at home and, you know, turn on Netflix because you know, that's safe, right?
(27:08):
But at the end of the day, you're in a new community. Make it your community.
Yeah. Well, I think that's such a good point, too.
You know, I think of when a student graduates and they go on to working full time, maybe their days are a little bit longer at work.
They feel like they have less time to themselves. Um, I think it's really important to put value into the time that you're away from work.
And so yes, Netflix is great. I love to turn on Netflix every now and then, but, um, having some value in that too.
(27:33):
So, you know, if you just come home, you turn on Netflix and then you go to bed,
that time away from work is going to feel just so short versus if you,
you know, dedicate a day each week to going and seeing a friend or, you know,
going to that coffee shop like you mentioned, or maybe picking up a new hobby.
And so it's like Wednesday's my hobby day, and I'm going to like do my new hobby on Wednesdays,
(27:54):
trying to make sure there's value in that time that you have away from work, I think can really help with that.
Like, again, establishing that balance that we talked about.
Um, one thing when we talk about our workday, right, everybody always thinks you get up, you go to work, you come home, you do this stuff after work.
I kind of had this epiphany a couple of years ago. I came home from work one day and I was just mentally exhausted.
(28:19):
Uh, I do a lot of people work in my job, and I can sometimes drain on me.
The next morning, I woke up, and I know I'm mentally fresh and ready to go again for the day.
And I said, wait a minute. I have this time before work, too.
You know, we always think of, oh, you got to wake up just in time to go to work, but you can also wake up and read a book in the morning.
You can wake up and go to the gym. You can wake up and go grocery shopping.
(28:42):
Like you can use that time before work too. I also find that if I do that.
I'm not as cranky when I get to work because I'm already up and awake, right?
Like it's it seems pretty obvious, but at the end of the day, you can make time in the mornings too.
That's such a good point. I've always thought of myself as like, I can't get up early.
I don't really like exercising early morning, but moving here, I started running in the mornings before work, and I feel so much more energized.
(29:09):
And just like I feel like my day has started a little bit earlier, so I'm like a little bit more bright eyed by the time I get to my desk.
Maybe running is not for you, but even just like a walk or like you said,
like maybe it's even just like getting up early enough to enjoy, like, an extra cup of coffee at home, right?
Instead of just, like, taking it with you to work. The simple things in life.
(29:29):
Exactly. Well, great, I wanted to maybe one last recommendation is,
just as you go through these transitions, connecting with the resources that are available to you.
And so if you're still here on campus, if you're a student and you're preparing to leave,
connecting to the counseling services, if you feel like you want to talk to someone,
um, obviously we've already said it, but connecting to the Office of Career Development and again,
(29:51):
that service is continue for you afterwards as you're an alumni.
And so making sure you stay connected. Um, and then just making sure that like when you enter into that new career or that new
position that you're starting identifying your resources that you have there too.
And so that might be your employee assistance program, making sure like, kind of like you said, understanding your benefits.
(30:11):
But generally there are services available to new employees too.
So just making sure you're reaching out and connecting to the resources that you have available.
Anything else you'd like to plug or any last things for our talk today?
Transitions are intimidating, but they're also an opportunity.
Embrace that opportunity. You can really make something out of it. Thank you so much, Steven.
(30:32):
I really appreciate you being here. And thanks for listening. Thank you for listening to Career Connections.
Please follow our podcast, your thoughts on other related topics and for topics,
suggestions or questions, you can contact me at Kevin.Fullerton at SD state Edu.
And for more information about my office please go to careers.sdstate.edu.
Welcome to career connections. I'm your host Kevin Fullerton. In this episode, we get to do two things.
First, we get to amplify some work that is happening in another area on campus.
The State of Wellbeing podcast is hosted by Caitlyn Walters, who is one of our wellbeing specialists on campus here.
Her podcast contains a multitude of topics that I'm confident you can learn from,
(00:24):
so please check out State of Wellbeing however you listen to podcasts.
Second, we get to showcase a member of my staff earlier this spring on the state of wellbeing.
