Question of the day, August 3

I think there are two big paths: The person who ‘knows’ what he wants to be (engineer, doctor, etc), and the person who doesn’t have an idea.

For the person who is undecided, I would encourage them to get a job, not to get into debt for an unknown college major, save money, and think about an occupation.

For both types of people I recommend they and talk with other folks – their parents / grandparents age and get some insight into what they want to get out of life.

Also, as far as occupation, do they want to sit at a desk or have more freedom? can the job be easily outsourced? Is there a career path?. They should get online and research the jobs available, and the pay.

I’d say figure out what it is that makes you happy, and then figure out a way to get paid doing it — if you are going to do something for the next 40+ years you damn well ought to be happy. Failing that, figure out what you can do for a living that pays enough while leaving you the most free time to actually live your life.

Good points from Dutchman….I would like to emphasize the out-sourcing problem. My daughter now 31, had a good paying job,($27/hour) involving a study which was to last 20 years. Into the third year, the study out sourced all the jobs to a computer robo-caller and expanded the study to 30 years!!

You just never know when technology takes over your job from you!!

For me it was roaming job to job for the first five years after graduation, before I made up my mind what I wanted to do. I have to add that those five years were the eye opener as to what options were available to me (with my education level) at the time.

Go to trade school . Learn a good skill. Then get a job to use that skill .In the meantime stay at home with your parents and save money.

bb has it right – go to a trade school and learn to actually build (or do) something with your hands that requires a skill – ultimately jobs like welders / plumbers / electricians / auto and diesel mechanics (jobs that cannot be outsourced) will always be in demand.

Well, to begin with, learning grammar is useful: it’s graduate FROM college and if it’s “an 18 year old” then it’s do with “his/her” life, not “their”, but this is just hair-splitting pedantry in a society that values vocational training over education for its own sake. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it’s sort of sad. If that sounds snobby, I guess that’s because it is. I like the idea of finishing re-seating and re-sealing the water filter, transplanting the tomato seedlings and reading a bit of Plotinus before preparing supper. Versatility is good. Reading is good. Useful skills are good. Vulgarity and sloppiness, not so good.

If the 18 yr old hasn’t already decided to go to college or a trade school, hasn’t found an apprenticeship of some sort, that 18 yr old had best find a mentor to provide some realistic guidance. Once upon a time, I’d have said “join the military”, but I’d think twice about that now.

Find a job and get a certificate in a trade.

Don’t be in a hurry to make a decision. You don’t believe it, but at the age of 18 you are scarcely out of the womb. Unless you have had a very unusual background, you don’t know much about the world or the various kinds of jobs there are, their advantages and disadvantages.

Figure out a way to spend some time in different environments, meeting different kinds of people. Try to understand your personality, likes, and dislikes. Reading articles in newspapers and junk websites about what kinds of jobs will be most in demand can mess you up. First, they are written by journalists, mostly very stupid people desperate to write about something or anything. Second, nobody knows what will be in demand 10 or 20 years from now. Most important: a career has to be a good fit for you. It doesn’t matter if international waste management consultants will be making fortunes in the future if that profession doesn’t fit your own temperament. Know thyself.

Ideally you shouldn’t even begin career training until you are in your 20s. I know you’re impatient and you want to get on with it, but don’t start on a path just because it sounds cool or someone else tells you they love it.

Try to make decent money in the meantime so you won’t be pressured later to take any job where they’ll have you. Don’t worry about some interviewer asking why you’ve done this and that since you were 18. Just say you wanted to get experience of different kinds of life and work so you would have a better idea of what you would be good at. I believe the great majority of interviewers will understand and respect that, particularly if they are stuck in an unfulfilling position themselves.

I’d recommend the one to two years off if you don’t have a set plan. Learn to bartender and go somewhere people go to have fun. You can meet people and be a part of their holiday. Plus, you might hit it off with some rich peep and away you go. I’d pick an island in the Caribbean. But that’s just me.

Thank you all, keep them coming. Sorry, Montefrio, the grammar is correct, but then you show all the intellect I’ve grown to expect from our military. Also, it says high school, not college, reading for comprehension is important too.

Go to Chicago and become a community organizer. Then run for U.S. Senate (never mind the creds about college–just pretend you went). Write some bullshit book about your roots. You will be guaranteed to become President.

IndenturedServant nails it.

