<p>Does anyone have a success story of their child moving from one job to another after graduation and then finally finding a career that made them happy? My son has a finance degree from a great school and can’t seem to find a job that he’s satisfied with. He has alot of ideas and started a business that didn’t work out and now has some new ideas to go into his own business. My husband and I sort of feel that he isn’t ready to grow up. I guess this thread is a take on “bad high school record, college success” stories.</p>
<p>S1 graduated with honors form a major university and had a horrible time landing a job he liked. Temped for while, took one with a company that went under and took one that only lasted 6 months until new manger came and decided to trash the computer system and do everything manually. He took time out to join/train Marine reserves and then went into the Government. At 27 he has now decided what he wants to do and is applying for his graduate work while working in a professional job that woudl also be a fine career. </p>
<p>S2 dropped out of college and has been working low level jobs for 3-4 years. He finally at age 25 went back to school this year with a plan and career in mind. </p>
<p>I think if they had good groundings they get there eventually. Sometimes it takes a while, though. With no obligations it is a great time to experiment to see what he really likes. Maybe finance wasn’t really his interest.</p>
<p>I knew a guy that started many businesses with many of them failing. He hit it big. In his 50s. There are some people that are just entrepreneurial and it can take a lot of failures before you succeed. As parents, I think that we’d generally prefer our kids to get something steady and stable but the twenties may be the best time to experiment and take risks as it gets harder as you get older.</p>
<p>My oldest son didn’t “start” regular college, he only went to orientation. He was already doing an internship in his chosen field. He left school and went to a weekend college for a year. </p>
<p>He is now a partner, at 25, in a prestigious talent agency, in the specialty that he loves. He is saving for a home (no small feat here), does very well financially, and has a good social life. </p>
<p>Take heart parents: There are many roads to success and happiness. Even if you are a math/science person and you give birth to an artist who does alternative art…embrace it. They just may surprise you.</p>
<p>Take heart parents, there are many paths to success and happiness.</p>
<p>For my graduate the problem isn’t finding work she loves, it’s finding work she loves that pays. She’s working in a top university museum, using her degree and really enjoying it…but the budget is <em>really</em> tight. I’m hoping she can find a way to make it work for the longer term. We’ll see.</p>
<p>Dd’s off in Turkey, learning and exploring. She’s funded, so it is not my issue any longer. After that, who knows? She has ideas for what she might like to do, but nothing definite. Since she hasn’t yet taken the GRE’s or LSAT, it won’t be grad school or law school next year… ahhhh. Life, what an adventure!</p>
<p>My S worked a few years after graduation and then decided it was time to do something different. He moved to a ski town, took a blue collar job, skiied a lot, learned to deal with all kinds of people, supported himself and even saved up thousands of dollars. Moved back to our city, found a job and is happy. The getting a job in your field after a break turned out to be really hard - he got to the final interview stage for several but the more traditional candidate got the job instead.
OTOH, he’s still glad that he did it, and I"m glad he ran off to be a ski bum at 24 instead of 40 when he might have kids to support…</p>
<p>DS will be starting on his #3 internship (2008) next week. There are hiring freezes in effect and he is picky in what he wants to do. He just got back from a job interview in Seattle (call them in January) and today flew to a 3 day job fair. </p>
<p>What you want is different than what you get. Just ask GWB.</p>
<p>Should one pick an internship this early for Summer 2009? First company has called to set up an interview. Son hasn’t applied for any of the others yet and is waiting on a professor for a Winter/Summer internship at the uni.</p>
<p>My son barely graduated from high school at the bottom of his class. He still managed to get into some decent colleges (this was 5 years ago-- what a difference a day makes), but only lasted one semester. He eventually went to art school, graduated, and landed a great job, right out of the gate. Now, he’s doing better than many of his h.s. classmates who were better students. Go figure. </p>
<p>Actually, it’s really no accident. He was a kid who could never get fired up by school, but always had his own passions that he would get quite obsessive about. This did not help him thrive in school, he was too much of a specialist. But now, in the real world? It turns out that he is very well suited to the demands of his field. Lucky for him, all they cared about was his portfolio, not his SAT scores, his GPA, or his EC’s. (Of course, he never cared about any of that either, which caused us much anxiety. We should have just had a little faith.)</p>
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<p>Note to self to embrace it. Friends said her major is sick. See urban definition.</p>
<p>[Urban</a> Dictionary: sick](<a href=“http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sick]Urban”>Urban Dictionary: sick)</p>
<p>I am comforted by everyone’s experience because my son is struggling in college. This thread gives me some hope.</p>