A job, a career, college, or .......

[cassidyta]

Mr. Photograph's post got me to thinking. This is not meant to sound like an old man saying "Back in my day" This is a few things I have learned over the past few years. I offer this based on experience. I have done both college and the military. I have worked for minimum wage and also been a Sr. Executive with all of the perks. Some of you may not agree with this, but I offer it anyways.

Understand that there is a difference between a job and a career. Almost all of us have had a job that we did not like. But it was required to pay the bills. It does not become a career until you can foresee it taking you to the finish line.

You may not know what you want as a career for a while. There are many people asking "What do I want to be when I grow up?" when they are closer to 30 than 20.

Neither college nor the military is for everyone straight out of high school. If you have the ability and desire to go to college, then by all means do it. That being said, there are a lot of college students who don't belong there.

Have a plan B. There are a lot of people stuck in jobs they hate because they have no where else to go.

I do not envy your generation. You are entering the work force at one of the scariest times in US history. If there is a silver lining, it is that you will likely be the hardest working generation since the end of WWII. You will have no choice because you are competing against men and women with 20 years experience and a mortgage to pay.

My generation has really screwed things up. Your generation will be the ones that has to fix it for my grandchildren.