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College is about networking. It's best to get involved in extracurricular activities like clubs, volunteer work, job fairs, etc. They also have on campus jobs, but of course they'e particular about who they hire. From what I'm seeing, a college education helps maybe 40 to 50% in terms of getting a job. The other half comes from just knowing people and having connections.
I have one more year left, so I'm really going to hussle and grind even harder to make connections to the outside world through college. I'm hoping it will all pay off before I graduate next May.
Yeah, I see what you're saying, I wasn't putting it down, I was just saying that there are alternatives and more people appear to be going that route. Just from what I'm seeing on news/talk shows/internet. I think moving forward people should be cautious and mindful of what they are spending their money on. College/education is still a business on some level we need not to forget that. Need to be better consumers of such services is really important.
People used to be able to just graduate HS and go on to get a decent middle class job. Then it became you needed to go to college, now you need to go to college/tech schools with very specific skill sets in some cases to land a job.
Just because a person spent a lot of money going to school for an art history major it doesn't make you automatically employable. Those are the things that kids need to think about and yeah, college is about a whole lot more than just getting job skills, I do get that, I've been there and done that. I just think people need to think on a larger scale is all. The days of just going to college and being automatically guaranteed of getting a job much like the days of yesteryear of going to HS and automatically getting a decent job are gone.
Most unfortunately.
We were just having a similar conversation recently at a family gathering.
College is about networking. It's best to get involved in extracurricular activities like clubs, volunteer work, job fairs, etc. They also have on campus jobs, but of course they'e particular about who they hire. From what I'm seeing, a college education helps maybe 40 to 50% in terms of getting a job. The other half comes from just knowing people and having connections.
I have one more year left, so I'm really going to hussle and grind even harder to make connections to the outside world through college. I'm hoping it will all pay off before I graduate next May.
One thing I am finding is that a lot of people don't know how to MAKE connections. "Knowing people"...well, for many that means, you had some reason to connect with them. Such as, you went to school or college together. I guess I'm lucky in that habit of talking to strangers (my whole life, and yes my parents despaired of ever teaching me otherwise) because if I have no connections, I'll do my research, find someone at the organization, reach out, make contact, and try to forge a connection. A lot of times, it's worked.
Strangers are just friends waiting to happen.
That is more or less how I got my position where I'm at. I did a Google search, when I found out where I was moving for <city> and <field> and only one company came up that really did this. So I scrounged the internet until I found an email address for one of their HR people. And I emailed her, told her I felt I was a very good fit for the company, and why, and when I'd be moving to the area, and sent my resume. It took about 4 months of checking in and being persistent and building that connection. Then the company created a job opening specifically for me, and hired me into it. A whole new thing, but relevant to the needs of the business. As well as offering me about a 43% pay increase over what I'd been making before.
Yeah, I see what you're saying, I wasn't putting it down, I was just saying that there are alternatives and more people appear to be going that route. Just from what I'm seeing on news/talk shows/internet. I think moving forward people should be cautious and mindful of what they are spending their money on. College/education is still a business on some level we need not to forget that. Need to be better consumers of such services is really important.
People used to be able to just graduate HS and go on to get a decent middle class job. Then it became you needed to go to college, now you need to go to college/tech schools with very specific skill sets in some cases to land a job.
Just because a person spent a lot of money going to school for an art history major it doesn't make you automatically employable. Those are the things that kids need to think about and yeah, college is about a whole lot more than just getting job skills, I do get that, I've been there and done that. I just think people need to think on a larger scale is all. The days of just going to college and being automatically guaranteed of getting a job much like the days of yesteryear of going to HS and automatically getting a decent job are gone.
Most unfortunately.
We were just having a similar conversation recently at a family gathering.
I agree with you.
I was completely clueless about how college worked. My parents (particularly my mom) didn't really tell me anything. It was always just "go to school, go to school, go to school!!!!" But there was no direction, no type of guidance or anything. She just expected me to automatically ask questions and figure it out by myself. I didn't have a chance to learn autonomy. My parents just did everything for me. I was used to that. I'm not saying my mom is a bad parent, but she's very passive. Always has been. But to be fair, she was dealing with a lot. My dad was distant too.
She even got frustrated with me because I wasn't applying to colleges. I was like "Apply? What's that?" I was completely clueless. Lol I thought college was like regular school. You just automatically went after you finished high school. Woo, I was so dumb. I always wanted to draw and do art. I didn't need (and still don't) college for that. But now I see that the school I wanted to go to, would've put me in the place to make the right connections.
I ended up choosing Psychology because that was the only other subject I was semi interested in. Honestly, I get irritated when people say chase your dreams or you and you can do whatever you want. To me it's not realistic, because if the economy doesn't need it, it's basically pointless. Heck, I even saw psych was the worst degree you could get. But I'm stuck with it. I worry about what I'm going to do sometimes, but like I said I just have to hussle and grind.
College is about networking. It's best to get involved in extracurricular activities like clubs, volunteer work, job fairs, etc. They also have on campus jobs, but of course they'e particular about who they hire. From what I'm seeing, a college education helps maybe 40 to 50% in terms of getting a job. The other half comes from just knowing people and having connections.
I have one more year left, so I'm really going to hussle and grind even harder to make connections to the outside world through college. I'm hoping it will all pay off before I graduate next May.
