<p>What is the difference between going to college and having a job? I have a part time job (not in an office). It is a great job and I love it. My parents tell me that working in an office is nothing like going to school. I asked them why, but they couldn’t come up with any reasons.</p>
<p>From your experiences, what are the major differences and which one is the easiest?</p>
<p>Major difference 1: Having two weeks of vacation in a year as opposed to something like 16 as a college student. </p>
<p>Major difference 2: Doing the same range of stuff 35-40 hours a week. In college, you pick your courses, mix it up, always have something new going on.</p>
<p>Major difference 3: Having to listen to middle-aged people tell you how to do something “the company way” instead of experimenting with new approaches or technologies.</p>
<p>College: you pay them.
Job: they pay you.</p>
<p>College: you have to really screw it up to get tossed out.
Job: you can get fired or laid-off very easily.</p>
<p>College: if you feel like it you can stop in the middle of the day and go over the library and indulge in reading something interesting.
Job: you always gotta be somewhere - usually at your job working.</p>
<p>College: you look forward to graduating and getting a job and being finally done with school.
Job: you look backward longingly at your fun college days and wish you could go back to school.</p>
<p>You can’t just arbitrarily decide you’re going to skip the ‘lectures’ for the day and sleep and drink instead.</p>
<p>In some ways working is less all-encompassing and so can be less stressful. Most, but certainly not all jobs, let you leave most of your work at work. You work your hours, go home, and don’t have to do work again until you return in the morning. When you’re a student, though, you’re always supposed to be studying or writing a paper or whatever. You always feel like you “should” be doing something. That was my experience, at least.</p>
<p>Though that depends very heavily on the job. As you get further into higher-earning, more stressful professions, that becomes absolutely untrue.</p>
<p>^^Correct. The harried exec who always takes work home with him and is constantly on the phone, blackberry, or computer doing work stuff after hours and on the weekend is a very common occurrence.</p>
<p>Job: do NOT get involved in personal relationships within your worksite!</p>
<p>College: if you don’t start having girlfriends and boyfriends, parents start to wonder what’s wrong and suggest maybe counseling…</p>
<p>When I was in college I had time, but no money. When I started working, I had money but no time.</p>
<p>35 years later and I’m still waiting for summer vacation to kick in again.</p>
<p>At this stage of your life, its likely that a job limits your options down the road. A college education expands them. A degree any degree is considered mandatory for many types of jobs (whether or not you actually need it to do the work). Which is easiest depends on the job vs. the course load. </p>
<p>But lets suppose the job is easiest now & that what I said above is true. When I started my career, I worked long hours for little pay. Two decades later, my job allows me much more freedom than my college age daughter has. </p>
<p>A colleagues daughter refused to go to college & got married directly out of H.S. over a decade ago. She now has three kids, lives in a house with no hot water, and is in the middle of a short term medical nightmare with no insurance & no savings. Shes finally back in school (at night) while she works full time at a job that doesnt pay well enough to support a family. Why? Her job options are very limited. And your choice may have ramifications that last well past the four years it generally takes to complete a degree. </p>
<p>And finally, you can stay local & do both. Many people work full time and go to school simultaneously. Of course, that probably doesnt fit your definition of easiest.</p>
<p>If you’re talking about what you should be doing between the ages of about 18 and 22, in most cases, “college” is a better choice than “job.” </p>
<p>You will probably discover that later in life, you will need a college degree to avoid limiting your job options. Getting a college degree when you’re young and are not bogged down with responsibilities such as a mortgage and children is MUCH easier than getting one later.</p>
<p>Also, you don’t have to wear pantyhose (or if male, a tie) in college unless you want to. ;)</p>
<p>A great thread with comments that I would not have fully understood 30+ years ago but certainly do now.</p>
<p>I would add:</p>
<p>getting up in the morning. Unless you work nights it is fair to say that workers are a day animal and college students nocturnal.</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>hat work requires less pure abstract brain power and more consideration of interpersonal issues. Not much discussion of Nietzsche vs. the Book of Job in my office but lots of consideration of how to get someone to work (play?) nicely with everyone else.</p>