Stephen Miedema was featured in an episode titled Career Transitions.
The conversation between Steven and Caitlyn covers different themes on life after graduation, while also touching on Steven's background.
(00:46):
So I hope you enjoy learning from these two in their conversation. Welcome to State of Wellbeing, a podcast from South Dakota State University.
The State of Wellbeing is a holistic wellbeing podcast with the goal of supporting the campus community as we strive to be a growing,
high performing and healthy university. Welcome to State of Wellbeing podcast.
(01:09):
This episode we're going to be talking about career transitions and just transitions in general that we go through in life.
I'm Caitlyn Walters, I'm the wellbeing specialist, and I'm here with Steven Miedema,
the assistant director for career education in the Office of Career Development.
Hi, Steven. Hi, Caitlyn. How are you doing today? Doing well. Thank you so much for joining us.
Absolutely. A pleasure to be on here. Yeah.
(01:31):
So we're really excited to talk about career transitions and who better than to come in and talk about it in the Office of Career Development.
Stephen, can you tell me about your career path and what's brought you to where you are today?
Um, yeah. So, um, my career path started here at Sdsu, so I came here way back once upon a time, uh, as a biology student.
I initially came to Sdsu thinking I wanted to be a doctor. Really?
(01:53):
I had no idea what I wanted to do. And I knew that doctors use science, and they made a lot of money.
And I thought that would be a cool gig. So I got here, and then I started working in health care as a CNA.
Part time job for me while I was in school. And I realized health care wasn't for me.
And so going into my senior year, I had a backup plan of doing research and a research lab.
I started doing research, working on genetics, and realized that I didn't get to talk to people,
(02:15):
and that made it for a really long shift for me when I was doing that work.
So I ended up kind of panicking and going to grad school,
and ended up going to the Counseling and Human resource department, where I graduated with my master's of education.
While I was doing my master's degree, I really didn't know what was going on either,
and so I ended up getting an internship in my final semester because I heard the crew development office was short staffed.
(02:36):
So I said, hey, I need one more internship to be able to graduate, and you guys are short staffed.
Would you like an unpaid intern? Of course they said yes, right?
So then I graduated from there and as I was finishing, um, you know, really with like three weeks left of that semester, my supervisor left.
And so her job just fell into my lap. And so I ended up staying here at Sdsu.
(02:58):
Since then, I worked as a career coach full time for about three and a half years before transitioning into the assistant director role.
Wow. That's I mean, that fits really well into what we are going to talk about today.
It sounds like you went through quite a few different transitions.
Some of those may have been intentional and some of them were maybe not so intentional.
And I think that's really important is a lot of times people think like,
(03:20):
I have to have this career plan laid out and I'm going to stick to it and I'm going to commit to this.
But things come up right. And like you might change your mind after experiencing that career.
Can you tell us a little bit about, like, any of those notable big transitions you went through,
like anything you learned or observed when you were going through those? Yeah.
So that's one of the things that's been interesting is a lot of my transitions have been.
(03:42):
Really subtle. Almost. It's just been like almost a role change, but still in the same location.
And so I had to navigate that transition of going from, you know, when I went for an undergrad, I was, you know, going to classes with peers.
Some of those peers didn't graduate with me.
Well, I got to my grad program and I ended up being a teaching assistant within the biology department was and I had Tas who were my friends.
(04:05):
And so I had to figure out how to transition through that. So that was awkward.
I go through grad school, I finish grad school, and also I'm still here on campus, and all of a sudden I'm navigating,
well, how am I going to be a professional when all these people on campus know me as a student still?
And how do I establish that?
So most of my transitions have been, you know, pretty stable, you know, just here at Sdsu, not really moving or having a big, like, break or anything.
(04:29):
Uh, one notable transition, though, that I do, really I am really thankful for it now is when I graduated high school, I moved out.
Oh, my sister had just bought a farm up in northern Minnesota.
I'm originally from like western South Dakota, and so it was a big transition from and move up there.
But she lived in an area where there were a lot of part time jobs that paid pretty well.
