Education is a fundamentally good thing. Anyone who argues to the contrary is, in this writer's opinion, incorrect.
That being said, the educational system in America (and to a lesser degree, in Europe - and in Asia, although to an even lesser degree than Europe) does tend to train, prod, or scare, the risk right out of students.
My experience in college taught me to follow the rules, be patient, be an obedient employee, wait my turn, and slowly, methodically earn my promotion through the ranks of corporate America. I followed those rules, I played the game, I waited my turn; in time, I was requited with a six-figure salary, a company car, and all the fringe benefits a 20-something year old kid could ever want. I played it safe & it had apparently paid off... I thought I had achieved success.
What I never learned in college is that all of those things can be taken away in the blink of an eye. When the financial markets took a nosedive in late summer of 2008, my job was eliminated. I was suddenly unemployed with no severance pay, no benefits, no backup plan.
What if I had played it differently? What if, instead of selling my time to a corporation in exchange for $100k+ per year and a sense of security, I had trusted myself and taken more risks... invested more aggressively or taken some flyers on start-up businesses of my own?
Fortunately I did those things in addition to working at my job in the pharmaceutical industry. I had purchased almost 3/4 of a million dollars in investment properties that are now paying me cash every month. Sicne the layoff, I have also started another small business. But, what if, I had learned to do those things sooner? What if, when I was 20 years old, someone told me that the security of a corporate job is bullshit and that, in the long-term, the greatest security comes from within?
The point is that at no time during my years in college did anyone talk to me about the importance of taking those risks - I had to learn it all on my own. Fortunately, I had some great mentors along the way. I will share many of their insights with you on further posts.
For now, the lesson is that risk can be a good thing. Your willingness to take well-calculated, and well-executed risks can determine the degree to which you will be successful. Protect that willingness to take risks - do not let yourself be "educated" into always playing it safe.
-The Gradvisor
Monday, March 23, 2009
4. Best advice from a movie...
"Don't ever let anyone tell you you can't be something - not even me. People can't do something, they want to make you think you can't do it. You got a dream, you need to protect it. You want something? Go get it. Period."
-advice given by Will Smith to his son in The Pursuit of Happyness
Bear with me here, for I know that Hollywood isn't the best of advisors, certainly not the best of Gradvisors... but I do have a good point to make.
Think back to all the times in your youth, or in your schooling when some authority figure told you to "be realistic," or to set your goals to a more "attainable height." Speaking from personal experience, nearly every aspiration that I ever expressed that somehow fell outside the realm of realistic, or normal was met with resistance by my so-called advisors: teachers, managers, parents, even peers. In nearly every case that "guidance" came from a person who was unhappy with their current situation, they were somehow dissatisfied with how their career or life turned out... perhaps not overtly dissatisfied, but somehow quietly disappointed by their life... they harbored a type of silent, secret misery.
Today, with the wisdom of hindsight, I can very clearly see why people do this... misery loves company. That is the only reason that people like this say negative things to disparage others from pursuing greatness, or happiness. If they can convince enough people in their social circle that it is hopeless to transcend "the average," then they don't have to worry about anyone they know making them feel inferior.
The truth is that no person is inferior to another person, and no person is more or less capable than another person. However, some people have the courage and the fortitude to pursue, with vigor and confidence, their lofty dreams. Others, for fear of failure, will not. Will Smith, in the above quote, was teaching his son the value of having the courage and fortitude to dream big, and execute.
Today, the Gradvisor encourages each of you to think long & hard about how you want your life to be... what do you want to do, how do you want to feel, what things do you want to experience, or see, or have? Engrain those things into the very fiber of your being. And then pursue them with all the strength you can muster.
There will be much more to follow on this topic.
-The Gradvisor
-advice given by Will Smith to his son in The Pursuit of Happyness
Bear with me here, for I know that Hollywood isn't the best of advisors, certainly not the best of Gradvisors... but I do have a good point to make.
