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Most people who go to college do so not because they enjoy sitting in stuffy lecture halls while listening to monotone-voiced professors, but so they can carve out a better place for themselves in the world when they graduate. Or at least, that is what most expect.
Still, there are plenty of indifferent college students floating through the motions. This same indifference will continue after graduation as they wonder why no employer calls after submitting résumés to the Monster.com or CareerBuilder black holes.
A new study from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston found that college graduates who take jobs below their education level not only earn less, but also trail the earnings of other graduates who were able to secure career-track employment upon graduation.
Students who settle are the ones simply going through the motions of taking classes without a clear focus of where they want to end up after graduation. Some even go to school blindly with no major and hope that eventually they’ll fall into a cushy job just because they went to college. What a stupidly expensive and risky proposition on your future—the world doesn’t work that way.
Take just a few unscientific examples of individuals I have encountered. One student just finished her associates degree at the local community college. She says she wants to be a nurse, but none of her classes fulfilled the nursing pre-requisites. Now she’s discouraged that she wasted two years pursuing a degree that isn’t quite what she needs.
A communication student is currently looking for an internship. He said the bad economy is preventing him from getting any work, but the truth is, he hasn’t been networking or really taking ownership to secure an internship. He has the secret hope that someone will just call and offer a job.
My point in all of this is that you have to plan ahead and take responsibility. You can’t leave your future up to fate or naive wishing that things will simply turn out because you showed up. Find a mentor, a career counselor, a professional who can help coach and guide you through the logistics and obstacles of ending up where you want to be.
In the end, there is no one to blame for your failures and disappointments except yourself. Too many people are trapped in a state of indifference and lack the ambition to develop the necessary problem solving skills to compete in the world.
General curiosity, without the need to particularize the hell out of it, should be encouraged.It seems the principal thrust of this article is to do just that - penalize and marginalize those who didn't "know from the day they started first grade what they wanted to become." What's important is knowing that you want to become.Get over it!
It's really hard to find a job in your chosen field if you've never done it professionally.