I have noticed a trend. What is the trend you ask?? (with baited breath as always!). The trend is this: when people have finished with formal education, be it high school, college, graduate school, medical school, trade school, or so forth, there seem to be two “schools” of people:
-There are the people who say “Hurray”, grab their diploma as fast as they can and run off to the working world, never to set foot in an educational institution again, perhaps until parent teacher conferences at the kids’ school.
OR
-There are the folks who turn learning into a never ending story of certificates, degrees, and various letters after their last names’.
People who choose both tracks are able to find success in many different capacities; so what is the best track to choose after college has ended? There are pros and cons for both scenarios. Let’s take a look…..
People who choose to enter the workforce, directly after receiving a diploma, have a few hurdles to overcome when perusing a career (these are assumptions based on a 4 year college graduate, but are not limited to that experience) . They face the challenges of little experience, few opportunities in their desired field, poor starting salary ($25,000 as a starting salary? Really? Oh before taxes, awesome!), little or no benefits (health care after 90 days– don’t get sick or hurt in that meantime!), long hours, and more often than not, unpleasant tasks (getting the boss, who will take forever to even learn your name, coffee– he likes 3 sugars, not 2!) associated with their potential job.
On the opposing side, despite the fact there may be more sweat equityinvolved in this path, the years of experience are extremely valuable. While others are in graduate school earning their masters’ degrees, you have now accumulated 2-4 years worth of solid experience with a company and, with all luck, have learned some valuable skills in the process. They, on the other-hand, have probably accumulated somewhere between $50,000-$100,000 or more worth of debt that they have to pay off after graduation. Having those years of work experience could prove to be helpful if you are then hired by a company that has tuition reimbursement. Ka-Ching! However, if you are not the type to take advantage of those types of benefits, you will likely have a slow progressive climb up the corporate ladder, which at a certain point, will cease due to your lack of education.
For the folks who choose the school after school road there are pros and cons as well. For those who decide graduate school is the way to go, you will spend the better part of your twenties living in the library, writing papers, and pulling your hair out. All the while accumulating that $50,00 to $100,000 and more in school loans (unless you are truly blessed and grandma left you a heft hunk of money in the will, most people have to get loans). Plus, depending on the type of graduate program you are in, you are required to do unpaid internships etc that take up about 90% of your time, so working to pay bills such as rent and water (much less trying to balance a social life, family, shower and 3 square meals a day) can be a challenge to say the least.
However, when the graduate student finishes they are often able to bypass their working-for-the-weekend peers, with great speed, in both salary and corporate rank because of their academic credentials. However, the recent grads need to do this so they can pay off those gnarly loans…
So what’s the best course of action? Well, I guess that all depends. If you are the type of person who changes their mind and likes to live by the seat of your pants, graduate school might not be the best idea. While it is very honorable to have that work under your belt, if you don’t have a clear career path, it could all be for naught. Also, if get a masters’ in something too general you may have done yourself as much a disservice as not getting one (depending on the situation) because you don’t have specific enough of a knowledge-base in any particular area (which basically defeats the purpose of a masters’ degree).
If you are a planner, have know you wanted to be in a certain career path since birth and are passionate about that field, go to grad school, get the masters’, PhD, and any other certification, letter behind your name, vanity license plate, secret society, tattoo, associated with the field. O.K. maybe I am getting a little carries away. Just be prepared to be learning for the rest of your life.
FYI- this advice is all coming from a person who graduated from college with a bachelors of arts, majoring in Sociology, minoring in Gender Studies and Criminal Justice. I have worked as a waitress, a butcher, a Barista, a personal assistant, a Real Estate Agent, and now a Continuing Education sales rep.
I have considered the following occupations: Personal Trainer, Forensic Pathologist, Psychologist, College Professor, Interior Decorator, Fashion Designer, Entrepreneur…Hmm, I wonder which category I fall into. Ultimately, just do what you are passionate about, weigh the cost benefit, and if you are like me, you get bored, and then, move on to something else new and exciting!