Think back to all the times in your youth, or in your schooling when some authority figure told you to "be realistic," or to set your goals to a more "attainable height." Speaking from personal experience, nearly every aspiration that I ever expressed that somehow fell outside the realm of realistic, or normal was met with resistance by my so-called advisors: teachers, managers, parents, even peers. In nearly every case that "guidance" came from a person who was unhappy with their current situation, they were somehow dissatisfied with how their career or life turned out... perhaps not overtly dissatisfied, but somehow quietly disappointed by their life... they harbored a type of silent, secret misery.
Today, with the wisdom of hindsight, I can very clearly see why people do this... misery loves company. That is the only reason that people like this say negative things to disparage others from pursuing greatness, or happiness. If they can convince enough people in their social circle that it is hopeless to transcend "the average," then they don't have to worry about anyone they know making them feel inferior.
The truth is that no person is inferior to another person, and no person is more or less capable than another person. However, some people have the courage and the fortitude to pursue, with vigor and confidence, their lofty dreams. Others, for fear of failure, will not. Will Smith, in the above quote, was teaching his son the value of having the courage and fortitude to dream big, and execute.
Today, the Gradvisor encourages each of you to think long & hard about how you want your life to be... what do you want to do, how do you want to feel, what things do you want to experience, or see, or have? Engrain those things into the very fiber of your being. And then pursue them with all the strength you can muster.
There will be much more to follow on this topic.
-The Gradvisor
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
3. Want to get your dream job? Here's the best $20 you can spend...
You've studied all the right stuff in school, you've taken the personality profile tests, you've sent out so many resumes that your friends start referring to you as Monster.com, but you still can't land that dream job.
Have you tried calling up someone at the company where you want to work, or someone who is in the field you're trying to enter and offered to buy them lunch?
If you have, then congratulations, you're already in the know.
If not, give yourself a quick "bad dog!" whack yourself with a rolled-up newspaper, then read on...
People used to ask me all the time "how did you end up selling pharmaceuticals with a degree in English Literature?" The answer is simple. When I decided I wanted to get into the drug business, I tracked down the names & numbers of people in my area who worked in the industry, then I called them and asked if I could buy them lunch. Nearly 100% of the time, they said yes.
I'll let you in on a little secret that they should teach in college - everyone, regardless of their income, loves a free lunch.
Here's the trick - before I met with them, I did my homework. I researched their company, I read up on industry news, and I had thoughtful and insightful questions prepared ahead of time. Doing this showed that I was interested in them, their work, and their company. When you display that type of interest & that level of preparation, people remember you... and when their boss informs them that the company is hiring in your area, whose name do you think they mention first?
Every high paying job I've been offered has been a direct result of this type of networking.
So, what have we learned?
1. Find the names & numbers of people doing the job you want to be doing (you may have to be creative to do this, but that's ok)
2. Call them & ask them to lunch
3. Ask insightful questions (not just "is your job hard?" or "are you making sick G's?)
4. Let them teach you
5. Ask them what you, as a job seeker in their industry, can do to get "a foot in the door"
6. Always, always, always send a thank-you note
As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and profound revelations.
-The Gradvisor
Have you tried calling up someone at the company where you want to work, or someone who is in the field you're trying to enter and offered to buy them lunch?
If you have, then congratulations, you're already in the know.
If not, give yourself a quick "bad dog!" whack yourself with a rolled-up newspaper, then read on...
People used to ask me all the time "how did you end up selling pharmaceuticals with a degree in English Literature?" The answer is simple. When I decided I wanted to get into the drug business, I tracked down the names & numbers of people in my area who worked in the industry, then I called them and asked if I could buy them lunch. Nearly 100% of the time, they said yes.
I'll let you in on a little secret that they should teach in college - everyone, regardless of their income, loves a free lunch.
Here's the trick - before I met with them, I did my homework. I researched their company, I read up on industry news, and I had thoughtful and insightful questions prepared ahead of time. Doing this showed that I was interested in them, their work, and their company. When you display that type of interest & that level of preparation, people remember you... and when their boss informs them that the company is hiring in your area, whose name do you think they mention first?
