Read the empowering career story of this current college student who is about to enter her senior year and seek out the first job of her career with an employer that will allow her to achieve a work-life balance. Also included are the suggestions and resources from the Quintessential Careers team -- for this job-seeker and any other job-seeker facing a similar situation.

by Erin Mason, as told to Katharine Hansen, Ph.D.

Erin Mason

Erin Mason, 21, is about to enter her senior year of college. A year away from graduation and launching her career, she has set a career priority that, in some ways, might seem unusual for someone of college age, yet is increasingly a priority among the millennial generation: "The most important thing I am looking for in a career is flexibility between work and family."

Mason, a marketing major, does not hold a clear vision of what her future career will be, nor is she extremely ambitious to climb the corporate ladder. "I don't think I'll ever rise to be president of a company or anything like that, but I think as long as I'm never stagnant, I enjoy the people I work with, and I have time for my personal life, I'll be happy," she says. That personal life revolves around her boyfriend, Sam, whom she met in sixth grade, became good friends with in eighth grade and began dating in their sophomore year of high school. She and Sam now attend the same university. Their beagle-Rhodesian Ridgeback mix, Suzie, rounds out Mason's homelife. She very much expects both Sam and Suzie to be part of her future.

"I'm ... very proud of the strong relationship I have with my boyfriend, Sam," Mason says. "It may sound weird in our society these days, but long-term relationships take hard work and dedication, too, and we have been there for each other through rough times and great times for more than five years. The ability to stay faithful and loyal to someone says a lot about your character, I think."

"I think my life is too valuable and too short to be spent working the whole time," Mason continues. "I have to go to school and go to work so that I can enjoy my life with Sam and Suzie and whoever else joins our family over the years. I sometimes think that people get so involved in their careers that they lose sight of the real reason they even go to work every day. I could be successful at lots of things, things I'd enjoy a lot even, but they aren't all the best choices for having a family. I will be happier in a career that allows me to enjoy a separate life at home than I would in a career that demanded so much from me that I had to sacrifice aspects of my life with my family. I think I should be able to find a job that is challenging and satisfying to me but that does not run my life. Do I think an employer wants to hear that from me during a job interview? NO! But I think if I do my homework on the culture of a company, I should be able to tell if they value what I do."

Even as a child, Mason did not have a clear picture of her ideal career. "Maybe a teacher, though," she says, "because I remember playing teacher with my little brother when I was young."

"The experiences I've had in the professional workforce so far have most influenced my thoughts on my future career," Mason says. "Although I've not worked for many companies so far, I know what I liked and what I didn't like. Surprisingly little of what I liked had anything to do with the actual job being done, but more with the people who worked there and the attitude of the management."

Those workforce experiences have included working for an investment-banking firm, where she started as a temporary secretary for about a month. "I answered phones, scheduled conference calls, booked hotel rooms and rental cars for business trips, kept the kitchen stocked with snacks and drinks, greeted visitors and made sure they got some coffee or something before a meeting began," Mason recalls. She also ordered office supplies and did filing, organizing, and "some projects creating tables in Microsoft Excel." Her next stint at the company was as an office assistant/intern to begin working on a project to scan all of their paper documents into a digital filing system, and then boxing them up and shipping them off to a company to be stored. "I also began learning how to look up tax-delinquency records and record them for their financial statements," Mason explains. Eventually she worked from home for the firm as an assistant to the disclosure manager. "Each bond agreement had to have up-to-date quarterly and annual reports for investors," she says, "and I was responsible for gathering the information for these statements from the builders, developers, and other involved parties. Most of this communication was through email. This was very important to their business because if their investors couldn't see progress in the project, they might not continue to invest," says Mason who still works for the firm occasionally to help keep up the filing system she helped implement.

A Personal Glimpse LATEST PROJECT I'm painting a wooden bird feeder to put outside my window in my spare time. FAVORITE MOVIE Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited LATEST BOOK READ New Rules of Marketing and PR, by David Meerman Scott FAVORITE BOOK A Land Remembered, by Patrick Smith INTERESTS/ HOBBIES Bike rides and roller blading with my dog, watching movies, listening to music, going out to dinner/trying different foods, cooking, dancing, vacationing FAVORITE TV SHOWS The Office, Dexter, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Tell Me You Love Me, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia FAVORITE FOOD Fried Okra FAVORITE WEBSITE Quintessential Careers, of course! And Fark.com FAVORITE MAGAZINE National Geographic BIGGEST THRILL Roller coasters and parasailing PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY "You only live once as far as I can tell, and it won't last forever ... enjoy!"