And so I could go up there, work on the farm and make some money to pay for school was then I moved seven hours away where I didn't know anybody,
(04:56):
and so I had to learn how to like, also meet people. For the first time in my life was growing up in a small town.
Never had to accomplish that. So that was like the one big transition.
In some ways, it was a lot more intimidating moving someplace where you don't really know anyone.
But in other ways, I thought it was easier because I had that break and it was a physical transition.
And when you go through those bigger transitions like that, if you like, you can almost sometimes have more opportunity for growth.
(05:21):
Yeah, I love the idea too, of like moving somewhere where nobody knows who you were.
You know, I think like I moved somewhere that nobody knew who I was in high school.
Nobody knew, like, you know, my background. And so you not necessarily reinvent yourself, but I think you get to, like,
put yourself out there in ways that maybe you wouldn't have if you knew everybody and they knew who you were.
So I love that idea of like, being able to, like, try something new.
(05:43):
And, you know, I think transitions can be a time of a lot of stress and a time of like,
just I mean, it's a big change and it's hard and it can be really scary.
But I think it's also just that, like beautiful opportunity to test out some other, like,
facets of your personality and try out some different interests or hobbies that you might
have that you might not have before because you felt so comfortable in like where you were,
(06:07):
whether that was career wise or, you know, location wise.
I think that transition can be a really awesome time as well. So we're, you know,
talking during this time where a lot of students are getting ready to graduate and getting ready to move on to maybe their first full time job.
Can you tell me, what should college students expect moving into their first full time job?
(06:28):
Was there anything that surprised you when you started your first full time job that you weren't expecting?
You know, the the number one thing was lack of expectations. Um, you go through school, right?
We're following the syllabus. We've been doing that since we're in kindergarten. You're trying to get A's.
You're trying to 100% on it. You know, clear exactly what you need to accomplish to be successful.
(06:49):
And then you graduate. You get this job, you walk in day one. You say, what's the syllabus?
What do I need to do?
And your boss is going to say something along the lines of, okay, get comfortable, get settled in, and then we'll talk about it here later.
And then you'll talk a little bit and they'll give you one assignment or one project. Okay, cool.
We get that. And then you say, well, did I do a good job on that?
Well, you don't know because they're probably not going to give you much feedback unless you ask.
(07:12):
And so all of a sudden the transition goes from have very clear structure all the time to all of a sudden it's a little bit more vague.
All of a sudden you have to ask a lot more questions.
You have to get to know what your boss expects, and they might not be the best at articulating that.
And so I think the number one thing that students need to be prepared for is really being able to
just ask questions and be ready to kind of go with what their supervisor is thinking at the time,
(07:37):
and try to just do their best. At the end of the day, that's that's really all we can do is do our best.
And as long as we are communicating what we think is happening,
the supervisor is going to appreciate that and they'll be able to give you some feedback.
Yeah, I absolutely agree. You're not going to get like an A-plus, plus some feedback on every project you do in your career.
Um, I also think that asking questions, it can start as early as the interview process, right?
(08:02):
Like you don't have to wait until your first day to say, like, what am I supposed to wear to work today?
I think, like, I think finding out what the dress code is during the interview process is so valuable because then, you know, like what to expect.
And if that's not going to fit your personality or your lifestyle, like you can make some decisions on that.
I think being able to ask expectations and even laying out your own expectations, right?
(08:23):
I'm someone who I really thrive off of feedback and whether that, you know, I want to know, like what can I do to improve myself?
I don't just want to hear like a good job. I want to hear like, oh, I think you could do this better next time.
And so setting those expectations in the interview process, even even once you get the job of like,
hey, this is what I'd love to see from my supervisor, this is what I need to succeed.
(08:43):
Um, and that might be feedback. It might be having clear expectations on policies in the workplace.
Um, I even think of, like, understanding your work hours.
I so I used to oversee student employees, and I would always try to warn them, not warn them,
but give them a heads up that when you leave here, you're not just working three hour shifts,
(09:04):
you're working nine hour shifts, not nine hours, but you're working, know,
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with an hour long lunch break, maybe, depending on what the, you know, settings are.
