Post-College Life

[Jellicent]

Hey, there's a new thread for people who just got into college, so I figured, why not one for those of us that recently got out? I know there are at least a few other Smogoners who are "out in the real world" or whatever. What did you end up doing after college? Were you glad you went, unhappy with the state of things, or completely ambivalent? How about those student loans? >.>

If you skipped out on college and just hopped into "the real world", what are your thoughts on that, as well? Do you wish you went to college, or are you glad you didn't bother? Folks in college or looking to get in are welcome to ask any questions, as well ^.^

I'll get this train a rollin', I suppose. I graduated college a year and a half ago with a history major. Sure, it's not the best for finding a career, but I actually just went to college to learn (I know, I know: NERD!) I haven't really looked for anything in my field yet, I guess. Currently, I'm a waiter / busser at a restaurant, but it pays the bills well enough. Speaking of bills, student loans suuuuuuuuck. J/S. Despite that, I'm glad I went to college. I made some great friends, had a blast, and actually learned a thing or two.

After living with my mom for a year and saving up a bit, I got a groovy little rowhouse in Philly with my best friend. I can't really imagine a more fun lifestyle. Plus, now that I'm out of college, I have all of this free time to just read or write (things that aren't assigned to me) or anything else I feel like doing.

So how's post-college life treating the rest of you?

 

[Feathers]

this thread might be relevant to me. just finishing up first year of uni, still three left, but i'm always thinking about what i'll be doing when i'm done. an illustration major doesn't have much to work with either. ;-;

who moved out right away? who still lives at home and if you do, do you work? and if you work, is it in your field?

honestly i can't wait to get out of my dead end job i've had for like three years and actually make something of myself (hopefully, maybe).

man i don't even know what to ask but i feel like i have a million questions

//stalks thread

 

[Shinryu]

Well I know it's not completely relevant since I'm 3 years out soon (though I'll be starting up my Masters soon), but meh...I graduated when the economy was still in the shits, so it's only now I was able to even find a job in my correct field (accounting). In terms of prepping though, I thought going through college did give me the basic conceptual tools, though honestly I do think I could've learned most of it on-the-job right out of high school since the basic entry level jobs aren't that hard at all. Still, having the degree and the eventual titles will ensure you get promoted and earn more likely a lot faster.

 

[TheWalrus9]

Graduated in 08 with a teaching cert. Except the economic woes were in full swing and a large number of teachers were coming out of retirement because they ran out of money and there were not many new retirees for the same fear. So it was a rough two years out of college, some substitute teaching and graveyard shifts. Managed to land a nice assistanceship so been working on a masters but I'll be finishing that up in June. So....real world take two, about to commence.

who moved out right away? who still lives at home and if you do, do you work? and if you work, is it in your field?

I moved out while i was doing my undergrad (2005). Once I left the umbrella of being a dependent of my parents, their Expected Family Contribution disappeared on my FAFSA and all the sudden I was given a large number of grants and a more reasonable loan. Financially it was tough at the time, but I am now almost debt free from my undergrad degree.

 

[ReshiramBlackZekromWhite]

...and would suffice? Robert Frost is awesome.

I'm currently looking at universities and colleges across North America, searching for a career that's right for me. I'm doing my best to get straight As (I have 2 Bs stuck inside the 8 As) but am looking at application forms, scholarships, and am taking out hundreds upon hundreds of books concerning resume/cover letter writing, application forms for universities, etc, etc, etc.

I'm eagerly awaiting post-High School life as when I'm a legal adult, (and in the years to come) I can get drunk and have sex without worrying about punishment from my parents :)

 

[Shiny_Tyranitar]

this thread might be relevant to me. just finishing up first year of uni, still three left, but i'm always thinking about what i'll be doing when i'm done. an illustration major doesn't have much to work with either. ;-;

who moved out right away? who still lives at home and if you do, do you work? and if you work, is it in your field?

honestly i can't wait to get out of my dead end job i've had for like three years and actually make something of myself (hopefully, maybe).

man i don't even know what to ask but i feel like i have a million questions

//stalks thread

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, I think I may be able to help.

First, I just finished my coursework for a B.A. in Political Science (almost graduated Cum Laude, not enough credits, but high enough GPA). I've been looking for work (while working part time as a night stocker) since December. The economy, especially in regards to government jobs, is crap right now, so I'm stuck in my parents basement :(. Luckily, since I've been working/saving since I was 16, went to community college, bought books offline, and lived at home instead of on campus, I don't have too much student loan debt to pay back

My advice, since you're still in the early years of college, get internships. I missed out on a law internship and it stung. Internships are a great way to learn what kind of work you would like to do, it looks great on resumes, gives you work experience in the field you're majoring in, and most importantly can help you get some connections.

