What Color Is Your Parachute? (18 page)

The late Srully Blotnick, a PhD in business psychology, decided to find out what happened to people who decided to “go for the money.” He studied the career choices and financial success of fifteen hundred people, who were divided into two groups. Group A (83 percent of the people in the study) chose a career because they believed they could earn a lot of money doing it. Group B (17 percent of the study group) chose a career because of their passion and desire for that work. Who do you think made more money?

If success is defined as getting high-skill/high-wage work—and for most teens this is at least part of the definition—then a prerequisite is gaining an understanding of what they need to compete for good jobs. Is a degree enough? No, it is no longer enough.

—PROFESSOR KENNETH C. GRAY, author of
Getting Real: Helping Teens Find Their Future

Twenty years later, 101 of the fifteen hundred had become millionaires. One hundred of them were from group B, those who made choices based on passion. Only one millionaire was from group A, those who chose their career to make money. This means that you are one hundred times more likely to be financially successful if you do work you enjoy. Now, of course, there’s nothing that says you can’t combine college and your passion. College can be a good place to find and develop your passion and then hone your skills for taking your passion out into the world. College can also be a good place to build a network of friends and acquaintances who can help you pursue your passion professionally.

“But I’m not sure what my passion is or what work I want to do,” you say. “Should I go to college or not?” Although it is possible to go to college without being certain what you want to do when you get out, it’s not advisable, especially if you haven’t been academically strong in high school. Even students with A averages have difficulty completing bachelor’s degrees. Again, on average, over 50 percent of all teens fail at their first attempt at higher education. About half of that 50 percent drop out between their sophomore and junior year. Why then? Because they don’t know what major they want to declare.

If you do make it through and get a degree, if you had no idea what you wanted to do when you started college, odds are you’ll graduate the same way.
Is this a bad thing? Usually. The good jobs for college grads have most often been taken by those who had clear career goals. By their sophomore year, students with career focus generally have summer jobs or internships that give them good experience and add to their network of contacts. If you come out of college with over $30,000 in debt and no job prospects, life gets very stressful.

A lot of so-called blue collar trade jobs are now more highly paid than a lot of white collar jobs. So, if we’re talking about worthwhile jobs that are interesting, challenging and well paid, then that sort of white collar/blue collar distinction is not a very good indication, any longer, of what goes on in the labor market.

—The Honorable MICHAEL CULLEN, New Zealand Minister of Higher Education and Finance

Students tend to think that college will be this wonderful time of exploring their interests and finding job opportunities to match.
Community colleges do usually have students take assessments or a career planning course to guide their studies. But, in all higher education, the reality is that you will have to actively seek out these experiences, and the majority of students do not. About one in every three students enter and graduate from their university without having a clue what they are going to do with their education. When questioned, it becomes clear that they did not seek career advice or planning. The “wait and see what I fall into” game has been a great boon for coffee houses seeking baristas. Since only a third of liberal arts graduates (and just half of grads from all majors combined) get jobs that need their education, there are a lot of college grads doing jobs that don’t have anything to do with their interests or education. They gripe “I got a degree for this?” Yes. Just imagine what you could be doing if you’d created a good plan for using your education.

Most students would be wise to start their higher education at a community college. It can be near where you live now or near the university to which you hope to transfer. In most cases, the first two years are spent meeting general requirements, allowing you to explore many different subjects. Community colleges encourage career exploration. That exploration may help you find fields that fascinate you and identify work that appeals to you. You can then choose a major accordingly. If you do want to go on to get your bachelor’s degree, make sure you take classes that will transfer.

You can also take your education in stages. While in high school, see if there are
Tech Prep classes you can take. Studies show that students who participate in Tech Prep programs are more likely to graduate from high school, more likely
to go on to college, and more likely to get a college degree. Tech Prep and similar career tech programs let you explore an occupation and get skills that will help you support additional studies with jobs that pay well. Since 84 percent of college students work, a job that pays more than minimum wage lets you work less and study more. If your high school doesn’t have Tech Prep classes, after you are sixteen you can probably attend community college while still in high school. Or, after you graduate, obtain an associate of arts degree or a certificate that increases what you can earn. Work a while, then go to school for a while. You may have to go through this cycle several times until you achieve your ultimate career goal. This is called an “education ladder.” (For a short video on education ladders, visit
www.igot2know.com/index.php?videoid=782&partnerid=34
.) For generations, this option for achieving educational goals has been chosen by students who are ambitious but do not have a plump pocketbook. For some careers, you must have a bachelor’s degree. If that’s true for you and you really want to start at a university, be sure to check out scholarships and grants that may enable you to do just that with less borrowed money.

Where you go after high school, whether you go to college and which college you go to, is much less important than
what
you study.

—RICH FELLER, PhD, author of
Knowledge Nomads and the Nervously Employed

It’s also important to remember that college isn’t just studying and going to classes. The social and cultural aspects—making new friends from different parts of the country and the world, attending special events, enjoying the arts—also have an impact on your whole life. Friends you make in college often remain friends—and potential job-search contacts—for life.

As you can see, there are many factors to consider when deciding whether or not to go to college. The answer isn’t an easy yes or no. It’s important to remember, though, that the choice you make today doesn’t prevent you from making another choice later. If you choose to go to work right out of high school, you can still go to college later—although if you have a family of your own that may present a new set of challenges.

Your career goals and work experience—as well as your determination to finish college—can enhance your college experience. If you begin college and find that technical training is more appropriate for the work you want to do, you can switch to a technical program. However, if you’ve done information interviews, ideally you’ve learned whether a college degree or training is the best career preparation as well as which particular college degree or type of
training you should pursue. According to Ken Gray’s
Getting Real
, one-third of college freshmen drop out within the first three weeks. Few get refunds on tuition or dorm fees, so several thousand dollars can be lost. Information interviews can help you save lots of money and help you make choices you will stick with.