<p>I think colleges should have a required course to study Dilbert to prepare students for the work force…</p>
<p>Job expects you to have 60 to 80% of knowledge, and they will probably train you the remainder. As an example, as an adminstrative assistant, you would expect to be organized, know how to use Word, Excel, etc. They would show you the company directory, how to turn on your computer, and various company’s procedures. They may even send you to classes to train you to be an Executive Assistant. But they wouldn’t necessary train you to become a Programmer, Portfolio Manager, or Engineer.</p>
<p>In school, you are coming in with 20% of knowledge and you will be taught the other 80%. You are paying for the knowledge in school, and your job is paying you for your expertise. Therefore you go to school first for the training you want for your job, then you get a job that will pay you back for your investment.</p>
<p>Another difference I’ve noticed: the feeling of time changes the older you get. When I worked a part-time job for 2 hours a day at the age of 16, I was constantly checking the time - it seemed the longest two hours of my life (it was). Now I look up from my desk at the end of the day and wonder where the time went. </p>
<p>As a new worker, what I most noticed/enjoyed was getting paid and having my evenings/weekends to myself. I took courses in various arts/crafts, something I didn’t have time for as an undergrad, and some of those have become lifelong hobbies/avocations that provided me with income when I stayed home with kids. The other big bonus of graduating: you can read anything you want.</p>
<p>I wish someone would tell my husband (research scientist) to leave his work at the lab. He spends 90% of his awake time at home reading journals, PhD theses, reading admissions application, or writing grants.</p>
<p>When you are working, you lose the ability to control your schedule. In college, if you don’t want morning classes, you can schedule your way out of them. But if the boss says the hours are 8-5 with an hour for lunch …guess what the hours are. </p>
<p>And if you lose a day (on an hourly job) you don’t get to “make up the time” at your convenience. Rather, if you even get to “make it up” it will be when the organization needs you.</p>
<p>At 20 years old, unless you are independently wealthy, you will still have close to 50 years to work (until retirement) so take the time now to focus on your education. </p>
<p>Do this so that you can be in the postion where you can make choices (when you are in school) vs. having choices made for you (which happens a lot in the world of work).</p>
<p>College is a thinking process, where the student can have the time and freedom to explore new ideas and options under the mentorship of experienced and learned masters. On the job, you have a task to complete, and the goal is to get it done on time and on budget. College is not for everyone, but it builds leadership and creative problem solving skills, not to mention a love of learning.</p>
<p>I greatly admire my BIL who finally got to college at age 50. He is brilliant, reads a lot, but also suffered from dyslexia before it had a name (in his city, anyway). School was a nightmare for him. His older 4 brothers all got advanced degrees. Forunately, they knew he was just as smart as they were, and nobody ever put him down for it.</p>
<p>He married a h.s. sweetheart and nurse. They have two lovely daughters, now in college. Money was always tight for them. Now, they all do their homework together. Meanwhile, he has 3 jobs including as a custodian, pizza man. ONe evening he even worked with his D as the boss.</p>
<p>What I noticed is how much better he thinks and writes now that he’s actually in college. He used to read a book and argue points from it, but without comparing or contrasting any ideas. Now, because of the training of college work, he stays with his point as he debates an idea from the book with the brothers. When he writes a simple email of family news, the logic hangs together and the wording is beautiful. </p>
<p>It is very hard for him because he has a mortgage, college tuitions to pay for his girls, night jobs…and yet he felt it crucial to get that college degree. Sometimes he has to be polite, for example, when his history professor teaches about the Nixon years and makes an error about Watergate, he knows it because he lived right through those times. Although he’s a friendly guy, there’s no chance he’ll make friends with classmates in their early 20’s. He had to get them to stop calling him “Sir.”</p>
<p>I think he’d be the first to tell anybody: life is “easiest” by FAR if you get your college degree when you are on the younger side of life. Getting it much later is always possible, but life is MUCH harder that way.</p>