Good read.

I would add to it:

Be Realistic.

As a college grad jumping into a company and now 12 years later seeing people coming in all along the way, here’s my take on college grads:

- You’re not smarter than the people at your new job.  Not all of them, anyway
- You’re not a harder worker.  Yet.  And if you are no one will think it at first.
- You don’t know more than the people who are already there.  You’ve been in classes while they’ve been running the business for years.
- You don’t deserve anything, especially not respect.  Earn it.
- You’re not going to be VP of the department or company right away. That’s just the way it is.

Now, give it a few years and sure, you can be a force if you’re a good worker, but out the gate don’t get delusional that the place was barely getting by without you.  Just realize how you can fit in, figure out what you can do to make things better, and do the best work you can.

 Hey Tyler – great post and gerat perspective.

Personally, I had a tough time after graduation. In fact, I had such a tough time that I did not find a job until 8 months after graduation.

When I did find a job, I was hired on as an intern in one of the toughest economies since the great depression – it was pretty darn scary to think I could be let go at any minute.

I was assigned a mentor and to my surprise, a few weeks later my mentor was fired along with 3,000 other people in the organization nationwide. 

My whole life I had worked hard to excel academically to get the “perfect job” and I learned that it does not matter how much you know (heck, it doesn’t even matter who you now – I personally know the CEO and CIO’s of top companies here in Houston), if an economy is in shambles and there are hiring freezes across the board, there’s no way you’re getting a job and if you do, you’re going to be earning a lot less.

It was t hen that I realized that there was no point working hard for a company and being loyal when there was no mutual loyalty. A company can hire you one day and fire you the next. It’s not personal! It’s just business.

Most companies are there to make the investors and shareholders rich, not make you rich. 

Of course, Im not suggesting that you get a job and do a crappy job. I believe in working hard at everything you do, even if that mean working hard at your job, because the habits you have in your workplace will most definiteli trickle over to your personal business if you ever build one.  

The point I’m trying to make is that I believe that you should always work harder on yourself than you do for your boss and learn to build your assets so that you don;t spend the rest of your life building someone else’s asset. 

Personally, I don’t think school can teach you how money really works and there is a good reason why I think they dont teach you because if most of us really understood how money worked while we were in school, we would have never, for a second, considered taking out student loans to finance our futures.

That’s the message that  share with my community over at InternetEntrepreneurConnection. I hope this resonates with you tyler.

Thanks again for a great post! 

 Hey Tyler – great post and gerat perspective.

Personally, I had a tough time after graduation. In fact, I had such a tough time that I did not find a job until 8 months after graduation.

When I did find a job, I was hired on as an intern in one of the toughest economies since the great depression – it was pretty darn scary to think I could be let go at any minute.

I was assigned a mentor and to my surprise, a few weeks later my mentor was fired along with 3,000 other people in the organization nationwide. 

My whole life I had worked hard to excel academically to get the “perfect job” and I learned that it does not matter how much you know (heck, it doesn’t even matter who you now – I personally know the CEO and CIO’s of top companies here in Houston), if an economy is in shambles and there are hiring freezes across the board, there’s no way you’re getting a job and if you do, you’re going to be earning a lot less.

It was t hen that I realized that there was no point working hard for a company and being loyal when there was no mutual loyalty. A company can hire you one day and fire you the next. It’s not personal! It’s just business.

Most companies are there to make the investors and shareholders rich, not make you rich. 

Of course, Im not suggesting that you get a job and do a crappy job. I believe in working hard at everything you do, even if that mean working hard at your job, because the habits you have in your workplace will most definiteli trickle over to your personal business if you ever build one.  

The point I’m trying to make is that I believe that you should always work harder on yourself than you do for your boss and learn to build your assets so that you don;t spend the rest of your life building someone else’s asset. 

Personally, I don’t think school can teach you how money really works and there is a good reason why I think they dont teach you because if most of us really understood how money worked while we were in school, we would have never, for a second, considered taking out student loans to finance our futures.

That’s the message that  share with my community over at InternetEntrepreneurConnection. I hope this resonates with you tyler.

Thanks again for a great post! 

This is a great point! It’s sad we have to talk about i, but it’s necessary.  In #GenYBookClub we are reading a book called Effective Immediately with 87 tips to start your first job on the right foot – you’re point is on that they discuss across several of the tips.  Thanks for sharing BigBryC!

 Hahaha…you may be right about not teaching money. They are probably trying to hide the fact that a college education’s ROI is decreasing over the years due to soaring costs!

Well, it’s not just soaring costs, although that is a big reason, but it’s also life after college in this new economy. This is definitely not our grandparents or parents economy we’re living in. 

Inflation is increasing at a pretty drastic rate and that way our government seems to think it can just print money out of thing air is destroying the U.S dollar more and more everyday.