But the number of messages I received, you know, a couple months after my students had graduated,
reaching back out to me to say like, thank you so much for rewarding me.
I didn't take you seriously, but you were right. Like the hours are very different from what I'd been working as a student employee.
(09:27):
I think just like trying to set those expectations up ahead of time.
Super important. Yeah, that was a really interesting transition there coming from undergrad, because you're all working all over the time.
You know, I remember my senior year, I woke up at 11 a.m. every day because that's when I had class.
Well, I also worked evenings as a server.
(09:48):
And then once I got done as a server, I was going to the gym until midnight, and then I would study until 3 a.m.
And so it wasn't that I was just sleeping all the time. It was just that was my schedule.
And you're always bounced around. You're going to one class, you're taking a break, going to another class,
and then you get to work and all of a sudden there's not that built in break.
You know, that was one of the things I had to learn for myself when I started was, oh, I need to take breaks.
(10:10):
I need to be intentional about this, to just give myself that time to kind of like, collaborate and go forward.
So that's a really interesting thing for students to be aware of, like going forward, is sometimes you can also build your own schedule.
Um, it really does depend on jobs. Some jobs. Absolutely. You have to be there from set hours to set times.
I remember when I started at CSU full time, though, I was talking to my supervisor and I noticed that.
(10:35):
She would come in most days at 10:00, and she would work until 8:00 in the evening.
She didn't have kids at home anymore. Didn't really have anything to go back to.
And so she knew she was more productive at that time. I also recognize that I'm not a morning person and that students often aren't either.
And so when I started, I said, well, what if I came in at ten to.
(10:57):
And that worked out better for me because then I would stay until 6:00 or so.
And then when I'd get off work, well, hey, the gym was quiet cause you didn't have that after your after workout rush at the gym,
and so I could go and have a routine that worked for me better.
And so that's one thing where just having that conversation really did allow me to have those opportunities there.
Yeah, that's a great point. I think it's something else that students often find to be maybe a big surprise.
(11:20):
Moving into that full time position is when you're a student, you are looking forward to maybe winter break.
You're looking forward to those beautiful summer breaks that we're about to head into.
And depending on the job, I mean, unless you're maybe in education or something that's a little bit more seasonal,
you really don't have that really nice long winter break. You don't have a nice long summer break.
(11:40):
Um, there's not necessarily a spring break. You'll get holidays here and there, but I think that can be a big surprise to you.
And just trying to navigate like that feeling of like, oh, okay.
Like I don't have a big break to look forward to. I think that could be a big tricky one for people too.
It is tricky. You have to find times to give yourself a break.
(12:02):
Sometimes that makes sense, right? So sometimes you do have a job that's very seasonal.
You know, you go through those busy periods, you have that done and then it's a great time for a break.
Or maybe you get done. You reflect on your end of the year, um, review and then you have that time for a break.
Sometimes you don't, though, and so you have to kind of build that into your own life,
because I think we have to continuously you know, we're talking about transition. Well, we have to continuously transition throughout her career.
(12:25):
If you don't build in a time to be intentional about growth in that transition into growth, aka a vacation,
how are you supposed to have those moments to kind of like reflect and then come back to it rejuvenated,
to be able to embrace who you want to continue to grow into? I think that's a great point.
I think it's like setting good boundaries too, that like finding that work balance.
(12:48):
Um, as soon as you start and trying to set those boundaries as best you can.
I know sometimes when you're starting in a position,
you really have to take a lot of opportunities and you might be working hard for your first year or two,
but also trying to set those healthy boundaries of, you know, I'm going to not have my emails on my phone from work.
I'm going to turn my brain back to personal life. When I leave work, I'm not taking work home with me as much as I can.
(13:11):
Um, I'm going to use my vacation time, as you said. Like I'm going to use that.
I'm going to intentionally use it. Um, I think it's much easier to set those boundaries upfront when you start,
then like, go backwards from there when they start to understand how you work.
