<p>I want to bust a few myths here:</p>
<p>1. College degree vs. job vs. “something to fall back on.” It’s nice when a college degree provides an easy entry into a job in field of study, but a person does NOT have to work in the same area/field that they majored in; and it is not necessary to have specific training or certification to get a good job. </p>
<p>I have a law degree but I don’t currently practice law. I do a lot of semi-technical work (internet/computer related) and am entirely self-taught in terms of skills. I consider my employment to be very steady & secure.</p>
<p>My son dropped out of college two years ago. He has been steadily employed every since, often in a management capacity. He’s restless so he’s put out his resume again to change jobs, and he is looking at all sorts of interesting positions that branch out from what he has been doing. My son does plan to complete college - a BA is worth a lot in terms of salary and promotions – but he is in no way confusing “college” with employability. When he moves from one job to another he looks for work that expands the range of his skills and experience. </p>
<p>Whatever the first job after college, it will help build skills leading to other work. There is nothing wrong with studying to get a certificate that will help build employability, but there can be a big problem with spending too much money on attaining the credential at a time when the person could be generating income and gaining valuable work experience. Quite simply, I worry about whether my son will ever get around to completing his degree, but I’m not at all worried about his ability to hold down a job and make good money. He’s doing fine financially and has proved himself now to be capable and well-liked in the workplace. The hard part is finding the time to go back to school. </p>
<p>2. The linear approach to college + grad school. The college-to-grad-school path does not have to be done in consecutive years straight out of high school. It is o.k. to take time off in order to work – and a person who is concerned about grad school and debt can spend 2 or 3 years working, paying off the undergrad debt, before starting grad school. Employers sometimes pay really nice benefits – my son’s last employer offered student loan assistance to help new hires to pay off their loans. Employers will also often subsidize graduate level study. Sometimes this doesn’t work out to studying at a traditional college – for example, the employer may pay for part time study or distance learning courses – but there are a lot of options other than borrowing a ton of money to help move toward a graduate degree.</p>
<p>It seems to me that the problem with the students profiled in the article is that they simply don’t see or understand the options that they have. A person who is making $65K a year but chooses to only make the minimum payment on a $20K student loan, and then bemoans the lack of ability to pursue a graduate degree is simply an individual who is not managing money or planning well. </p>
<p>3. Something to “fall back on”.
The problem with training for something “to fall back on” is that it often involves studying for something that the person has no passion for – and then it doesn’t really lead down the right career path. Instead of opening doors, that kind of thinking can close doors: I feel kind of sorry for adults I know who are unhappy with their careers, but feel that they are stuck doing with whatever they have trained for and are afraid to try something new or creative. Fortunately, I know a great career counselor I can send my lawyer friends to, who does a great job in helping people understand how those lawyer-skills transfer to just about any other career imaginable. </p>
<p>The point is: its best to figure out what you want to do, and then go about figuring how to get into that field. If further training is required, then of course the person should get it – but to get the training in something that the person is not interested in as a “fall back” position is distraction, detour, and unnecessary expense that is going to detract from the person’s ability to pursue their real goal. </p>
<p>4. Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief. One of the biggest myths: you don’t have to fit a professional category in order to develop a rewarding career. It would take me 20 minutes to explain to anyone all of what I do these days to earn my living… in fact, it is really difficult for me to come up with an appropriate title. Sometimes I tell people I’m a “consultant” and sometimes I say “writer” and some times I say “web designer”…and not one of those labels adequately describes what I do. But the people who work with me know exactly what my responsibilities are and what I can do… its just one of those situations where when people want me, they ask for me by name. </p>
<p>I admit it was somewhat disconcerting when I went from having a clear descriptive title (“lawyer”) to working at something that couldn’t be so easily explained… but that’s life. It would take me a while to explain exactly what my son does, too (I keep getting it wrong and he keeps correcting me). </p>
<p>The way you get into this kind of multi-faceted career profile is simply by working. You kind of establish a reputation of being good at certain things and at the same time you build a network of people who have worked with you, and someone offers you a slightly different type of work that expands on your skill set… and so it goes. </p>
<p>=============</p>
<p>So - to Steel: quit worrying, and let your son figure this out for himself. Your son is right; you are mistaken. He will get out of college with his degree in psychology, get a job, and learn on the job. The job he gets with that degree may not have anything to do with psychology – but it will be gainful employment that will pay him better because he happens to have a college degree. Depending on whether or not he likes the job, he will figure out what to do with the rest of his life and career. It’s going to be o.k.</p>