Free Career Advice for Katie and Kristy Barry

Image by Egan Snow via Flickr

This weekend, I read a feature in the New York Times about Katie and Kristy Barry, twin sisters from Ohio who had moved to NYC to conquer the journalism world.  A year and half out of college and they’re working odd jobs, living in a two-bedroom apartment with their brother and another roommate and dreaming of scattering their CVs over Manhattan from a plane, inventing a lipstick case microphone and sighing over their need for a “life coach” to help them figure out what they should do with said lives. Their story is painfully typical and I suppose it speaks to a certain pervasive pop cultural ethos that as I was reading it, I was thinking about the potential for a new NBC dramedy. Let’s say an update on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, where there are two Marys, NYC replaces Minneapolis and making it after all isn’t a hat-tossing given but a painful (and often hilarious) weekly work-in-progress. Screenplay to come, of course.

But in all seriousness, while I lack the credential and cachet of Tony Robbins  (but I also won’t charge you a king’s ransom for the privilege of basking in my presence) and cringe at the term life coach, I do feel more than qualified to offer some free been there, done that (and about to be there again when my current contract expires) advice for the Mses. Barry, should they happen to Google themselves in the near future.

Find people who have jobs you could see yourself doing or that you aspire to have.  Email or call said people. Ask if you can pick their brains via email or over coffee.  Get depressed when you realize how much of their career path was attributable to luck, nepotism or being in the right place at the right time.

Do not just toy with the idea of starting a blog. Do it. Preferably yesterday.  If you want to be writers, you should be blogging all the damn time. If you’re not compelled to write, even for no cash and an audience consisting only of immediate family and old college roommates, you might not be hardwired for this particular profession.

Prioritize your dreams, also known as having it all on your own terms and all at once is BS. Please disabuse yourself of this notion immediately. If living in NYC  long term  is imperative, you might have to adjust your career goals to fit the reality of the job market and how it values your present qualifications. But if working in the journalism world takes precedence, then you’ll have to take a long, hard look at whether your options might be a little more plentiful in a less cutthroat market.

For the love of God, volunteer. NGOs thrive on the lifeblood of the young and starry-eyed. Donating your skills will help to keep them sharp and to pad out your portfolio. It’s a win-win situation. Offer to edit the newsletter or write press releases for the local chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America or to design marketing materials pro bono for the yoga studio down the block. Unlike other things I won’t mention, this is one time when even your mother would see the big picture wisdom in giving the milk away for free.

The tough-to-swallow bottom line is the need to humble yourself or humble your dreams.  NYC has always been in the business of testing the mettle of newcomers in this manner and the recession just adds salt to the wound.  Investing in a kicky beret is optional, but couldn’t hurt.