The First Post-College Job: How Picky Should Your Kid Be?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Earlier today I had a conversation with a mom of a recently-graduated but unemployed college grad. He attended one fo the top state schools in Virginia. She mentioned a job-salary-commute package that he didn’t want to consider. It’s a fairly standard job-commute in the DC area. I mentioned that I had looked at my alma mater’s job placement data for the most recent year available. The job that her S doesn’t want to consider is “on the money”. Later I looked at his alma mater’s job data – and it is also on the money. </p>

<p>My theory is that you don’t get your first raise until sometime after you get your first job. </p>

<p>What guidance would you offer?</p>

2

<p>I’m not sure I understand what you mean by “on the money” in this context. Are you saying it is a typical starting job and salary for his field in your region?</p>

<p>If so, he should probably take it, unless he is willing to move elsewhere. If it is not in his field, and he is holding out for a job that will take him where he wants to go, career-wise, that is another matter.</p>

3

<p>What does this kid find objectionable to this job? Sounds like an average commute and an average salary. If that is the case, what is he holding out for…and what does he feel the likelihood of getting that dream job is?</p>

<p>How many interviews has he had? Has he been NOT offered a number of other jobs? Has he declined others for the same reasons?</p>

4

<p>My advice would be simple: “It’s easier to get a job when you have a job.” Take this one, and if it’s not what you want, continue looking. Employers today prefer to hire those who are currently employed; some go so far as to say that the unemployed need not apply.</p>

5

<p>On the money – yes it matches up the the starting salaries posted by several comparable colleges for his degree. I think he’s in the wishful thinking stage. He’s sent lots of resumes, gotten a few interviews, but not landed a job yet. I’m right with Chedva on this. </p>

<p>I sent Mom the salary stats so that she can have a discussion with him based on what she sees. </p>

6

<p>We are currently carrying our recent-graduate son who is completing an internship in broadcast journalism. This is over the end of July. He knows he has to find something to do by then - it can be as a photographer at the TV station where he’s interning (which he doesn’t really want) or it can be bagging groceries or flipping burgers. It’s his choice. </p>

7

<p>I think most of the kids go through a magical thinking stage where it’s all going to be fun and games and lots of money. Reality kicks in eventually. I’m suggesting my son should look to get PAID. (No more free interning. Period.) </p>

<p>Volunteering for a non profit charitable organization would be under the category of networking. </p>

<p>I think he should take a job in a field and a company he has some interest in, but not necessarily hold out for the dream job, and figure he needs to make enough money to essentially support himself. If he can’t make that kind of money, then he can live at home. and we will subsidize <em>that</em> for a period of time TBD. (I am not subsidizing the dream apartment in the dream city for the dream job that pays poverty wages.</p>

<p>But I agree, they may have to settle for a less-that-ideal situation to get started.</p>

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<p>Not picky. At all. Getting paid is better than not getting paid in almost every circumstance. You can always keep looking</p>

9

<p>I see dozens of these cases every year IRL. Unless the kid is getting dialysis and has a medical need to be close to home, I cannot imagine not telling my kid, “You may need to relocate for your first job. You may need to compromise on the length of your commute. You may have to decide between a bad job at a great organization, or a great job at a bad company. You may have to choose between a high salary and terrible lifestyle, or a great work/life balance but a lower salary. Welcome to adulthood. What do you think your parents have been doing all these years to keep a roof over your head and pay your cellphone bill? Life is full of tradeoffs”.</p>

10

<p>My D’s first job out of school (and she was a top student at a top college) was as a barista at a well-known chain. 8 months or so later, she got a fabulous job that pays more than I earn … they loved the fact that she had been willing to work like she did, and she later found out that her hiring salary was higher than the typical new hire. If it’s a choice between doing nothing and working, I think working wins. </p>

<p>Another couple weeks and my newly-graduated S will be stocking aisles at the grocery store where he worked summers … since the job he seems to think will drop from the sky has not yet materialized. ;)</p>

11

<p>Last year, after graduating, my niece waited tables while looking for an entry level position in the field she had majored in–one of those hot, trendy industries that pays low wages at the start. She finally got a low-rung job in exactly where she wants to be–basically it’s a admin asst/ gopher kind of position, but they will promote to her actual field in a year or two if she stays. When hired, she was told that having waitressing on her resume put her ahead of other hopefuls with otherwise similar credentials.</p>

12

<p>“She mentioned a job-salary-commute package that he didn’t want to consider. It’s a fairly standard job-commute in the DC area.”</p>

<p>Yes, but the salary might not be enough to make that commute worth it to him. I’ve turned down work when I realized that the net didn’t justify the time and commuting cost.</p>

<p>If the salary isn’t enough to justify the commuting expenses, he needs to consider relocating to a place where the commuting costs would be lower, or restrict the geographic area of his job search.</p>

13

<p>I’m in the camp that says TAKE IT (speaking from experience, it’s so much easier to find a new job when you already have one). However, I’m curious:</p>

