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If you could do it all over again?
I just had lunch with one of R?s cousins. She?s about to start her senior year in college. She?s a biology major and she doesn?t know what she wants to do after she graduates. She?s thinking about grad school and mostly thinking that she doesn?t want to go to medical school. She wanted to know more from me about going to grad school for architecture or engineering to try to get an idea if that might be a good way for her to look.
She really doesn?t know what she wants to do, she has a few general ideas, but I think she?s struggling because she can?t say ?I want to have job x and so I need degree y to get there?, KWIM? She?s getting pressure from her dad about grad school and going into something with good job prospects. But of course I reminded her that there are no guarantees. I got a good degree and found the perfect job out of college?and I was unemployed for 14 months because of the economy. And I assured her that there are a lot of people who don?t know what they want to do at her age, and that I know what I want a lot better now than I did when I was 22.
If you could give advice to your college-aged self, what would you say?
Re: If you could do it all over again?
Well I was in her shoes- in a way. Bio major who came to the realization I wasn't going to get into a veterinary school (and maybe I didn't really want to even be a vet) and I didn't know what else I would do with a bio degree. So I changed majors.
i think i found a career that is a good fit for me. but it isn't anything that I am passionate about. but i get satisfaction from other parts of my life, and I am ok with work just being work and not some inspirational part of my day. I struggled with that some in my 20s but now I am more settled and content I guess.
If I could do it again, I may go to medical school. Or I may have accepted my master's admissions from 2004 and gone on to teach. (Instead I bought a house.)
Tell your cousin that I have a biology degree (molecular biology & genetics) and am doing work as a project manager in an electrical engineering company for 15 years because it paid more than science and at the time, money talked.
To me, the 4 year degree anymore is just to satisfy the requirement of getting ANY job. Didn't really matter much so long as you had a degree.
Does your cousin like working with people a lot, or does she like to be alone? In science, if you don't mind working solo a lot, research can be a viable avenue for her. I know that for me, I needed more interaction with people which is why I left research.
I would tell her to think about the way she wants her career to fit into the rest of her life. I came out of school with a broadcasting degree and a job in TV. TV jobs have crappy hours that aren't really conducive to a "normal" home life. The pay stinks, and the job opportunities are limited.
I also didn't find the work very meaningful. And I currently hate watching the news. :-P
I'd think with a biology degree she could be a lab tech or something, at least for awhile while she's figuring out what she wants to do. I work at a company in the science field (without a science degree) and I know that they look for people with science degrees to be marketing segment managers/sales reps/writers, etc. So if she's interested in that sort of thing it might be worth looking into getting an MBA, Masters in Marketing or something similar.
She could get her teaching certificate and teach.
Well, I still don't know what I want to do at 38!
I changed my major several times in college, finally settling on Human Development & Family Studies. My senior year, I took an internship course to explore the different fields that people with my major went into after college. At the end of the course, I was offered my dream internship in the Child Life Specialist program at Children's Hospital. I chickened out because I didn't think I could handle it emotionally, I also thought that the money and opportunity would be better with a career in HR (bwahahahaha!), so I went in that direction.
Now, I am burnt out and find that I really can't stand most people (which is the opposite reason I went into HR). I also wish I was doing something that had more meaning - or was at least appreciated occasionally for the work that I do. I do wonder where my career would have taken me had I accepted the internship at Children's, but I can't really say I wish I would have done it differently. Had I not gone into HR, I would not have met DH and I'm sure my life would be completely different.
If I could give myself advice then, it would have been to take more risks vs. always making the safe or "guaranteed" choice. Also, just because you choose to go down one path, doesn't mean you can't turn around and go down another.
In any event - is there any kind of internship program, job shadowing program, etc. that she could get involved in to maybe give her more clarity on what direction she wants to go? Any kind of networking or clubs she could get involved in?
I think it's very common to feel that way! I had a BS in psych which is limited in what you can do but also so general that you can do stuff with it. My parents actively persuaded me against it. But I made it work for me. Through my school work I learned I loved research so I got a research job out of college. Then took a couple different jobs in different types of research and finally got my masters (mph) but it was free through work.
My first suggestion would be to see of she can just start working to get a feel for what she wants to do before going to grad school. Nowadays I would not want to saddle myself with more school debt when a masters does not guarantee you a job. Like I said I worked at a place with tuition benefits so I got my degree for free. So glad I didn't pay for it! It has helped me be more marketable in this economy but I don't think it drastically increased my pay in my field,
But I also know its hard to find jobs now! My bil went on to grad school right away because he couldn't get a job and got one fairly quickly after grad school but I think that is definitely field dependent. I think she really needs to start thinking long and hard about what she is interested in and maybe just trying/learning about different options
Oh and would I do things differently? Maybe but I did the best I could for myself at the time.
I didn't find out until I was pg and had dd that I would love to be a lactation consultant. Unfortunately I was finishing up my masters at the time and the thought of more classes to do something different was too much for me!!! I'm hoping to eventually get involved with some BFing research studies so I can combine both my interests.
Sometimes your interests and passions change. There was no way I could have predicted I would have been so passionate about this topic back in my 20s. I didn't even want kids for the longest time!! Things change and I hope someday I can do something that more closely matches my interest. And now I realize I have lots of interests and new things. I toy with the idea of doing photography but they may be something I do when dd is grown up and I have more experience. But I still like what I do today. And I have found that a good work environment means more to me than just the type of work I'm doing.
And Luckystar said, "My first suggestion would be to see of she can just start working to get a feel for what she wants to do before going to grad school."
Both very good advice! I changed majors three times, colleges twice. I graduated with a degree in graphic design and ended up in PR/Mktg (went on to get my Masters in Corporate Communications while working for a company who helped pay for some of it). Every career choice I have pursued and earned, has played off the previous step. And in the end, having a GD degree has been beneficial bc it has supplemented my work - I understand designers and why and how they do what they do, which helps my work!
That said, no person I know who is in Mktg says that they were smart to choose that field! It's long hours, little pay and an "easy to burn out" field. I got out of it when Gavin was almost 2 because the long hours were not conducive to having a family (for me at least).
My advice would be what Meghan said - don't be afraid to take risks - and that's not even just career-wise. Don't settle! Your cousin needs to look at herself and see what drives her - is it helping people, is it research, is it looking for answers, is it traveling, managing herself?
While I wonder if I made the right decisions, career-wise, I don't know what other job I would be as good at. Maybe Nursing/Medical field, but I don't have the science side of the brain needed for that!
My three sons!
I agree with this. If you love what you do, it makes it so much easier to accept the sacrifices that come along with it. (And their are ALWAYS sacrifices....whether its time, salary, or something else.) What does she feel called to? Where is her heart, her passion?
It may take a little bit to find it, but now is the time to explore, take risks, and allow for some missteps. If she doesn't like the path she's on, now is the time to change it rather than starting over down the road. Later when she has more financial burdens, possibly a family, etc, those risks and missteps are harder to justify.
Good luck to your cousin!