And so being able to like really set yourself up. Well when you start off like, this is what I'd like to get out of this job.
This is what I like to set for my boundaries, for my work life balance.
(13:34):
Um, I think that that's a really valuable point. You know.
And that's some you talked earlier about asking questions. So it starts in the interview.
But that's also something that starts in the interview is you have to be honest with who you are.
You know, students always come into my office and they want to ask, well, what's the best answer to give during an interview?
You know, they think there's some magic perfect thing out there and there isn't.
(13:56):
I always tell students, well, you have to be authentic because it's not about being the absolute best wellbeing specialist.
It's about being the best Caitlin as a wellbeing specialist.
And so that's what we really like to push is if you're not authentic, then also and that's where we can start to see some imposter syndrome coming in,
we can start to feel like those feelings of isolation and just like your job isn't going to work for you, and that's the end of the day.
(14:19):
I want people to understand they're not working for their job.
Their job is working for them because there's so much more than life.
I mean, it's probably a little counterintuitive here in that from a career coach, but your life is the important part.
Your job is just the thing that helps you get that. I think that's really great.
I love that. I think one thing to help with reducing that stress during transitions, too,
(14:42):
is when you do start, do you have any, I guess, advice on finding a mentor?
Have you ever, like, actually asked for someone to be your mentor?
Have you just kind of like fallen into it? I'm curious what your thoughts are on mentorship.
So mentorship is always one of those interesting things to me. Um, I was raised in rural South Dakota.
(15:05):
As a guy, we're not allowed to ask for help. We're not allowed to show weakness.
That's just not us. No. That's right. Wrong, right.
Very different story. But I remember that was one thing. I came to college and I would hear people talk about mentors.
Oh, you got to find a better. You got to find a mentor. And I was just like, oh, that's something that just kind of happens.
But turns out finding a mentor really comes from asking questions and asking for help.
(15:25):
And so it's awkward to put yourself out there, you know, because you think, oh,
why would this person want to go out of their way to help me with other things?
But at the end of the day, that's what it comes down to, is you need to find somebody.
We've never made it this far in life before. Right?
Every single day is a new day for us.
So finding a mentor that has maybe just a few more years of experience on us than what we currently have is so valuable,
(15:50):
if nothing else, just to, you know, pitch ideas to and just have a third party to maybe just talk through ideas with.
And so it's awkward. It really is awkward.
And it takes some vulnerability by going out there and finding someone who is doing the work you want to be doing or doing,
the things you want to be doing, and just talking to them about their story.
(16:11):
I can tell you, we all like to talk about ourselves. So that's that's a thing.
At the end of the day, I tell students all the time, hey, ask questions to any employee that comes to campus.
They're going to tell you stories. That's what old people do, right?
Oh, I'm starting to get to that point that I'm an old guy and I'm telling stories, too.
But at the end of the day, if you ask questions, people are excited to tell you and to share their wisdom because,
(16:33):
you know, we're all proud of how far we've made it in life.
And we all want to give back and help somebody get through it a little bit easier than we did.
And so while it's intimidating to ask for somebody to be a mentor, even just starting off with saying,
hey, you know, would you mind just sitting down with a cup of coffee with me? I have a few questions and you seem like you have it all together.
Can we talk about that? Absolutely.
I think like, I think a lot of what we've been talking about goes back to just being willing to be a little bit vulnerable to ask questions,
(16:59):
um, to, like, seek information from people that you want to like, learn from.
Um, I also think on the flip side of that, as people who have been in positions for a longer period of time,
you know, faculty, staff on campus, like we should be thinking about being a mentor to those that were coming across,
right, to that new hire that has just started and like reaching out and taking them out to coffee or just sitting down and saying like,
(17:24):
hey, let's, let's eat our lunch together today. And I think just being willing to maybe offer up some mentorship, um,
because not everybody's going to be comfortable asking, but I think everybody can benefit from it, right?
And I think it's one of those things that it just it takes a little bit of vulnerability on both sides.
