Four advices for college students
Yesterday, I received an email from a high school student in which he wrote: “There are many college graduates without job in my country, some have to work as labor workers, others have to drive taxi etc... Since I will go to college next year, I am worrying about this situation. My parents said it is the bad economy and it may improve by the time I graduate but I still feel very uncomfortable. I need your advices on what to do to ensure that I will have a good career. Please help”
Answer: I have written many articles about unemployed college graduates in this blog. It is easy to blame the economic recession as the cause for unemployed graduates but there is a fact that few people even mention: There is a shortage of skilled workers in every country and at the same time, there is a large number of unemployed college graduates. This situation will continue as long as students still believe that just by having a college degree, they can get a job. They must understand that the only way to get a good job is to have the knowledge and skills that meet the needs of the industry. They must realize that to build a good career, they need certain skills such as technical skills, soft-skills and foreign language skills. My advice is you must identify the needs of your local market then select the field of study that match that need and develop a career plan to guide you in your career.
If you look at all college students today, you will find that only few who have a clear direction on what to do but most do not; there are few who plan their study carefully but many just study anything interesting. There are some who go to college to prepare for a specific career in the industry but many go to college to learn subject that they like. Students who prepare themselves for a specific career often select fields of study in science, technology, engineering, business, math, education, and health care (Medical or Nursing). In these fields, they learn specific knowledge and skills that can be directly applied to a job. Other students who select fields of study because they like the subject may have to do something else later that has nothing to do with their education. That does not mean they do not have knowledge or skills but these skills may not be applicable to a specific job. For example, not all graduates in history become historians; many will have to work other job. Most graduates in literature do not become writers and may have to do something else. Of course, there is no job for philosophy that exists etc. That is why the view of “Study what you like, get a degree, then everything will be fine” is no longer valid in this competitive world.
Following are four advices that you may use to develop a good career:
First, you need to select the “right university” to enroll as not all university is equal. Some are good but some are not; some have good training programs but some only have general programs which may be obsolete; some are focusing on education and some are just focusing on making money. In the U.S. most students are using the ranking of schools to choose which school to enroll in but your country may not have the ranking system in place so you must do your own research. Of course, it is not easy to get into top schools as it depends on your high school performance and exam grades, you may have to select schools that you can get in. However among these schools there are some better than the others so you need to research more using the indicator of the number of graduates who get job relating to their field of study. If this information is not available at the school, you can ask some of their graduates in the field that you want to study.
Second, you need to select the “right field of study”. There is a wrong assumption among students that they should select the field of study based on what you are good in high school. For many years of teaching, I found that it is NOT true because high school education provides fundamental concepts based on general knowledge but college education is completely different as students are trained to develop specific skills. I found that many students who hated math in high school turn out to do well in my mathematics and computer classes because college is a different educational setting. My advice is do NOT follow the rule that you select your field of study based on past performance but select what you can build a career on based on industry needs then put all your efforts in it. Today you should select fields in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) which have high demand in the industry.
Third, after getting into college you should focus on learning as much as possible. This is NOT the time to select general courses or easy subjects but choose all the courses that would help you in your future. That is why every college student must develop a career plan and use it as a roadmap to guide them in this education journey. If needed, talk to your career advisors, they know what it takes to develop a good career and what the industry requirements are. Explain to them your interests in certain careers, they will help you to select all the courses that you will need. You may also want to talk to third or fourth year students since they have been through these courses and can give you good advices. Try to talk to professionals in fields you find interesting. Ask them what their jobs require and how their careers relate to their field of study. Learning more about the jobs that they are doing to get valuable advices.
Since your field of study at the right school will determine your career and your life. My last advice is you should consider college education as an investment in your future and you must put all your efforts in making it the right investment. That means you must set goals and priority, monitor your progress, and if needed take corrective actions to make sure that you will reach your goals. You only have to work hard in four years to develop a career that may last for your entire life so maintain your focus, do not let anything to distract you and I am sure you will be successful.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
