Don't be afraid to ask.

I am currently in my fourth position since graduation in June 2015 but I am not ashamed to fall into the "job hopping" millennial stereotype.

My first role out of college was to be an SDR at a SaaS company that I enjoyed everything except the location of the role. Then I moved back to Los Angeles and obtained a remote role but it wasn't sustainable. Then I moved to a financial firm to be the internal recruiter and thought I found a home. Shortly after, I realized I didn't enjoy what I was doing so I left without a backup and decided to go on a smarter job search.

People thought I was crazy when I told them I wanted to take a few months to really sit down and figure out what I wanted to do with my next few years. Did I want to go back into Sports, Tech, Recruiting, Marketing, Sales, or Finance? Or did I want to venture into a new industry/role and see if I liked that?

I started applying for jobs across the board and took interviews while not getting too attached to any particular role or company. Instead of taking every interview and every call, I started really thinking about whether or not I enjoyed what I would be doing and had no problem turning down next steps. It was then that I started to develop a new mindset: every interview is a two way street. The company had to work for me as much as I wanted to work for them.

The company had to work for me as much as I wanted to work for them.

I started gaining confidence in my abilities and started asking the tough questions that any other recent graduate would be afraid of asking. I slowly started to paint the picture of what I was good at and what I didn't want to do.

I will always remember the first interview I had with my current employer, I was sick of interviewing for recruitment agencies that tried to sugar coat things and fit you into a mold they had. Instead, I walked in and laid out my requests on the table. I told them about my background, my strengths, my weaknesses, my goals and simply asked them if they could meet that. Perhaps it was because I interviewed so much that I just didn't really care if this interview fell through again that made me so brutally honest. To my surprise they told me "Yup. That's what we had in mind too." Shocked, I went home wondering what just happened.

"Yup. That's what we had in mind too."

Needless to say, I enjoy my job. My job is to not only be a technical headhunter but to be so well versed in a niche industry that I feel comfortable forecasting market trends and educating companies on the current movements. If I were to take all my previous experiences and role it into a job, this would be it.

Looking back, none of this would have happened if I didn't just ask. It may have been extremely ballsy but I urge everyone to be upfront about expectations so that you don't find yourself 6 months in a job that doesn't meet any of your expectations because you were too worried about fitting their mold. If the company says no, there will be someone else out there that can recognize your talent and work with you. (Obviously keep your expectations realistic.)

What do you all think?