But I think it's it's so valuable when we can, like,
connect with people who have a broad range of experience and different perspectives and maybe who've been here longer than we have, obviously.
(17:52):
You know, one of the things you're talking about there with mentoring.
I've spoken with Travis Jensen about this from the alumni mentoring program that the mentee,
you know, the one who's being mentored isn't the only one to get something out of it.
You know, mentors, it's valuable to do that, too, because it rejuvenates you, because you get excited again.
You remember what it was that drew you to that career, and you remember that passion because it's tough not to see that passion when
(18:15):
you're working with somebody who is in a situation that you used to be in.
You know, we all know that working with college students is extremely rewarding.
Well, there's ways to do it outside of what our daily job is to. Yeah, I think that's such a great shout out for that program.
Um, do you mind like again saying like, where can we find that program?
How do people get in contact with that one? Yeah. So Travis Jensen, he's with the alumni mentoring program, um, with the alumni center.
(18:38):
Um, so, uh, getting in contact with him. Easy enough.
Find him on the website, or, um, just stop over there and say hi at the foundation building,
and they'd be happy to connect you with them for students. Um, there is an application that they send out once a year.
I'm not sure when that due date is. Um, but they then get matched with mentors who are happy to work with those students.
(18:58):
And we see that right now we have lots of students who are interested in that.
And so if anybody is interested in being an alumni mentor, they can reach out to Travis and I'm sure he can connect them with somebody.
That's great. I think we you know, we talked a little bit about faculty and staff being willing to be mentors,
but could you maybe talk a little bit about what you think faculty and staff could do to help support students as they prepare to leave college,
(19:21):
whether that's going to grad school or going on to their first career?
Um, any advice for faculty and staff out there listening on how they can support that?
It's exactly that. It's listening, you know, being there and being supportive.
We all go through different transitions in life.
You know, I talked about how I had moved out, you know, right away when I turned 18, it was a month later, I moved out.
(19:43):
Well, some students say, don't do that.
Some students, they, you know, are from here in Brookings, and they have an experience going to someplace completely new.
And we have some students who come from other countries here. And so we all are at different places.
We've all had like different terrifying moments or those scary big what ifs.
And so just being there and remember that, you know, even if it seems like some kind of reveal like,
(20:05):
oh, grad school, why would you be worried about that? You know, you start off grad school and it's great.
There's a lot of structure there to help you. We were in those shoes to at one point.
And so just remembering that we can be there to listen.
To give a friendly face, to smile and to encourage them, you know, because at the end of the day,
(20:25):
having somebody in your corner really does make the world of a difference when it
comes to taking risks like trying something new or going through a transition.
Yeah, absolutely. I think even just like having these conversations in your classroom or in your staff meetings, if you oversee student employees,
I think just like having conversations with them as much as you can to like,
(20:45):
just like talk about changes and talk about like what it's going to be like when they leave or ask if they have any questions.
Um, I found like when I've been really honest and, you know,
I've been through a couple career transitions at this point and I've told them, like, you know, I was really scared to make these changes.
And then someone, a friend of mine said, you know, you're always like, you can always change your mind, right?
(21:05):
Like, it is never like, too late to change your career. You can always find something new.
Try something new.
And I would say that to my students, as much as I possibly could, just hold those, like, open and honest conversations and just say like, try it out.
Like try whatever you can and and be willing to be flexible and open to changes because
I think it can be really valuable if you just encourage that in your in your classroom.
(21:29):
I think also obviously plugging the Office of Career Development.
So I'd love to hear a little bit about what what do you all do over there.
Because you do so much. And I just want to make sure we really take the time to talk about what you do.
Yeah. So really, to summarize it, we're here for students when it comes to their careers.
Now careers is a big concept, right.
(21:52):
It's everything from that part time job when a student comes in, maybe need a few extra bucks and, oh, I worked a work study job.
I needed to pay for school somehow. And so that was a big deal, right?
So we can help students find those jobs on campus. We also can just talk about some of those conversations about what is your major, the right fit.