That means that the money you earn buys less for you and you have to work harder to earn more dollars.

Historically speaking, Job Salaries never keep up with Inflation and they most likely never will. 

Think about this, a ford mustang cost just a little over $3,000 in the late 1960′s. Today, how much is a ford mustang? – About 10x that right!

Similarly, average income in the  late 1960′s the average household income in the US was about $8,500. In 2010, average household income in the U.S was just $46,000 – just about 5.4x more than in 1967.

Get where I’m going with this.

I totally get what you are saying.

Costs have something to do with it but colleges are also losing value because of the curriculum. I have yet to use lessons learned in the classroom 2 years into my career. What I use everyday is my experience in internships and extra-curricular’s that allowed me to lead people and projects.   

Overall, college was a great experience because it gave me access to those things, but the part that I actually paid for has had little impact.

I would love to find some data on how quickly higher education costs have risen. I tweeted a stat about 2 weeks ago talking about how college has outpaced health care over the past few years – that is incredible. 

What do you think this conversation sounds like in 10 years? Do we fix the problem or does it get worse?

I think college is more than classroom content; it’s the sum of the experiences. Introduction to content is a large part and certainly should inform the work you do if you are working in the field you studied, but co-curricular activities, the experience of living in a residence hall (or fraternity/sorority house or off-campus apt), and the opportunity to interact with people who are different from you all add to your ability to be marketable and successful in whatever work you take on.

There are certainly some degrees that are directly more tangible to their after-college careers. Without the foundational knowledge acquired in biology, chemistry and anatomy, would we have doctors? Is it possible that certain fields have less tangible connections to academic course work, but when examined at a deeper level, can be traced? I don’t have statistics, but I am guessing that there is probably a greater level of satisfaction from students who attended colleges or universities that require some sort of internship or practical application of theoretical concepts. The reality is you need the theory as a foundation. The challenge is figuring out how to apply this theory in practice. 

One last point, then off my soapbox: the economy effects everything. Nothing is worth as much as it was in the ’60s as  Hector@IEC explained above. I don’t think that lessens the value of education. Use the car example. 

There are people that find alternative transportation options, but the predominant mode of travel is still the automobile. Perhaps people buy cheaper ones, used ones or keep them longer than they used to, but they still use them. 

Education may ultimately cost more than it did in the 1960s due to inflation, but try going without it. Jobs that used to require a high school diploma now require a bachelors degree, and jobs that 10 years ago required a bachelors require a masters. If you have neither, it may not be impossible to secure the job of your dreams, but I put my money on it being more difficult. Education is an investment in yourself. I read that on average, the person with a bachelors degree makes approximately $1M more in her/his lifetime than the person who does not pursue higher education. I wouldn’t want to make a million dollar mistake and forego college. 

Its interesting your bring this point up. You’re absolutely right about the cost of tuition going up. In fact, I wrote 2 separate articles about this and WHY it is happening.

I’ve found that the cost of tuition usually has gone up an average of 8% per year since the late  1960′s and usually increases double the rate of inflation. 

That means that a child born today can expect to pay double the current cost of tuition when it comes time for them to go to school.

Pretty astounding, huh? – The problem gets worse. You can read my article on WHY this is happening to get more details by reading my post on 
Why Does College Tuition Keep Rising?

Great talk Tyler! Let’s see where this conversation goes. I’d be interested i n your perspective. Thank to you soon! 

Hmmm….how to respond?

I agree with @google-0c196efbbb90e0c38d6cf90c3e32fffe:disqus point about the type of degree has a big part of it. Accountants would struggle without their classroom content.  I also agree that it’s the entire experience where the value lies. The craziness of living in a dorm freshman year or trying to manage a household full of 22 year old dudes in hopes of getting that security deposit back taught me quite a bit about being in the grown up world.Let’s revisit this in 2019 when all my loans are scheduled to be paid off and I’ll have a better assessment ;-)  

Keith

Great points. A few questions.

Is that 1Million dollars before or after taxes? 

Second,   inflation seems to be increasing at pretty astounding rates. Given the fiscal policies of our government and the mass printing off dollars to meet our debt obligations it seems to me that in the next 50-100 years dollars are going got be worth just as much as toilet paper.

The fact of the matter is that your money is worth more today than it will be tomorrow, even less by the time you retire.

My point in all of this is, yes, go to college but use that knowledge and acquire even more to learn to build businesses (real assets) and invest soundly to produce income streams other than a paycheck.

“make your money work for you, so that you don;t have to work for your money”

Very good, especially the part of “keep your energy for yourself, do not consume your lifespan for your boss part”. I am agree. Don t you let anyone to consume your lifespan and your health for his company’ s next 10 years development strategy etc etc. You need  that body in the future, ok? Sometimes you work hard to gain money but you loose your health and the money you spent would not pay the “deposit” (of your body) 

Stay wise!