 

[WaterBomb]

interestingly enough, I too graduated with a History degree (back in 08). Due to bad timing, the job market hasn't exactly been booming in my desired field (teaching), so I've been doing other things. I was a manager at Papa Johns and a Substitute teacher while I was looking for a job up in New Jersey (to move to where my then-girlfriend lived). Took a couple years, but I finally landed a position as a Recruiter/HR Admin in Cherry Hill in June of 2010. That worked out nicely for a while, got married and moved into a nice apartment with my wife in North Brunswick in June of '11.

Unfortunately, I got laid off in October of that same year, and have been on the hunt ever since. I landed a part time job recruiting for a financial services company earlier this month, but it sucks and I'm just sticking with it to supplement the unemployment checks and find a better job. Luckily for us, my wife does really well as an external auditor, so we're able to juggle all of our bills and her student loans (which, agreed, do suck, especially since she went to freakin Seton Hall) and still have enough to do fun stuff from time to time. We just booked our trip to Disney World for our first anniversary this June :).

So that brings me to today. Still job hunting, but loving the married life and preparing to start working on a family later this year (little WBs...Lord have mercy!)

No idea you lived so close Jellicent, we're about an hour out of Philly and we go down there occasionally to visit my aunt or my wife's best friend. Perhaps we can grab a pint sometime?

 

[Nix_Hex]

I graduated 09 in EE and I procrastinated for so long on getting a job. I had a good one lined up that would have started in 2010 but I decided to skip out due to personal and other factors in my life. In order to keep myself busy and stay off the "so what have you done in the past x years since you graduated?" bus, I went to grad school! I'm currently taking 2 classes a quarter and it's pretty manageable. The worst part of the past 3 years and a consequence of my procrastination has been me staying at the family business where I have worked for almost 9 years. So, I decided it was time to buck the fuck up and get a real job and finally I have one.

My advice to anyone who just graduated or is about to: post-college life is fun and all, but it's REALLY easy to get distracted from and apathetic to your long-term goals.

 

[Jellicent]

Nixxxy! How is grad school? It's something I've considered, but never really had a huge desire to jump into... Also, what's your real job? Balancing work and grad school, even just 2 classes, sounds kinda... o.O

Various others: Yeah, if y'all can't tell from other posts, the economy is not too great right now X_X While I'd recommend looking for something in your field, don't be afraid to branch out or even accept crappy part time jobs while searching. Some income is better than none, and student loans... .______.

WaterBomb: Hahaha, I would definitely be down. Also, I went to college at Rutgers, so I have plenty of friends up in New Brunswick that I occasionally visit; maybe I'll bump into you at a pub up there ^.^

PS: If you managed the Papa Johns in Highland Park, you fueled many a wondrous bender for me and my friend, and I owe you much gratitude. Even if not the Highland Park one, your hard work it appreciated (>^.^)>

Edit: Oh god, oh god, I just realized this site has turned me into "that emoticon guy" ;-;

 

[Feathers]

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, I think I may be able to help.

First, I just finished my coursework for a B.A. in Political Science (almost graduated Cum Laude, not enough credits, but high enough GPA). I've been looking for work (while working part time as a night stocker) since December. The economy, especially in regards to government jobs, is crap right now, so I'm stuck in my parents basement :(. Luckily, since I've been working/saving since I was 16, went to community college, bought books offline, and lived at home instead of on campus, I don't have too much student loan debt to pay back

My advice, since you're still in the early years of college, get internships. I missed out on a law internship and it stung. Internships are a great way to learn what kind of work you would like to do, it looks great on resumes, gives you work experience in the field you're majoring in, and most importantly can help you get some connections.

thanks for the offer, i don't have many people to talk about it with since nobody in my family has ever gone to post-secondary, and most of them never worked where they wanted/achieved much. work to live mostly.

i tend to feel bad about myself because i'm not really saving to move out yet. i'm using my first two years to do some traveling and will probably save to move in my last two, i don't feel like i need to hardcore save anything (which is difficult enough anyway working only 2 days a week and paying rent to parents). i know i will graduate with no debt, which is a nice thought.

i'm actually working on getting an internship right now, paid or unpaid is fine for me. i don't know anyone who's done one before but i have a few connections which is hopefully going to help me in the long run. i just got my portfolio back from someone who was looking into dreamworks/EA Games for me, nothing major to do with either and i'd even settle with fetching coffees. he ended up wanting to buy one of my paintings so i'm hoping that's a good sign.

 

[cookie]

1. graduate
2. ???
3. kill myself

 

[biggie]

Well let's see.