You know, we have tons of really great academic advisors on campus, tons of great professors.
(22:13):
We also have, you know, a really, really good exploratory studies program,
but they don't always necessarily have the time to sit down and have those dedicated conversations about just what options are out there.
And so we can fill out at that point, too. Now we think later on we work with students on things like, how do you write a resume?
How do you apply for internships? You know, we'll also talk with students about things like, what about applying to grad school?
(22:35):
Is that the right fit for you?
We go through all that work, we complete all of our education, and we can work with students on things like, how do you prepare for an interview?
You know, that's what I just walked from before I came over here, was working with student,
preparing for an interview to go and work, um, in her career field for the first time this summer.
Well, really cool to be able to be there and just help support them in those moments.
(22:57):
So those are those basic things. Then we think of the stuff for alumni, right?
Or for, you know, recent graduates, things like how to talk about salary.
We can talk about benefits. I remember that's on that's confusing.
I think everybody would agree that benefits are confusing.
And so sometimes students will come in just to talk through that with us because they don't understand what's going on.
(23:17):
You know, even though I'm not a benefits expert by any means, just having some of that experience can still be beneficial.
Work with those students. And we don't just work with students either.
We do work with all alumni as well, and so we do end up having some of these more conversations about like career transitions,
about things like how to start strong in a new job,
how do you get yourself established in a new place, and just kind of some of the more that, you know,
(23:41):
listening and being there for people because it is scary whenever you go through those transitions.
So yeah, there's so much that you all do.
And I think it's just really wonderful resource here on campus that we really want all students to get out there and utilize it, and alumni as well.
And I think going back to like, how can faculty help support students in that transition is just encouraging them to reach out to the office,
(24:01):
get in there, speak to you all, make sure to have them like help them make that connection with you.
Yeah, we're not scary, right? Let students know that we're here.
We're human too, and we want to make a difference. Absolutely.
I think the last little bit that we wanted to talk about was just how to take care of yourself during times of transition,
(24:22):
um, how to kind of manage your overall well-being.
I think one big thing that I like to think about, you know, I just recently moved here, and so that was a huge transition for me.
Um, and I tried really hard to stick to good habits that I already had.
And so that was maybe like trying to walk my dogs every day, even though I was in a new place.
And it was that sticking to things that I was doing before the transition started helped me kind of move through that because I was like,
(24:47):
this is familiar. I know you put my dogs on a leash. I'm going to take them for a walk around the block.
I know what to expect. Right.
Um, and just like really maintaining those habits that you already have, I think making sure you value you're taking care of yourself.
So getting good sleep, um, again, like nutrition.
What are you eating? Are you drinking enough water? Like, make sure you're taking good care of yourself physically.
(25:09):
Um, and and that physical activity too, whether it's walking, whether it's your favorite type of recreation,
just trying to stay active during those times, I think that can definitely help with that stress and help maintain that well-being.
Anything you would add to that as far as like maintaining your well-being?
You know, I think you touched on a really great point.
There is when we move to maintain those things that you're doing well, but it's also a great opportunity to add in stuff for yourself.
(25:33):
When we move and we like especially a physical move into like a new, you know, apartment, new house, whatever that is a new town.
It's going to completely change your thought patterns. And so why not try to just establish those new healthy routines in your life at that?
Now, at the same point, don't stress yourself out trying to do that when you are going to be going through a lot of stress anyway.
You know, you mentioned water. I can tell you every single time I've started a new job in a new place, I forget to drink water.
(25:59):
Absolutely. Remember that little stuff, right? Have a water bottle.
You know, there's a lot of things I would say is find something like routine, you know, like what you touched on.
I'm going to go a little bit further, and I want you to find a,
a place in the community that you feel involved in, that you feel like you're a local, if that makes sense.
You know, whether that's a coffee shop that you regularly go to and you just spend some time talking to that barista,
(26:24):
maybe that's going to be a new routine where you can feel like you get to know someone that makes you know the.
The place that you move to seems so much smaller and less intimidating, less daunting.