Peaceout: I just had a friend bail out on the idea of a pot dispensary in Colorado. The licensing fees alone can top $15,000 and you can’t even get a license without having a lease FIRST. There are many other regulations that must be met.

Lulu says “I’d say figure out what it is that makes you happy, and then figure out a way to get paid doing it”.

That is the worst advice ever given to young people. Those jobs/careers largely do not exist. That is just setting young people up with expectations that cannot be met.

I largely agree with SSS’s assessment of Stuck’s comment. Most kids do not have the maturity to do what Stuck suggests. And they need to learn to work. And they need to be able to compete against their competition. Falling behind their cohort is not going to be a bonus.

Re what an 18 year old should do, it depends on the 18 year old. I would need further info, such as:

– What did his/her parents do for a living?
– What did said parents teach the kid, re work ethic, etc.
– Has the kid held a job before?
– How strong academically is the kid?
– What in general does the kid enjoy doing (ie, inside playing with computers or outside playing sport).

For instance, a really bright kid (say top 1/4) with a good grounding in work already is the perfect candidate for college.

A next tier bright kid (top 1/2) with good grounding in work is a perfect candidate for trade school/apprenticeships, subject to general personality traits. Nursing is also an option for these type kids, for instance.

Kids without work experience are a problem. Sending them off to college could well be a recipe for disaster. I would suggest junior college combined with jobs for those. These kids need to learn how to work.

The kids who are not academic present far different challenges (the lower half of the academic pool). The reality is they are in a bad situation with respect to their options. There is little point to them going to college – perhaps junior college for some.

Some may be able to make it as tradesmen. But not a lot of kids in the lower half of the pool academically will do well as tradespeople.

They need to learn how to work, and they need to take whatever trade/work specific courses they can handle. They need to learn to survive, because life is going to be especially difficult for these kids.

Oooh _ missed Stuck’s response.

Stuck – the world has changed. And it is fraught with difficulty, especially for the less academically inclined.

World-wide, young folks are finding it increasingly hard to enter the workforce. Taking time-off is not going to help them in the modern economic reality.

Learn to work, and gain the most appropriate education, has to be the top priority. Screwing around is not going to cut it.

And you are not a good example. You were in the military, right? That is far different than taking a couple years off and just “searching for yourself”. Search for yourself while attaining skills is what I would recommend.

Stuck – as I pointed out above, perhaps half the kids are able to pursue something a lot better than hamburger flippers. And delaying their acquisition of skills is not going to be beneficial. It is going to be a hindrance.

Not to mention the stats that indicate that those that do not start their educations straight away are far less likely to later.

OK, ok, here I am writing after a few drinks. In vino veritas.
I’m full of advice for 18 year olds and others. Here goes.
As for a job and occupational future…
Find something that you like doing and that others, in the same job, love too.
Get into an occupation where your skill and work will pay off for you.
Pick a job where you have as much control over your work life as possible.
Choose an occupation that’s likely to pay well and that people respect.
Extra time and money spent when you’re young becoming job qualified should pay off in spades in the future.

My case is a good example for what I preach. I struggled educationally and suffered socially ’till I was past thirty. Then, all came together. The forty years since have been worth every lonely night and worried day when I was young.

Work hard, be nice to people, and always keep striving. That’s my advice to any 18 year old.

Montefrío says: Well, to begin with, learning grammar is useful: it’s graduate FROM college and if it’s “an 18 year old” then it’s do with “his/her” life, not “their”, but this is just hair-splitting pedantry in a society that values vocational training over education for its own sake. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it’s sort of sad. If that sounds snobby, I guess that’s because it is. I like the idea of finishing re-seating and re-sealing the water filter, transplanting the tomato seedlings and reading a bit of Plotinus before preparing supper. Versatility is good. Reading is good. Useful skills are good. Vulgarity and sloppiness, not so good.

I like your comment Monte, in truth, we do have a few wine sipping types here besides Calibans like bb and me.

Prof Pangloss said it is better to say that kids are graduated from high school than to say they graduate. I don’t like some new expressions but ‘graduate college’ is ok now.
I grew up watching wrestling and boxing, I don’t like MMA fights because they seem unsporting but what can I do? The world changes.
Your comment is not new, I-S has protested a bit about vulgarity and sloppiness but sometimes I suspect, the lady protests too much.