I graduated in 2009 with a degree in business management, specializing in accounting. Luckily in 2008, I landed an internship at a school for people with developmental disabilities in the accounting department. Prior to even graduating, I had a job lined up for me there. I've been pretty lucky in that respect. Currently I work as an accountant at the aforementioned school, contemplating on the pros and cons of continuing my education to eventually get my CPA license. I do currently live at home, if only because the cost of living here (Long Island, NY) is TOO DAMN HIGH. I do hopefully foresee myself moving out on my own within the next year or so after paying down some debt (student loans, car payments).

All in all, I definitely have to second NixHex's statement of the apathy that sets in post-graduation. It's hard, but you have to stay focused and driven to achieve what it is that you truly want in life.

 

[WaterBomb]

@Jelli - We live right down 27 so we hit up Stuff Yer Face pretty regularly. Actually the picture in my avatar was taken there. 2 liter guinness = very yes. Definitely let me know the next time you're up this way, we'll get some wings or bolis and beer. Likewise next time we're in Philleh!

 

[ToF]

graduating this year with a degree in finance and management, gonna work in investment banking. mad loans to pay off though so thats what most of my salary is gonna go to. pokemons been something ive done on the side for fun and also as a fun brain / psychology thing. life is life however and prolly wont have time come work to stay on the site =(

 

[The Wanderer]

Let's just say I had high hopes, and they choked on their own entrails.

On the plus side, my loans aren't too bad. In fact, it's very feasible that one of them'll be completely paid off by the end of the year.

 

[ivar]

graduating this year, gonna do my MA and then plan on going to law school. no debt fortunately and received 14,000$ bursary for my MA (tuition is only 5,500$ for the entire year, yay Canada). i also plan on saving money as a waiter and will probably work a couple of shifts a week during my MA so I can mostly avoid a debt from the MA as well. i'll probably take on pretty large debt from law school especially since OSAP doesn't cover all law school expenses (thus meaning i'll have to take out a private bank loan). still my earning potential is pretty high and the legal market in Canada is still good because it's so tightly regulated, unlike the states where it's pretty fucking awful.

 

[Luminouzz]

For those of you who have graduated,

What do you feel that you got from college? (learning, contacts, higher earning potential?)

I'm currently a freshman in college studying computer science. However, I don't feel like I'm learning much right now, and a lot of my time is being taken up by other distributional req. classes that I don't enjoy.

Would dropping out of college be a definite bad move? I'm academically smart (scored 2330 on the SAT) and pretty good/motivated at teaching myself stuff.

 

[Daenym]

I graduate in a month. Losing my mind. The job(s) I was looking at fell through, so I'll probably end up fleeing back to my parents for 6 months until I can get a job that doesn't make me want to kill myself.

 

[WaterBomb]

For those of you who have graduated,

What do you feel that you got from college? (learning, contacts, higher earning potential?)

I'm currently a freshman in college studying computer science. However, I don't feel like I'm learning much right now, and a lot of my time is being taken up by other distributional req. classes that I don't enjoy.

Would dropping out of college be a definite bad move? I'm academically smart (scored 2330 on the SAT) and pretty good/motivated at teaching myself stuff.

Definitely don't drop out, because that looks terrible on your resume. When a hiring party sees that you took "some college" classes but didn't finish, you're automatically labeled as someone who can't finish things no matter how inaccurate that might actually be.

You're going to be bored the first two years anyway because that's when you take all of your gen. ed stuff that everyone has to take as part of a bachelors program. Once you hit your second half you'll be more focused on your major, which in theory is something you enjoy. So don't worry, it gets better.

As for what I got out of college, I'd say the general knowledge base is a big one. Not just from my major, but the gen ed stuff too. You may hate the classes now, but after college you'll be quite grateful for all the practical knowledge you gained from those classes (looking at you Bio 101 and Sociology 101). Finishing college has most certainly made me a more well-rounded and mature person, both intelligently and socially. Professional networking is useful too, but you really have to do that through extracurricular organizations like fraternities/sororities, etc. You won't build much of a network simply by going to the school, which is why I joined my fraternity.

tl;dr version: definitely finish your degree. Dropping out not only prevents you from putting that nice, tidy "BA/BS in __________" on your resume, it essentially dooms you to be branded a "quitter" in the eyes of almost any employer you try to get a job with. Trust me, I'm a recruiter, and this is the crap we look at. Also your gen ed classes suck I know, but they only really dominate the first two years, and you'll be surprised how useful they turn out to be after you graduate. Definitely pay attention in them.

 

[cookie]

I've put off any real career decisions for another year: in the meantime I'm going to be working part time as a tutor and try to get other odd jobs to fill the gap, while I focus on
1. Writing - this year I've written a fair bit for my college's newspaper, and want to take this further. I have a play and maybe a novel in mind, along with a bunch of general comedy stuff.
2. Business - I have a few ideas that I want to work on with a view to starting my own business. Be my own boss, do my own thing etc etc. It won't be easy or a sure-fire thing but I'm in the position to make a gamble like that so I may as well go for it.

