April 9, 2013
Last year I spoke at the graduation ceremony for
Cedar Brook Academy in Clarksburg, MD.
It was fun seeing the excited faces of the graduates as they endured my
boring speech waiting for the big moment when they could cross the stage and
officially transition into adulthood.
Thinking back to my own graduation, I remembered that feeling and the
sense of hope and promise.
Unfortunately, my moment of career
enlightenment was still 15 years away.
Between that moment and the day I decided my current career path, I
endured plenty of failures, disappointments, bad jobs, horrible bosses, and
uncomfortable work environments. Maybe
it made me who I am today, but I certainly could have used some good career coaching
early in my career!
From what
I see, these are the common challenges facing today’s young folks (and I define
“young” as ages 16 – 21):
■High
school curriculum that requires a student to choose between a college degree
and nothing else.
■Colleges
actively marketing liberal arts degrees that don’t translate into marketable or
even transferable skills.
■High
levels of unemployment and a logjam of college grads that are competing for
jobs along with seasoned professionals.
■The
rising cost of college educations that translate into massive amounts of
student loan debt.
■Pressure
from parents and teachers to follow a “traditional” career path (find a career, a good company, and
work there until you retire).
So what’s a student to do?
In preparation for a move from high school to
college to career, I recommend students consider the following:
■Look
at current career fields and talk to professionals in those fields about its
future – what is the long-term viability
of this field? Where will it go in the
future? What should I be learning now to
be prepared for the current and future trends?
■Think
about what customers and industries your chosen career path supports. Watch and read the news to see the
trends. Right now if your field involves
seniors (old people), then you will have about 20+ years of an expanded
population to work with. If you’re
thinking about the Federal government or a contractor-type job, remember that
even after sequestration, you can expect federal budgets to be much smaller,
leading to less opportunity.
■Think
MONEY and JOB OPENING first. PASSION
LATER. You’re young.
Trust me, you’ll
have time to do the fun stuff later!
■Seriously
consider STEM degrees. I’ve been beat up before in blogs
about this one but if this is where the future jobs are, get in now. You can pursue your passion later once you’ve
managed to set up your household and started your investments for retirement.
■Consider
blue-collar trades. As 81 million Baby
Boomers are nearing retirement, many of the current tradesmen such as plumbers,
carpenters, auto mechanics, electricians, machinists, etc. are retiring
too. Learn a trade now and go back to
college later to gain the business skills to start your own business.
■Consider
entrepreneurship. Think about what
problems plague you and people you know.
Can you solve them? Can you make
money solving them? If so, maybe that’s
your path.
■Consider
relocating. I watched a program a few
months ago about the great Dust Bowl that devastated the Midwest during the
Great Depression. When the money and the
opportunities dried up, people physically moved. If opportunities in your career field don’t
exist where you want to live, MOVE!
■If
you do in fact choose a career in teaching, counseling, etc. just realize that
your salary will be low. Additionally,
if you’re thinking about these fields,
remember that many of these positions are state-funded and with most states in
significant debt, these positions are being cut frequently.
■Set
a goal and think about the path to get there.
Want to be a physician? Consider joining the military and using the
Health Professional Scholarship Program (HPSP) to have your degree paid
for. Yeah you’ll owe the military your time,
but you’ll get good experience and have NO debt!!!
■Finally,
it’s not to soon to sign up for
life insurance and begin investing in your retirement. Social Security won’t be there for you. Unless you want to be a homeless old person,
invest now. Life insurance seems like a
negative purchase, but if you have a family later and end up dying, you’ll want
to make sure your income is replaced so your family won’t suffer
economically. It only gets more
expensive the older you get. Get in now
and lock in a low rate!
This is the kind of advice I wish I got way back
in 1981. Now it’s my gift to you. If
you’re a student, it’s probably what your parents have said but often I find
that kids will listen to strangers first.
Consider me that stranger and listen OK?
Malcolm
Munro
Lots to think about and thanks for writing it.
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