This past Thursday, the Her Campus WPUNJ team attended Glamour’s event “How To Get Your Dream Job in 2014: Secrets of Success From Women Who Know.” The night started off by honoring the recipients of the Top 10 College Women competition, which recognizes students in the U.S. for their leadership, scholastic achievement, community involvement, and unique goals. All winners received a trip to New York City, a cash prize, introductions to top professionals in a variety of fields, and national recognition in the magazine. L’Oreal Paris was a sponsor for the deluxe gift bags and presented the College Woman of Worth Award.
Once all of the recipients were honored, a “dream job” panel discussion was hosted and moderated by Glamour’s editor-in-chief, Cindi Leive, and featured actress Danielle Brooks from Orange Is the New Black, writer and actress Greta Gerwig, TV host Gina Keatley, Emmy-award-winning documentarian Dyllan McGee, and 30 Rock writer and producer Colleen McGuinness.
These aspirational ladies shared their success stories and advice during the hour-long discussion and took questions from attendees. Her Campus WPUNJ received considerably valuable tips on how to be successful in both personal and professional life. Here are the top tips the panelists shared with the audience:
1. Do what you love and you will succeed.
If you dedicate your time to things you are passionate about, then what you accomplish will be rewarding and worthwhile. Your passion and success will be noticed and lead you to bigger and better things.
2. At work, be the first one in the door in the morning and the last one out at night.
This goes a long way in the workforce. It shows your fellow colleagues and boss that your job is important to you and is your number one priority. This will help you in the long run when it’s time for a promotion or reference. Also, it shows you are committed to exceeding the minimal expectations of your daily duties. Initiative goes a long way.
3. Live in the now.
We all have long-term dreams and goals, which is great, but it so important to live for the moment. Focus on what is currently happening in your life, and give everything your all.
4. Have a strong sense of self-worth.
Many of us collegiettes hear the little voice in our heads that makes us feel we aren’t doing enough. Don’t listen to this voice! Whatever you’re doing now is helping your personal development and may very well be impacting the lives of others around you. Know that what you do is valuable and influential to yourself and the ones you love.
5. Don’t put limits on yourself; draw your own story.
All of us collegiettes are unique, and each of us brings something different to the table. Continue to network, work hard, and dream big, and a beautiful story will unveil in time.
6. Disregard the voice in your head saying you’re not going to get whatever it is you want.
The voice in your head is not always right (see #4). Continue to persevere and try your best to achieve whatever it is you desire the most. In many cases, the biggest factor that is stopping you from going after what you want is yourself.
7. Don’t just hear ‘no’.
Don’t take rejection too hard. Within reasonable limits, try to find a way around that ‘no’ to get what you want. If that fails, just know that when one door closes, another one opens. Rejection is common. Know that you have a purpose!
8. You have the power to do your own thing; don’t get on the train everyone else does.
Like I mentioned before, we are all unique and have such individualistic and creative ideas. Bring these ideas and passions to life to help separate you from others and stray from the boring status quo.
9. Be Appropriate.
How you interact with others, how you present yourself, and your online presence are important factors to evaluate. It is crucial that you start sustaining your positive reputation now in order to be respected by professionals in the future. When you are well respected, you will get ahead and become a leader.
10. Ask for the craziest thing you want – and you just might get it.
This sounds crazy, but it can happen! Express yourself and go for it – you have nothing to lose!
11. Give love to others who are successful. There’s room for everyone at the top.
As women, it is important that we support each other and not try to take each other down. All of us have potential to succeed; we shouldn’t be in competition with each other.
12. Put it out there, even if it’s not industry ready.
Be proud of your work and share it within your community and online. Your exposure of the process in the digital trail is valuable to industry leaders. It does not have to be perfect. Do what you can and be who you are. You never know who will discover you and what opportunity they’ll bring.
13. Be a part of change.
Everyone at any age can make a difference. Join a group or cause that you are passionate about so you become a part of what you love, while impacting the lives of others.
14. Know that things don’t always work out the way you plan. Don’t set a strict timeline, and you’ll get to where you are meant to be.
Do not try to plan out every little thing for the next five years. It is very likely that things will not go according to your plan. Have an idea of what you want to accomplish or where you want to be, but don’t set your expectations too high because it’s possible you will experience disappointments. Plus, life takes unexpected turns!
15. Achieve your goals before worrying about finding your partner.
Do what you love, fulfill all of your realistic goals, and the right one will come along. What’s meant to be in your personal and professional life will find its way when the time is right. For right now, focus on being your best self and you will eventually attract a really amazing person to be your best self with.
16. Listen to your gut.
Seriously, if something does not feel right, don’t do it. You know yourself better than anyone else does!
17. Look in the mirror and like — love — the person you see.
At the event, we were told to look in the mirror every morning and night and identify at least one thing we like about ourselves. We all have something either physically or mentally we would like to change, but we also all have at least one feature that is beautiful. Make sure you know what it is and embrace it!
18. Envy is the only one of the 7 Deadly Sins that is NOT fun — ever.
Envy is ugly. There is no need to be jealous of others. You can have whatever it is that you are jealous of if you work hard or make changes in your own life.
19. Make a gratitude list.
We all need to take a step back every now and then and realize how lucky we are. Make a gratitude list of all the things you are grateful for in your life, especially when you are having a bad day. You’ll be surprised by how many things are on the list that make you happy!
20. You are fierce and fabulous.
We all need to realize that we are all amazing and powerful. Recognize your qualities and what you have to offer, and success will be knocking on your door!
This event was super beneficial and inspiring for us, and we hope this recap inspires you as well! Best of luck in life and love, collegiettes! #HCXO