May is graduation season, and the Internet is full of transcripts of commencement addresses, both those actually spoken at live ceremonies and others just written for virtual audiences. I’m about to deliver my own version of the latter. To all the soon-to-be and newly conferred graduates, I have some simple advice:
Don’t be afraid to start a career below your imagined pay grade. Whatever you think you should be earning or doing based strictly on your great degree, think again. Even though hiring is starting to pick back up a little, the job market is still pretty rough. The Wall Street Journal’s“Hire Education” blog is full of bright students/recent graduates just like you who’ve been looking for work for months. Read their thoughts and learn from them.
Continuing education can be your friend. Any relevant career-focused education you can supplement your degree “base” with might help you, especially in a time of job market competition saturated with traditional degree-holders. Fast, flexible online and classroom programs are available in a number of career-focused fields on the World Wide Web and at numerous physical campuses.
Go where the jobs are. Whether it means getting your education in fields with the highest career growth prospects or physically moving to places with an adequate supply of good jobs, position yourself properly. In the digital age, it’s much easier to stay in contact with friends and family back home—Skype, text messaging, smartphones—should you move out-of-state … or country. Reporters know to “go where the action is” … you should be open to doing the same if possible.
Be agile. Maybe you’ve heard of a time where a person who graduated from college got a job right away and was set for life with at least a decent wage. That was called “the 1950s,” and it’s over. Nowadays, people not only typically change jobs numerous times by the time they’re in their 30s, but careers. The world won’t come to you all wrapped up in a bow, and your job won’t be fixed like Stonehenge. Adaptability is one of the most valuable job skills of the new century.
I don’t watch TV outside of occasional sporting events, but if I did, you could bet I’d tune in to CBS at 9 p.m. on May 1. Why?
In a brilliant sweeps finale, the show “Undercover Boss” will feature University of California Riverside chancellor Timothy P. White. Yes, the school’s top leader spent a day among the people in a polo shirt with an impressive mustache, buzz-cut, and disguise eyeglasses. (As opposed to a suit and clean-shaven face sans glasses with parted, mid-length hair.) The promo photo says it all: this is a guy you don’t want to mess with.
“The typical bachelor’s degree program takes four years to complete, but there are ways to speed up the process. No tricks or shortcuts here though—graduating early means working a little harder than everyone else, and occasionally passing up the odd party to stay home and study. But your extra efforts can mean saving thousands of dollars in tuition, and getting a head start on a career.”
College is financially difficult for most people. It’s a lot of work, and not a lot of money. The struggle is supposed to be character building, which is a nice way to say frustrating. A few months ago, we posted an article that goes over the various student discounts available with that handy college ID card.
As the school year winds down, and student loans run low, I thought it’d be a good time to revisit that article:
As the expenses start to add up, it becomes painfully clear that when you’re a student, every bit of financial relief is a huge help. Businesses realize that you don’t have much money, and, unmotivated by profit or greed, will often lower prices in an act of pure compassion and generosity. It’s called the student discount, and while it’s not quite pure selflessness, it’s at very least mutually beneficial; student discounts can save you thousands of dollars, if you know where to look. Here are some of the more valuable student discounts, with links to each company’s student discount page where available.
Not long ago, we talked about how the Easy Bake Oven is an unlikely, but useful, dorm room appliance. But that may all be over next year. From Gizmodo, via The Consumerist:
Next year, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 will go into effect, starting with the ban of 100-watt incandescent light bulbs. With them go the Easy-Bake Ovens that have burned your mini treats a 100-watts at a time since 1963. While Hasbro has insisted they will recreate the toy to embrace modern trends, somewhere an inner child weeps for a simpler time.
What does this mean for the future of miniature confections? We’ll have to wait and see.
Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
We don’t usually get seasonal on this blog, but there is one kind of year-end tradition to which I will now surrender. To expose our newer readers to “oldies but goodies” and to give a small gift to the regular readers in the hopes that you might enjoy something you missed, I present (drumroll, please) … the double retrospective.
Second, here are the YSGTS blog’s own most popular posts from 2010 (or since we started in March). Thank you for reading, and we hope you continue to follow us next year!
