Building the Right Mind-Set for What Lies Ahead
When you are a new professional, you will be expected to continue learning and developing yourself. As you prepare for your career, keep in mind the following:
- A college degree does not guarantee employment. If competition from a faulty economy isn’t enough, consider what it will be like competing with hundreds of other college graduates earning the same degree as you and graduating at the same time! Postsecondary degrees earned between the fall of 1999 and the fall of 2009 increased by 41 percent, from 2.4 million to 3.4 million.3 With a college degree, however, more opportunities will be available, financially and otherwise, than if you do not have a degree. For those who pursue a degree and complete it, the payoff is substantial. On average, for example, Americans with bachelor’s degrees or higher make twice as much in annual income as those with a high school education or less.4 But just because you want to work for a certain organization or in a certain field doesn’t mean that a job will always be available for you there.
- You are, more or less, solely responsible for your career. Career development is a lifelong process, controlled only by you. At one time, organizations often provided structured “ladders” that employees could climb in their moves to higher professional levels. Although virtually all employees at all levels require some degree of training, in most cases opportunities to work your way up through an organization have disappeared. Companies might assist you with assessments and information on available positions in the industry, but the ultimate task of creating a career path is yours. Students who realize that they are responsible for managing their careers actively throughout their lifetime will be more successful and more satisfied than those who do not.
YOUR TURN
Write and Reflect
This week, find another student who has the same major as you. Ask that person his or her reasons for selecting this major. Does that person seem passionate about this major? Why or why not? Did this interaction change your ideas about the major? Reflect on your findings in a journal entry.
- To advance your career, you must accept the risks that accompany employment and plan for the future. As organizations continue to restructure, merge, and either grow or downsize in response to economic conditions, you must do your best to prepare for the unexpected. As has already been stated, in college you are learning perhaps the most vital skill of all: how to learn. A commitment to lifelong learning will help keep you employable and will arm you for opportunity regardless of the economy.
- Career choice is not permanent. College students often view the choice of a career as a monumental and irreversible decision, but this assumption is inaccurate. A career is the sum of your professional development decisions over a lifetime. There is no one correct occupation just waiting to be discovered. Rather, you might find many career choices fulfilling and satisfying. The question to consider is: What is the best choice for me now?
co-curricular experiences Learning that occurs outside the classroom, through on-campus clubs and groups, co-op programs, internships, or other means.
Now the good news: Hundreds of thousands of graduates find jobs every year, even in recessionary times. Some graduates might have to work longer to get where they want to be, but persistence pays off. If you start preparing now and continue to do so over the next few years in college, you’ll have time to build a portfolio of academic and co-curricular experiences that will begin to add substance to your career profile.