Every high paying job I've been offered has been a direct result of this type of networking.
So, what have we learned?
1. Find the names & numbers of people doing the job you want to be doing (you may have to be creative to do this, but that's ok)
2. Call them & ask them to lunch
3. Ask insightful questions (not just "is your job hard?" or "are you making sick G's?)
4. Let them teach you
5. Ask them what you, as a job seeker in their industry, can do to get "a foot in the door"
6. Always, always, always send a thank-you note
As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and profound revelations.
-The Gradvisor
2. Grandmothers might, in fact, know best...
"If you're going to go the party, you might as well dance," my grandmother told me that the day after she buried her second husband, my grandfather.
She wasn't talking about jitterbugging, waltzing, or the foxtrot. She was talking about engagement. Not engagement in the terrifying "will you marry me" sense; engagement in the sense of being present, and conscious, and active every day. She was talking about being engaged in the way that a heart surgeon is focused on the patient lying on the table in front of her. That surgeon is not thinking about baseball, or Oprah, or her 401(k) balance.
"If you're going to go to the party, you might as well dance" means that if you're going to be a teacher, teach your heart out. If you're going to be a ballerina, practice your ass off. If you're going to be a racecar driver, drive it like you stole it.
It means bring your very best to every single endeavor. It doesn't mean you will be successful every time, but when was the last time you danced your ass off & regretted it?
Now go call your grandmother and tell her you love her.
-The Gradvisor
She wasn't talking about jitterbugging, waltzing, or the foxtrot. She was talking about engagement. Not engagement in the terrifying "will you marry me" sense; engagement in the sense of being present, and conscious, and active every day. She was talking about being engaged in the way that a heart surgeon is focused on the patient lying on the table in front of her. That surgeon is not thinking about baseball, or Oprah, or her 401(k) balance.
"If you're going to go to the party, you might as well dance" means that if you're going to be a teacher, teach your heart out. If you're going to be a ballerina, practice your ass off. If you're going to be a racecar driver, drive it like you stole it.
It means bring your very best to every single endeavor. It doesn't mean you will be successful every time, but when was the last time you danced your ass off & regretted it?
Now go call your grandmother and tell her you love her.
-The Gradvisor
1. Why do this? Aren't there already a million other blogs out there?
A short while back, a good friend of mine who teaches Marketing at a local college asked me to visit her students and deliver a series of guest lectures. I was flattered. I was terrified. I wondered "what on earth can these kids possibly learn from me?"
When I finished delivering my prepared speech, I opened the forum & was floored by the questions that I received...
What happens when you graduate from college?
How do you get a job?
How do you learn to manage your money?
How do you meet people outside of school?
I want to move to a new city, but I'm afraid; what should I do?
How do you deal with your parents once you're out of their house for good?
How do you figure out what you want to do with your life?
...to name just a few. It was as if I was looking back in time... just 10 years ago, I was in the exact same situation as all of these students.
The difference is that now, at 30 years of age... I can confidently answer most of those questions. So, since knowledge is no good unless you use it to better yourself or your peers, I am endeavoring to create a list of the very best pieces of advice for navigating the blue ocean of early post-collegiate life. Stay tuned in for more...
-The Gradvisor
When I finished delivering my prepared speech, I opened the forum & was floored by the questions that I received...
What happens when you graduate from college?
How do you get a job?
How do you learn to manage your money?
How do you meet people outside of school?
I want to move to a new city, but I'm afraid; what should I do?
How do you deal with your parents once you're out of their house for good?
How do you figure out what you want to do with your life?
...to name just a few. It was as if I was looking back in time... just 10 years ago, I was in the exact same situation as all of these students.
The difference is that now, at 30 years of age... I can confidently answer most of those questions. So, since knowledge is no good unless you use it to better yourself or your peers, I am endeavoring to create a list of the very best pieces of advice for navigating the blue ocean of early post-collegiate life. Stay tuned in for more...
-The Gradvisor
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)