For New College Grads, How About Mowing Lawns?
If you’re a college grad with a job search effort that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere — even while lock down restrictions are loosening — you might want to start mowing lawns.
Sound humbling? Maybe not.
Sound strange? Not so. After all, summer is here. Grass is growing. The cost of entry is minimal and the demand could be high. Certainly, you know people who could use help in keeping their lawns mowed and weeded but wouldn’t otherwise hire a large landscaping company when costs have climbed and home owners are reluctant to spend in tough economic times.
Add to that, the good news is that landscapers are considered essential services, according to the March 28 Department of Homeland Security revised “Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response Version 2.0.”
So think about.
I, for one, learned a lot from lawn mowing.
When I was younger, I had the family chore of mowing the lawn with a push mower — the reel type that had no motor — so the blades and wheels turned only when I pushed. The job took a few hours and was a slow, muscle-driven job.
But I learned two things pretty quickly.
First, if I were lazy and decided to skip my regular routine, the grass would grow too high and that made each push even harder. As a result, it took more work and much longer to do the lawn.
Second, if I didn’t pay attention to the weather forecast for the week, I ran the risk of having to mow on the day after the rains came and the grass was wet and heavy. Again, the result was that it took much more effort — in fact, I had to mow back and forth more than once in order to re-mow the same patch because the blades of the lawnmower didn’t catch the heavy grass which was weighed down from the rain.
Yes. Both were lessons from poor prior-planning … better yet, no prior planning.
So think about it.
What else are you doing now, especially in a job marketplace that is abnormally quiet?
If you’re the type of college graduate whom I would describe as having “the focus of the athlete,” why not? Perhaps, you’ve already proven your determination by playing college ball. Or, while at college, did you have the drive to dive into a freezing lap pool at five in the morning to practice before heading to class?
That same focus could be applied to a lawn business.
Or any other start up you can think of.
It might not be job you have forever, but you will learn from it. You will prove that you can earn in the toughest of economies. You will fill out your resume while others will have blank spaces. And you will have something unique to talk about in your interviews.
All of which point to character, determination, hard work and ingenuity.
These are extraordinarily important Hunger, Life and Work skills.
Take note of what Julie Biber, managing director, executive recruitment and search at Edelman, says:
“Every day, our business demands ideas, creativity and finding solutions that others may have missed.
“So when I review resumes and prepare to interview candidates, I ask myself: Are they nimble? Are they scrappy? Are they humble? Are they ingenious?”
So, what about you?
Of course, lawn mowing is just one of other possibilities. Let your imagination flow now that the blue skies of summer are upon us.
And keep in mind: when you return home after a hard day’s labor, you’ll be further energized and motivated to focus hard on applying for the job you really want.
NOTE — This article was published previously on LinkedIn. The content has been drawn from the ideas, resources and sample resume formats, all available in my third book: “RAMEN NOODLE RESUME,” written expressly for college grads. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1734641509/
