Expectation: the Enemy of Achievement

Lazy, entitled, unprofessional. I could go on but you get the point. 

This is the trope about the post-Covid generation of college graduates.  

Here’s the reality i have seen recently – this is not who they are – this is how they have been shaped. And by that I mean, right beneath the surface this lot is no different than the generation before them and the generation before them and…. They want to be  challenged and fulfilled and are hungry and nervous about the rest of their lives. 

The vast majority of our current crop of students had no professional experience but plenty of  expectations about how much they had to offer and more importantly how much they would be valued.  I want this experience – therefore it should be mine. 

And yet barely six weeks into this session, this lot is almost unrecognizable. From the professionalism of how they undertake challenges and assignments, to what they now have come to consider acceptable performance  to their hunger to search out and take advantage of every opportunity – these are not the people who walked in. They have shaken off their cloaks of entitlement and have gotten down to work. 

So, unlike many of my peers, i do not despair of those coming up. Because given the right nudge, pushed a bit beyond how far they think they have to and can go, there is enthusiasm, imagination, commitment and professionalism. 

The question for everyone, graduates, parents, and employers… how do we help them shake off the lethargy of expectation so that we get to see who they are, not what they have been shaped to be.

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The Paper Problem: Why Your Post-Grad Dreams Could Be SCREWED

I bet nobody in your years in university mentioned the “paper problem.” But that is likely why you are reading this.

The “paper problem” is the modern version of the age-old dilemma: you can’t get a job without experience and you can’t get experience without a job.  The “paper problem” is when your talent, ambition, eagerness, even skills are outweighed by the lack of actual professional experience.

And that is why we have launched JobLab 2.0, our post-graduate professional bootcamp for people looking to go into the media. It’s not a drawn-out academic masters program, it is a curated internship/skills training/networking 15-week program that is designed to put you in the place where you get your professional credentials, give you the technical know-how that will set you apart from the competition, and put you in the room with the people who can open the doors to your future.

If you want to do more than just wonder why nobody is calling to hire you, apply NOW.

https://washingtonmediainstitute.org/apply/wmi-joblab-application/

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Introducing Joblab 2.0: “It’s Not Them, it’s YOU”

Well THAT didn’t last long.

“That” being the euphoria of your graduation from some form of “higher education.” That rightful celebration of accomplishment, having crossed all their i’s and crossed all those t’s. 

But what now? If you are reading this, that is the question you are asking because you have already discovered that those jobs you thought would want you are not returning your calls. And more than likely part of the issue is that for all the classes you attended, if you want to work in the media, what you are missing is experience. And lots of it. 

And that is why we are relaunching WMI’s pioneering JobLab as JobLab 2.0, updated and rebuilt to get you the experience and network you need to actually get that job you want in today’s media market defined by today’s technology and social media.

It’s not more school, it is a preprofessional bootcamp. We will teach you the tech you need, and teach you how to tell the stories that you need not just to sell yourself but to do the pr, journalism, marketing, political communications or any other job in media you actually want.

If you are looking for someone to pat you on the head and tell you that you are brilliant and everyone will want to hire you because you took a course, look somewhere else. If, instead, you want to know, and get, what it takes to get those jobs, JobLab 2.0 wants you.

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