Yeah, that's a huge part of it. Having a liberal arts degree myself, I know how important the internships and the professional organizations and the good relationships with professors and other colleagues and students were in getting my foot in the door where it needed to be.
I've only had three "real" jobs. I only say that to differentiate from part time lower skilled things like you'd do when younger and going to school.
I knew a family friend that hired me for my first job. I worked there 15 years and "networked" with lots of people there and in my industry. I left that company and went to a competitor because I knew them through work. I just called a guy up and I came in and did an interview but it was really just a formality as I knew I'd get the job. This latest job I have now is the only job where I "cold" landed through just applying.
Knowing people is a good route to go as I was talking to friend recently upon getting this latest job that way and she said that she never got a job that route, it was always through someone she knew.
There isn't any one right way, you just have to shotgun it and see what sticks.
The people that really have it the toughest are young people right out of school for all of the obvious reasons. I find as you apply when younger you push school and all of the extracurricular activities and as you gain job experience you push those accomplishments more. If you've got industry experience people sorta put the formal education a bit more on the backburner and you really need to flesh out the resume with accomplishments more so than school. This is what I read when I was looking to find a new position. Probably not true across the board for all people but I imagine that that is fairly common.
I know many of my kids' friends joined fraternities/sororities to network...my kids weren't fans of greek life but I know people who really loved it...not sure they got much out of them other than a good time and possible liver damage...I wish they would bring back trade schools not everyone gets much benefit out of certain types of degrees...
I was completely clueless about how college worked. My parents (particularly my mom) didn't really tell me anything.
I ended up choosing Psychology because that was the only other subject I was semi interested in. Honestly, I get irritated when people say chase your dreams or you and you can do whatever you want. To me it's not realistic, because if the economy doesn't need it, it's basically pointless. Heck, I even saw psych was the worst degree you could get. But I'm stuck with it. I worry about what I'm going to do sometimes, but like I said I just have to hussle and grind.
*Sigh* it's a tough world.
I was in the same position almost 30 years ago, funny how that works. I grew up in a small town in MN, my high school art teacher pulled some strings and arranged for a scholarship for me, I didn't realize how lucky I was at the time. I remember him saying: "You have to get out of here, you could actually do something, don't get pregnant and be somebody's wife in a small town, you'll never get out."
I was still kind of lost up until the last week before my college graduation, I grew up a lot, my college guidance counselor gave me an invitation to send my portfolio and slides to a printing company in Las Vegas. I thought, well what the hell, why not me? I was offered a job beginning the week after i graduated. I accepted it.
It's all about being in the right place at the right time, taking chances, networking. Be open to the possibilities and don't typecast yourself, if you know what I mean.
Thankfully, I have recently been able to pick up a new career and leave the old, dead, boring, lifeless one behind. It actually involves a skill and something I'm good at, involving music and guitars. Playing music (which I've been doing for years, though not in huge bands or anything like that) and guitar tech'ing (More professional way of saying ''Roadie'') for friends bands and stuff like that. I have a lot more down time and sometimes weeks of just being at home, but I also have a lot of time away from home and sometimes over a month of being away. I'll be away from home until the 4th or 5th of June. I leave for the airport in just a few hours.
And for all my trouble, I'm gonna wind up making a lot more money this year than with the last job. One of the cons is that I could also wind up making even less next year than I was with the old job. Hopefully not, but I'll wait and see.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,700 posts, read 41,748,461 times
Reputation: 41381
Quote:
Originally Posted by Irishiis49
I know many of my kids' friends joined fraternities/sororities to network...my kids weren't fans of greek life but I know people who really loved it...not sure they got much out of them other than a good time and possible liver damage...I wish they would bring back trade schools not everyone gets much benefit out of certain types of degrees...
Honestly, I wish I looked closer at trade school or that the Iraq War wasn’t in full swing when I left HS so the military would have been a better option. I’m proud about getting a Bachelors and about to finish a Master’s but I would definitely have been willing to take a path other than the college path which every HS in Northern VA was pushing into each student’s face.
Far as networking, I wish I had more a traditional college experience far as being on campus etc. But a distance learning program for my Bachelors was the most economical and flexible choice I had available to me. But it puts you at a disadvantage as far as local contacts.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,936 posts, read 36,962,945 times
Reputation: 40635
Quote:
Originally Posted by Runninglikethieves
Thankfully, I have recently been able to pick up a new career and leave the old, dead, boring, lifeless one behind. It actually involves a skill and something I'm good at, involving music and guitars. Playing music (which I've been doing for years, though not in huge bands or anything like that) and guitar tech'ing (More professional way of saying ''Roadie'') for friends bands and stuff like that. I have a lot more down time and sometimes weeks of just being at home, but I also have a lot of time away from home and sometimes over a month of being away. I'll be away from home until the 4th or 5th of June. I leave for the airport in just a few hours.
And for all my trouble, I'm gonna wind up making a lot more money this year than with the last job. One of the cons is that I could also wind up making even less next year than I was with the old job. Hopefully not, but I'll wait and see.
Running, Are you going to the New Age Fest?
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) for friends bands and stuff like that. I have a lot more down time and sometimes weeks of just being at home, but I also have a lot of time away from home and sometimes over a month of being away. I'll be away from home until the 4th or 5th of June. I leave for the airport in just a few hours.
