My clients who are still in college or just graduating worry that they’ll cut themselves off from opportunities by choosing one path over another. When you’re in college, you can take any class that interests you, join a club or do an internship or volunteer gig—all without making a commitment to one specific thing.

Do you do work that you find deeply engaging? Are you proud of what you do and want to share it with others?

Recently a career industry colleague who works with Millenials asked me a question very relevant to our times. She asked, “How do you get college graduates to think not in terms of finding a job, but finding a career?”

In a tough economy, I often hear job-seekers worry about “the competition” – with so many people looking for jobs, it’s harder to be the chosen one. I believe that your biggest competition is yourself—the fear that goes on inside your head, the lack of confidence that stops you from doing your best work — promoting yourself for the qualities you bring to the table.

I loved the recent blog post by a tech CEO who says he won’t hire people who have bad grammar. As they say, you only have one chance to make a first impression, and those impressions are what count when you’re hunting for a job.

So you’re a hiring manager faced with the task of motivating millenials while enhancing the work experience of other generations—all while improving the profitability of the company.  Not an easy task, but not impossible either.