The other part of it, too, is embrace that you're new. Embrace that and ask those questions and get to know what's out there.
You know, if you find, you know, a community group doing something really cool and exciting,
(26:45):
well, there's some people that you can meet, there's some friends you could meet. And so maybe it's going to be like volunteering in town.
Maybe it's going to be a professional group, you know, and Brookings, we have a leadership Brookings.
Right. That might be something that you find. And so you can really find those opportunities.
You just have to sometimes be intentional.
You know, it's really easy to sit at home and, you know, turn on Netflix because you know, that's safe, right?
(27:08):
But at the end of the day, you're in a new community. Make it your community.
Yeah. Well, I think that's such a good point, too.
You know, I think of when a student graduates and they go on to working full time, maybe their days are a little bit longer at work.
They feel like they have less time to themselves. Um, I think it's really important to put value into the time that you're away from work.
And so yes, Netflix is great. I love to turn on Netflix every now and then, but, um, having some value in that too.
(27:33):
So, you know, if you just come home, you turn on Netflix and then you go to bed,
that time away from work is going to feel just so short versus if you,
you know, dedicate a day each week to going and seeing a friend or, you know,
going to that coffee shop like you mentioned, or maybe picking up a new hobby.
And so it's like Wednesday's my hobby day, and I'm going to like do my new hobby on Wednesdays,
(27:54):
trying to make sure there's value in that time that you have away from work, I think can really help with that.
Like, again, establishing that balance that we talked about.
Um, one thing when we talk about our workday, right, everybody always thinks you get up, you go to work, you come home, you do this stuff after work.
I kind of had this epiphany a couple of years ago. I came home from work one day and I was just mentally exhausted.
(28:19):
Uh, I do a lot of people work in my job, and I can sometimes drain on me.
The next morning, I woke up, and I know I'm mentally fresh and ready to go again for the day.
And I said, wait a minute. I have this time before work, too.
You know, we always think of, oh, you got to wake up just in time to go to work, but you can also wake up and read a book in the morning.
You can wake up and go to the gym. You can wake up and go grocery shopping.
(28:42):
Like you can use that time before work too. I also find that if I do that.
I'm not as cranky when I get to work because I'm already up and awake, right?
Like it's it seems pretty obvious, but at the end of the day, you can make time in the mornings too.
That's such a good point. I've always thought of myself as like, I can't get up early.
I don't really like exercising early morning, but moving here, I started running in the mornings before work, and I feel so much more energized.
(29:09):
And just like I feel like my day has started a little bit earlier, so I'm like a little bit more bright eyed by the time I get to my desk.
Maybe running is not for you, but even just like a walk or like you said,
like maybe it's even just like getting up early enough to enjoy, like, an extra cup of coffee at home, right?
Instead of just, like, taking it with you to work. The simple things in life.
(29:29):
Exactly. Well, great, I wanted to maybe one last recommendation is,
just as you go through these transitions, connecting with the resources that are available to you.
And so if you're still here on campus, if you're a student and you're preparing to leave,
connecting to the counseling services, if you feel like you want to talk to someone,
um, obviously we've already said it, but connecting to the Office of Career Development and again,
(29:51):
that service is continue for you afterwards as you're an alumni.
And so making sure you stay connected. Um, and then just making sure that like when you enter into that new career or that new
position that you're starting identifying your resources that you have there too.
And so that might be your employee assistance program, making sure like, kind of like you said, understanding your benefits.
(30:11):
But generally there are services available to new employees too.
So just making sure you're reaching out and connecting to the resources that you have available.
Anything else you'd like to plug or any last things for our talk today?
Transitions are intimidating, but they're also an opportunity.
Embrace that opportunity. You can really make something out of it. Thank you so much, Steven.
(30:32):
I really appreciate you being here. And thanks for listening. Thank you for listening to Career Connections.
Please follow our podcast, your thoughts on other related topics and for topics,
suggestions or questions, you can contact me at Kevin.Fullerton at SD state Edu.
And for more information about my office please go to careers.sdstate.edu.
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