How to Expand Your Horizons And Your Job Prospects in Your 20s

If you feel like your 20s have been a constant tug of war between building your career and figuring out what you want, then you’ll be glad to know you don’t have to choose. The work you do to expand your horizons and job prospects can overlap and compound each other.

Expanding Horizons Personally and Professionally

Your 20s are the perfect time to try new things. When you make mistakes and learn from them, you can establish healthy habits for your career and personal life. To help you grow as a person and as a professional, here are six ideas that let you invest in both areas.

Push Past Your Comfort Zone With New Experiences

This is one of the most common pieces of advice you'll hear in your 20s. Unfortunately, people rarely give specific examples. An actionable to-do list avoids making you feel like you need to make life-changing leaps that happen overnight. Pushing past your comfort zone also doesn't have to mean doing things that scare you. It can simply mean doing things you wouldn't normally do. 

Here are a few actionable and low-pressure ways to start this week and the workplace skills each one builds:

• Going to a local meetup or networking event solo: Loosens you up to walking into a room full of strangers, just like your first day at a new job.
• Saying yes to a spontaneous weekend plan you’d normally decline: Builds adaptability that’s required when a project has last-minute changes.
• Signing up for a class alone: Teaches you that being a beginner in front of people is okay. This also makes learning less intimidating.
• Starting a conversation with a stranger at a coffee shop: Sharpens your small talk and rapport-building skills for interviews and meetings.

Some of these are things you may already be planning to do anyway, so the only change is noticing what each one is teaching you. Opportunities like these allow you to experience second hand many different perspectives that will expand your horizons.

Turn a Hobby Into a Side Hustle

A side hustle isn't only good for your wallet. It also turns hands-on experience into a new bullet point on your resume. It's even better if you've got a hobby you already love. This way you can turn something you'd do for fun into income without starting from scratch.

You don’t even have to quit your day job to try it. Thanks to the plethora of options nowadays, a side hustle is often a low-risk way to test-drive a career path before you take on anything bigger.

Here are a few realistic choices to consider and what each one can teach you:

• Selling handmade goods on Etsy: Teaches you entrepreneurial skills such as communication, negotiation, marketing and sales.
• Freelance work like copywriting, on Upwork or Fiverr: Helps you put together a portfolio and learn how to manage clients, deadlines and feedback.
• Tutoring in a subject you’re strong in: Trains you to explain complicated ideas clearly and patiently, which comes in handy when you're training a co-worker or presenting to a team.
• Pet-sitting through Rover: Proves you're reliable and sharpens your time management skills, since clients trust you with their pets and homes.
• Social media management for mom-and-pop shops: Gives you real-world practice with content planning, analytics and brand voice. All of these carry over directly to entry-level marketing roles.

Since these activities can feel like a pastime for many, they can be a great way to spend your downtime or after hours. Even better you'll do them while earning money and strengthening your resume.

Volunteer for a Cause That Matters to You

Volunteering is another fun and fulfilling way to expand your horizons. While it doesn’t usually come with a paycheck, it can still add plenty of experience to your career. And the more you care about the work, the more you'll get out of it. 

Here are specific examples of roles you can explore and the transferable skills you gain from them:

• Volunteering at the animal shelter: Teaches you to be reliable and compassionate.
• Mentoring kids in need: Sharpens your communication, leadership and teamwork skills.
• Sorting donations at a food bank: Trains you to work under time constraints and to follow safety procedures.

Any of these activities will also push you to connect with others, leading to job referrals and references. In fact, volunteering is cited as an excellent way to improve your chances of finding employment. 

Learn a New Language to Expand Your Horizons

Language connects you to the world, and by learning a new one, you open doors to new experiences. From working abroad to making friends from different cultures, you can find that a second language can bring out a whole new side to you.

Here are some accessible ways to start your language learning journey:

• Download free learning apps like Duolingo: Gamified lessons make daily practice easy. And, they teach you the consistency required to learn new software or earn a certification at work.
• Use conversation exchange apps like Tandem: Engage in one-on-one conversations with native speakers of your chosen language while also practicing cross-cultural communication for international clients.
• Attend elective classes in college: Push yourself to show up regularly and polish your communication skills with like-minded people.

Just like with volunteer work, a few hours each week can become a tangible asset. It's this asset that helps you stand out for customer-facing roles. Employers clearly see the value in this skill, too. Graduates with degrees in world languages had a 1.6% unemployment rate, one of the lowest among college majors. Even if fluency feels far off, every new word you learn moves you ahead.

Grow Your Network One Coffee Chat at a Time

The thought of networking can feel daunting. Whenever you hear it, you probably picture yourself in a function room full of people in business attire whom you just can’t connect with. However, networking can be done in simpler ways, too.

Nowadays, you don’t even have to leave your home to grow your network and expand your horizons.

Try one of these simple ways to meet new people in your field:

• Start a conversation with a former classmate or co-worker: Catching up with someone you already know is the best way to ease into networking. Not only do you get the connection but they may even share job openings and leads with you.
• Join an online community: Whether it’s Slack, LinkedIn or Reddit, these online communities connect you with people around your community or industry. This is a hub where you can trade advice, ask questions and hear about job opportunities.
• Join a professional association in your field: While this costs money, many offer discounted memberships for students or early-career professionals and often include mentorship programs.

Networking is a key career builder, since your skills can only take you so far if no one knows about them. By networking, you enhance your communication skills and discover leads you wouldn’t otherwise find.

Explore New Places Near and Far to Expand Your Horizons

Exploring new places doesn't require a plane ticket. It can be a weekend road trip to a nearby city, a solo day trip, or even just heading into an unfamiliar neighborhood in your own city.

Every time you explore somewhere new, whether it's across the globe or across town, you practice skills that carry over to the workplace:

• Problem-solving and adaptability: When you navigate new streets and alleyways.
• Open-mindedness and perspective-taking: When around new people and cultures
• Planning and budgeting: Managing your finances helps you intentionally allocate funds for what you want to do.
• Improving adaptability: Staying calm under pressure when your train is delayed or a reservation falls through.

On top of developing job-worthy skills, you also come home with fresh stories. You'll also keep this idea as a reminder that you don't need a passport to grow.

Every New Experience Adds to Your Story

Investing in yourself through ways that you’re already passionate about makes growth a lot easier. Every time you take action, like volunteering at an animal shelter or learning a second language, you're forming habits that shape who you are and strengthen your career at the same time. You don’t even need to rethink your whole life to get there. You just have to pick one thing that sparks your curiosity and see where it takes you.