I'll be living at home so the money I earn part-time will be enough to keep me doing my own thing while I sort my life out. Being inside Greater London means I'm not stuck in the middle of nowhere without opportunities.

EDIT: Just to clarify, my decision to pursue writing is irrespective of my degree: physics is a good major that employers respect and opens up a fair number of career paths.

 

[Jellicent]

Luminouzz: I would say stick it out. The first two years of college are pretty much general knowledge. Seems useless at first, but as WaterBomb said, you'd be surprised at how nice it is to have. When you hit the last two years, you actually start learning things in your field. That's the college learning experience you originally signed up for; the first two years are just to generally make you more well rounded, sorta like high school x.x Also, if you're thinking about dropping out of college, I wouldn't really recommend it, assuming your main motivation is good employment. Granted, if you got an awesome job offer already and are thinking it's worth pursuing currently, then yeah, go for it. Also, your name is hard to spell.

Cookie: Whoa, bro, I didn't know you were a writer! Seriously, that's my favorite part of post-college life. I'm on the second draft of a novella (novel? I dunno, what's the cutoff?), and it's such a cathartic feeling. I kinda feel like the only reason I haven't finished yet is because I have an odd attachment to my characters and when I'm done the book, they're gone... I'm such a sap ;-;

 

[MrIndigo]

I started a combined Science/Law degree at Sydney University in 2006. Deferred my law in 2009 to do a year-long Honours research project for Science, then finished Law of November last year (ceremony coming up in May).

To get accredited as a lawyer, you have to do a certain amount of "Practical Legal Training" and have a certain number of hours of legal work experience supervised by a practitioner.

I'm currently 10/15 weeks through the PLT component, and doing fairly well, but unlike most of the people I know, I just can't seem to get hired. I didn't get a clerkship in penultimate year, and most of the big firms only recruit their grads out of their clerks. Had one or two interviews, but still nothing (particularly since the Europe thing has led many firms to implement a hiring freeze). I have something like 6 pending applications at the moment, so hopefully something will come of that. Looking for a job in intellectual property, taxation, or Personal Property Security.


It's disappointing, especially because I regularly outperform many of the people I know who have legal jobs, but I just need to keep in mind that it's both a numbers game and simply a matter of time until I break through.

I do have a fairly good PT/C job at the Law School working for the tax group of the Ross Parsons Centre for Commercial, Corporate and Taxation Law, as a research assistant for some/most of the top tax academics in the country.

Still living at home rent-free until I find a FT job, at which point I'll move to the city rather than my 1.5 hour commute. Huge debts (my first 3 years were at full-fee, rather than the subsidised price) but the tax-based loan program here is very good so I'm not particularly worried about it.

 

[WaterBomb]

Just thought I'd share the worst part about post college life with everyone:

Applying for jobs that are listed as "Entry Level" yet require 3+ years of experience. Companies are too lazy to train people anymore, so unless an internship or other practicum was part of your actual college degree program, you're basically limited to Sales and Marketing or Retail. Sucks...

 

[ToF]

Just thought I'd share the worst part about post college life with everyone:

Applying for jobs that are listed as "Entry Level" yet require 3+ years of experience. Companies are too lazy to train people anymore, so unless an internship or other practicum was part of your actual college degree program, you're basically limited to Sales and Marketing or Retail. Sucks...

i dont know where you went to school but i got a "entry level job" straight out of college without relevant internship experience. thats what you pay money for, to answer some previous question. its not exactly about what you learn in school, its moreso you have to go to get access to recruiting resources and networking sources. 99% of academia in college is boring / useless, and the 1% i learned ill relearn through on the job training. you pay for a degree, not for an education.

 

[Acklow]

I am in my second year in college atm, finishing up my generals online before (living with the parents) I head back to live on campus to finish up my major in animation (I'm looking at doing storyboard design and scenario writing). Currently working for an automotive group located in the Twin Cities doing finance. It's an entry level job and there's a steep learning curve to it, but boy has it been a ride. I would definitely say I am luckier than most to land a job like this due to the reasonable pay and overall quality of job.

I'll definitely agree with ToF that some of the stuff you learn in college won't help on-the-job, but at the same time, I think it depends on what field you are in.

In any event, I have no plans on dropping out. Mainly working to save up the dough I need for school so that I don't have to rely on student loans. The nice part is that once I go back to live on campus, I'll have a nice resume so that I can apply for a decent part/full-time local job in finance or something, which will also help pay for tuition.

In terms of what I plan to do after college, I'm hoping to strike up a job with Nickleodeon or CN. It would definitely be a push.