You won’t land your perfect job on the first try, and that’s okay.

When you’re a kid, you obviously don’t have a complete picture of how the job market works. You go through grade school, you go through college, maybe you go through grad school, and your lifelong career just sort of happens. Sadly, life is rarely so simple. Even when you finish higher learning and get your accreditation, chances are good you’re going to need to spend at least a few months if not more looking for a job relevant to your skillset.

No job hunt lasts forever, though. Frankly, I shudder to even consider a never-ending job hunt. Sooner or later, you’ll land an interview, make a good impression, and get yourself an offer. However, that first job you get probably won’t be the one you stick with forever, or even the sector you were shooting for. When you’re looking for that first job, you should definitely aim high, and in a field you’re genuinely passionate about, but you should also be ready to take on some work that doesn’t match your expectations one-to-one.

Almost no one lands their perfect career on the first try. Part of having a career is gradually accumulating experience and working your way up to bigger and better things. You could have a graduate degree certifying you as the biggest, baddest dude on the face of the Earth, but you’d still have to start at the bottom of the ladder because you don’t have any real-world experience, potentially barring an internship or something.

The point is, don’t be disheartened if you don’t land your lifelong career right off the bat. As the old saying goes, shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars.