CollegeSurfing Insider

My cousin called me this weekend to catch up. During this conversation she told me she plans on switching her life plans - again. The college sophomore called me a couple of weeks ago to tell me she was going to switch her major and the other day when I talked to her she wanted to transfer out of school into a specialized program at a career school in a completely different city across the country. Let’s revisit her academic path thus far…

For as long as I can remember, my cousin was infatuated with New York. It was something she could never stop talking about. She expressed her love for the city as her “destiny”. So it was no surprise when she told me she was moving from the west coast to New York for college. She really loved being in the City and the people she met at school, but before her first semester was even up she decided it would be best to move back home. The classes weren’t keeping her attention and she wasn’t happy at school. She went home and enrolled in the local college and took summer classes to catch up on the classes she had missed.

Throughout this time she changed her mind on her major probably ten times. From Spanish language and literature to English lit to art history to international business she’s had a lot of ideas on what she’d like to experience when she “grows up”. She talked for a while of studying abroad for a full year in France or maybe Brazil or possibly Spain or maybe she would split the year into two semesters in different cities. But now, she doesn’t want to be where she is - the classes are just not for her and, as a result, she’s not performing to her fullest potential. She’s an extremely bright girl who can really do well, but she just needs to find her niche. She lives for fashion and truly enjoys working with it. Her new plan is to go to fashion school to really hone her skills and see what she can do from there.

My advice to her thus far has been this. She obviously has a lot of ambition. No one ever knows exactly what they want to do. Even after students graduate, they may not work in the field in which they majored and they can still excel. The most important thing is being happy where you are. If you’re miserable and you dread doing your work then perhaps the place you’re in is just not for you. I’d say think of what you like to do and really try to become really good at it. Take my cousin, for instance. If she ends up going to fashion school, she’s certain to learn very specific skills for the industry and then she can get a job where she’ll be able to showcase those skills and enjoy herself.

I recently spoke to a salon owner who was completely miserable once she moved from Colombia to the United States. Her life wasn’t the same as it was back at home and she gained a lot of weight from her serious depression. But once she went to school and found something she really liked to do, her quality of life became much better. She lost the weight and really enjoyed herself. She is now successful with one of the top salons in South Florida and never dreads a day of work.

The challenge is this: finding something you’re good at and that you really enjoy doing. And it may take career switching, extra schooling, changing jobs many-a-time. But once you find your place you’ll be that much happier and successful! Keep at it.

Check out some other helpful articles:
Is This Field For You?
Take a Career Aptitude Test Today
Two-Year Colleges in the Limelight

-Amanda Fornecker

Just read an interesting study about Gen Y that I thought was worth sharing. In a nutshell, 50 percent of Gen Y workers give employers six months or less to “prove themselves” before they move on to a new job. I guess being from Gen X, I find this concept bizarre. After all, I was always from the school of thought that is was the new employee that had to do the proving. But today’s workplace is far different, even from 10 or so years ago when I entered it. Says the press release:

“Gen Y’s are the most technology-savvy generation and grew up with immediate access to whatever they needed such as information or connections. They are able to identify new opportunities much more easily than any generation before them, so they tend to be impatient when told they have to wait and pay their dues.”

That from Executive Consultant Tim Vigue of Novations Group, a global consulting organization based in Boston who released the study. OK, I’ll buy that, but I think part of the phenomenon may have something to do with a feeling of entitlement that some of the younger generation’s workers graduate with. Of course, if a job or career doesn’t feel right you shouldn’t feel obligated to stay, which is why many people go back to school to try something new. But I think it’s fair to say that some people’s expectations are a little over the top.

For instance, I have a relative who was offered a near six-figure job right out of college. (Yes, I’m a tad jealous!) Just three weeks in, he started complaining that they’re working him too hard because he’s in the office until 8 p.m. every night. But what he neglected to mention was that he doesn’t start his work day until 11 a.m., and goes out for an hour-long lunch everyday with his bosses, on the company’s dime. Yeah… must be rough.

Vigue goes on to advise employers to let a new hire know that during the first several months, while the focus is on learning a job, mistakes are expected and may be viewed as opportunities for learning. “Reassurance such as this can go a long way to improving the likelihood that your Gen Y employees will stay.”

Come again? Maybe I’m too old school for my own good, but I just can’t picture my CEO apologizing in advance to an entry level worker for potentially hurting his feelings when he’s told he screwed up. New workers shouldn’t expect high-level executive decisions to get run by them either. Sorry, it just doesn’t work that way in the real world. At least not in my experience.

I was lucky that I found my fit and stuck with it. But I’m pretty sure my tolerance level and flexibility to go above and beyond my job description — even back when I was an intern — had something to do with that. And believe me, the nature of my work has dramatically evolved over the years. Incidentally, even after 10 years, I still try to prove myself everyday.

With today’s rough and tumble economy, choosing a school just got more complicated. It’s not just about course offerings, location, affordability, and reputation — you need to find out how they’ll help you after you graduate. In other words, imagine that part of that big fat tuition check is an investment into free career services later on, and use that as a factor in determining which school is right for you.

Check out what CareerJournal.com has to say about it:

Not-so-recent college graduates are demanding more career assistance from their former schools as they face tougher employment markets.

“This spring, I personally received more calls and emails from alums seeking job-hunting help than at any time in the past four years,” says Aspasia Apostolakis Miller, an official of the Northwestern Alumni Association.U.S. universities have begun to respond by creating job-search programs.

Nearly 20% now offer full-fledged efforts for alumni, up from just 5% five years ago, according to alumni-service specialists interviewed. And business schools in particular are stepping up aid for their graduates. Matthew Temple, Kellogg’s director of alumni career services, says he and fellow coaches handled 2,160 appointments with M.B.A. graduates during the eight months ended on April 30 — 45% more than the year-earlier period.

The good news is that schools are upping their efforts to help alumni. I know from personal experience, that my husband broke into the technology field thanks to a job placement program at the career school he attended. And my own alma mater has a career coaching program in which alumni make themselves available to mentor recent grads.

While finishing a program you’re just starting to research may seem like a lifetime away, you need to think ahead and ask questions like these:

• Does your school offer an on-site career center?
• Are resources like career aptitude tests available there?
• Are there resume/portfolio review services and/or mock interview sessions?
• Is there on-campus recruitment and interview opportunities?
• As an alumni, do I still have access to career services?

Essentially, going back to school is not just about learning a skill; it’s about leveraging a new network.