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<p>Why doesn’t this young man want to take the job? Is it primarily the salary or the commute?</p>

14

<p>I’m actually surprised the mother would talk salary numbers with you. I wonder if the son knows she is talking about the salary he is being offered to other people? Both of my kids work in the DC area. Does he want to specifically work in that area? It is appealing to young people but the cost of living is high.</p>

15

<p>I think it is valid to ask why the kid didn’t want to take the position. Did he feel it was too far outside his chosen field? If so, as others have pointed out, work experience, no matter what it is, can help towards getting a new job, because it is work experience. Does he feel it is beneath him somehow? Besides what I just pointed out, most jobs you get out of college are going to be relatively low level, unless someone already has accumulated a lot of experience, you are going to be on the bottom rungs, because quite frankly, coming out of college you really only are beginning to understand things, I don’t care if you are doing engineering or comp science or an english major, there is a stiff learning curve. Does he think the working environment is harsh or unfriendly? That one to me may be more significant, working in a toxic environment despite what some say is not a character builder and the lessons it teaches often hinder, not help, future jobs IME, and unless he absolutely needs the money, if toxic is may not be worth doing. If the commute is average for the region, that shouldn’t be a factor, and if the salary is decent /typical, it is not likely he would do much better, and one of the things he is going to need to learn is all jobs are compromise. Generally, if you are seeking high income jobs, they tend not to be the kind of jobs where you work 9-5 Monday to Friday, they generally demand a lot more, so if he is looking for something, for example, that pays above the typical starting salary and allows him to leave at 4 on a Friday afternoon, he is going to find it rough going.</p>

<p>I obviously don’t know much about the kid in question, but it is common as others have said for some kids coming out of college, especially if they feel they have come out of a ‘top school’ in a ‘top program’, that that is going to translate into higher salary offers and such out of school. I have been interviewing kids out of school for well over 20 years as a hiring manager (tech field), and in general, they decide what the position is going to pay and then hire the candidate they can get for it. Having that degree from the name school with great gpa and such might get you in the door and maybe a job offer, but it isn’t going to get you that great starting salary, it doesn’t work like that in my experience (yes, there are exceptions, sometimes a kid comes out who has already done brilliant things before graduating, but they are outliers, where there is a bidding war for them, but in general, the kind of positions that pay above the average, pay above the average across the board,they generally don’t offer more if you went to A than school B, where A is considered “better” than B). A lot of kids come out of college assuming that if they come out of, let’s say an Ivy, that that is going to automatically boost what is offered to them, what happens (again, in my experience), is that showing you did well in a top program will get you in the door a lot easier, and may make getting an offer easier. Like I said, there are exceptions, you come out of a top business school and get hired by an investment bank, it is a lot of $$$$, but anyone hired like that would be getting a similar salary…</p>

<p>Anyway, if asked I would probably tell him if the job was in an area he had interest in or could further his ability to get a position in something he wants to do, and it didn’t look toxic, to take it, gain experience, then seek out what he wants to do. If is he holding out because he thinks he ‘deserves better’, I think he needs to look around at reality and what kids coming out of college face, especially these days, and realize that it is harder then ever to get your foot in the door to the stairs leading up, and if you can get in there, that is half the battle:)</p>

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<p>None, unless it was specifically requested. </p>

17

<p>Maybe I’m naive, but as a new grad, I am not willing to take a job where I know I’m going to be miserable (if the location is completely unappealing, or if the values of the department or institution do not at all line up with mine.) This is especially true for me since I will be working in University Housing, so I will be living where I work. It’s a 24/7 job, so I feel I am allowed to be at least somewhat picky. My parents have thankfully supported this and are allowing me to live at home while I look for something. If the current round of interviews (I’ve done 3 this week) don’t work out, I will start substitute teaching so I at least have something to do and have some income (and at least it’s still in education.) </p>

<p>That being said, I have been flexible about location (as long as it’s in or near a major city, which is important to me), size (under 20,000 students), and type of institution (public or private, just no community colleges or for-profits which usually don’t have much housing anyway.)</p>

<p>Something to put on a resume is not worth the expense of my happiness.</p>

18

<p>Scout, primarily the commute. If he were to take the HOT lanes it would probably be a 35 minute commute during rush hour. When he moves out of mom and dad’s house, he could live on a metro line. If he’s not paying rent while living at home, the HOT lanes would be easily affordable. As far as I know he has not been offered that job.</p>

19

<p>I think mom discussed it with me because we have known each other for years, my D also just graduated, and my DH is in a company that hires a fair number of young people to work on various government consulting projects.</p>

20

<p>Take the job and set a goal of not being there for more than 12 months. I agree with the poster that said it is much easier to get a job when you already have one. I think the worse possible scenario for any college grad is to be living in the same house with their parents with nothing to do all day. Especially after living independently for 4 years. Nothing to lose taking the job and let’s face it, it’s income and gives some structure to your day. You can alway continue the job hunt while working.</p>