Mason generally worked for the firm during her summers off from school. During her sophomore year, she served as a resident assistant (RA) in one of her school's residence halls. "I'm glad I was an RA for a year because it taught me a lot about myself," Mason says. "I thought I was great at communicating with others, and I was more assertive than most, but a hall full of freshmen college students are a tough crowd. I also got a lot of experience in planning events for the hall, advertising for my residents to attend, and also working in a team with the rest of the RAs in my hall. I learned a lot, but it didn't pay nearly enough, and I had to work another job at the same time while taking five courses. It took up a lot more of my time than I expected it to, and I disagreed with some of the Residential Life policies. I thought it was best that I keep the experience limited to a year!"

During the time she worked at home for the firm, she also served as a teaching assistant in a special class for first-year business students, where she led classroom discussions and activities and played a major role in grading papers.

After the busy semester in which she had both worked for the investment-banking firm and been a teaching assistant, she landed a job at a local restaurant. "I began as a hostess because that was the easiest way for me to get my foot in the door at a restaurant," she says. "I had a lot of work experience but not very much in a full-service restaurant establishment. I did not feel challenged by the hostess position and very quickly began asking to serve. I was asked to keep hosting at first, although I was trained to serve and given a few shifts as a server. After only a short time, however, I proved myself a valuable server and salesperson, and I became a full-time server. Although I enjoy serving the most, and serving has the potential to pay the most, I am also a valuable hostess and a kitchen line-worker."

Mason has excelled in her jobs and earned the praise of employers and measurable rewards such as good tips when she's worked as a server. "I think any career success I've experienced so far is a result of of my enthusiasm, my maturity and independence, and my ability to relate to people and make them feel comfortable and confident in me," she says. She also attributes her success to hard work. "Not that I'm not talented," she says, "but I just don't know that my talents get me places as much as my determination does."

Her track record of good relationships with co-workers extends to bosses. "Maybe you shouldn't be close friends with your boss," Mason points out, "but my best boss is one of my best friends. She has always made me feel that my health, both mental and physical, was most important. I think this is a crucial outlook for a boss to have. Conversely, Mason's worst boss, she says "left me in charge of his business when I was only 18 years old because he was an alcoholic and his health faded so much as a result that he wound up in the hospital. He would sacrifice quality of food to cut costs, he treated some employees unfairly, he drank in the store and did other unethical things, and he behaved erratically more often than not."

Born in Winter Park, FL, and currently living in DeLand, FL, Mason has pursued her education at an expensive private university and notes that "the biggest obstacle I've faced in getting my education so that I can start my career has been money. It just seems like you have to put a lot of resources into finding and being qualified for a good job."

In fact, finances were one of the reasons Mason spent just a very short time in a marketing internship with an international music festival based in Daytona Beach. "Business at the restaurant has slowed so drastically that it has become imperative that I look for another paying job," Mason explains. "The internship was unpaid, and it also limited the time I could spend looking for and dedicating to another job. I was also disappointed with the type of work I was being given so far for this internship. I already have a lot of experience filing and organizing from the investment-banking firm, and I was hoping for more marketing-specific hands-on experience. If my financial situation hadn't become more serious, I may have stayed to see what else they gave me to do, but I was unable to wait it out."

Despite the ongoing financial struggle, Mason says, "I'm proud of what I've done at Stetson [University] so far. I don't have the highest GPA or anything like that, but my professors think I'm a hard worker and always have the kindest things to say about me."

Even while still in school, Mason strives for balance in her life. "Right now, being in school and working a lot, it is difficult to make time for family and friends," Mason says, "but it's very important to me. Spending time with my boyfriend and my dog makes difficult days worth it, and that won't change once I graduate and find a career."

In considering what type of job Mason might pursue next year after graduation, she says, "I feel a lot more drawn to management-type positions, but I haven't necessarily decided on that either. I don't think I'd be happy in advertising, but perhaps some kind of event-planning career. When I job-hunt for after graduation, I seem to focus a lot more on the company search and investigating the company. I look at positions available and what they entail, and with a lot of them I think, 'Hey, I can do that, and that, and that.' I think I will find a company that feels right, like Stetson felt right, and hopefully they'll have a place for me on their team. I have a critical mind, and I think Stetson is making me a well-rounded business student. I know a lot about marketing, and I see that as a huge advantage over other candidates for almost any position I could apply for. I guess that's my long, drawn-out way of saying I don't know what I want to do yet. I bet I won't figure it out until I get my first job after graduation, and then I'll go from there. I'm not that worried. I know how valuable an employee I am, and I'm good at telling an employer why that is. I think I'll get a good job."

Also important will be the job and career direction Sam, a finance major, pursues. "We've talked about leaving Florida for sure," Mason says. "We both want to live somewhere else. We've both also discussed leaving the country even. There are lots of possibilities, as you can see. Neither of us knows exactly what career we want, but we're pretty conscientious people, and I think we'll make smart decisions. If Sam finds a job that he really gets excited about, we're going to go for it. If I find I job that I think I may really want, Sam said we'll do whatever we can to make it happen. At least one of us getting a good job as soon as possible after we graduate is the main objective. The other will find one in the area without much trouble, or we'll figure out something else. We know of some 'safe' cities where I know I can get work of some kind from the investment-banking firm, like New York, Tampa, and San Francisco. The bottom line is, whatever we do and wherever we go, we do it together. That may sound silly to some people, but this is what's most important to us. We are both constantly looking out for each other, and as long as we keep doing that, we can't go wrong. Sam's hopes and dreams are no more important than mine, or visa versa, because they are the same. We want a happy, healthy family, and we want to enjoy as much of our lives with each other as we can. It sounds complicated, but it's really pretty simple!"

External factors that Erin and Sam can't control also will play a role. "Where we go exactly, geographically, will depend a lot on the economy in May of 2009 around the globe! It's changing a lot, and we want to make an educated, informed decision about where to start our careers."

Unlike many students, Mason feels confident in her knowledge of how to land a job. "We've both been taught so many great job-search skills, interview skills," she explains. We have a good resumes. We know how to focus our cover letters and resumes for a specific job, and we know what our selling points are and how to showcase them for an employer. I just have to hope that using all of these tools and our ever-growing network of professionals will result in at least one of us landing a great job."

If she could do anything she wanted in her career, Mason, who has never flown on an airplane, says, "I've never been anywhere, and I'd love to travel. What could be better than spending all my time with with my family seeing as much of the world as possible?"

Suggestions and Resources for Mason and Others in Similar Situations

We suggest that Erin:

• Maintain her positive attitude and confidence in her job-search and employability skills. Mason's knowledge of her best selling points and ability to convince an employer of her value will take her far as she launches her career.
• Try to get at least one paid internship in her senior year. Since Mason has not had the opportunity to do marketing-specific internships, it would be ideal to land one for fall semester, and another for spring -- or one that spans her entire senior year. Given her financial situation, however, a paid internship will be crucial. She could consult our Internship Resources for College Students.
• Attend career fairs/expos during senior year. Mason's school will provide her with access to at least two career fairs during her senior year, and she can likely find more. Attending these fairs will help her make contacts, assess cultural fit, and fine-tune her ideas on where she wants to work and what she wants to do. She could read the tutorial and articles in our Job Expo and Career Fair Resources, as well as check out the other resources there. She could also consider career fairs in cities to which she's considering relocating.
• Keep researching companies and industries. Mason says she already focuses on investigating companies and their cultures and that she and Sam expect to make an educated decision about where to go when they graduate. She should keep that up, perhaps consulting our Guide to Researching Companies, Industries, Countries.
• Using the same resource, research possible locations to live after graduation. Since Mason and her boyfriend are open to many locations but not well traveled, they could begin researching places to live and launch their careers. Mason could also check out our Job-Seeker Relocation Resources.
• Continue to evaluate her cultural fit with employers. Since a good fit with the culture of an organization is probably Mason's most important priority in choosing an employer, she can ensure she is comprehensively evaluating culture with tools like our article Uncovering a Company's Corporate Culture is a Critical Task for Job-Seekers. She may want to conduct a Workplace Values Assessment to ensure that any organization she's considering is a good match for her values.
• Conduct as many informational interviews as she can. Mason did at least one informational interview in college. She can now use informational interviewing to help narrow down career possibilities and determine the best direction for herself. She says, "I bet I won't figure it out until I get my first job after graduation, and then I'll go from there," and says she is not worried, but through informational interviewing, she could "try on various jobs for size" and save herself some time -- and possibly the heartache that comes from the wrong choice. These interviews can also help her assess her culture fit with employers. Informational interviews are also amazing networking opportunities. Mason will make excellent contacts through these interviews and could even learn of job opportunities. Summer may be a great time for these interviews as some companies have slower periods in the summer. Find out how to do informational interviews in our Informational Interviewing Tutorial.
• Talk to her professors and career-services professionals. Though Mason has good job-hunting skills, professors and the staff odf her university's Career Services office may be able to help her narrow her choices and provide her with job and internship leads. See our article, Seven Not-So-Obvious Reasons to Take Advantage of Your Campus Career Center.
• Continue to monitor the economy to make after-graduation decisions. A resource for staying up to date on economic trends that affect careers and employment is the QuintCareers Blog.