A couple of nights ago, I was asked by someone I know to help her daughter with a college assignment. She had to interview a professional about their career. I have a job, so I guess I am a professional, so I was happy to help out. There were about 7 or 8 questions, and each one came in separately to my Facebook mail account. No, you can't see all of the questions or the answers, but I will share one with you.
The last question has been on my mind since the e-mail exchange. When I originally read it, I gave about 45 seconds thought to my answer, and then began typing. The question was "what advice would you give to someone starting out?"
It's a broad question, and can go in any direction. Is it career advice? If it's career advice, isn't it actually life advice? So after my 45 seconds of thought, I began typing. Here is the answer I gave:
"Blanket advice is hard to give, because everyone is different. So here is my blanket advice.
- If you want a stable career, choose finance, accounting, or economics. (Although I personally wouldn't choose any of these.)
- Learn how to network.
- Solve people's problems at work, and the opportunities will follow.
- Don't burn bridges.
- Human Resources isn't there to help you deal with a bad boss. They are part of the company, and look out for the company's best interests.
- Find something you love to do, and be real good at it.
- Be your own person, and never compromise your principles - especially not for a paycheck.
- Live your life now, don't wait for some point in the future to start enjoying life.
- No one ever lay on their death bed wishing they spent more time in the office, so we can make the educated guess that you won't find your life's purpose working late.
- Debt sucks the life out of you, so save your money and pay for the stuff you want in life. Don't borrow money for a nice car, a big house (clarification - don't buy a house you can't afford), or an over-rated education. Paying off debt is slavery. (So are taxes, but that's for another survey.)
- Everyone will face failures, bad times, bad economies, and bad bosses. This is so you can identify the good times more easily.
- Be positive, everyone loves to work with positive people."
I can't make the claim that I personify all of them, but this is advice, not a mirror. So what do you think? Is this good advice? What would you offer up to the a person "starting out?"
______________
The last question has been on my mind since the e-mail exchange. When I originally read it, I gave about 45 seconds thought to my answer, and then began typing. The question was "what advice would you give to someone starting out?"
It's a broad question, and can go in any direction. Is it career advice? If it's career advice, isn't it actually life advice? So after my 45 seconds of thought, I began typing. Here is the answer I gave:
"Blanket advice is hard to give, because everyone is different. So here is my blanket advice.
- If you want a stable career, choose finance, accounting, or economics. (Although I personally wouldn't choose any of these.)
- Learn how to network.
- Solve people's problems at work, and the opportunities will follow.
- Don't burn bridges.
- Human Resources isn't there to help you deal with a bad boss. They are part of the company, and look out for the company's best interests.
- Find something you love to do, and be real good at it.
- Be your own person, and never compromise your principles - especially not for a paycheck.
- Live your life now, don't wait for some point in the future to start enjoying life.
- No one ever lay on their death bed wishing they spent more time in the office, so we can make the educated guess that you won't find your life's purpose working late.
- Debt sucks the life out of you, so save your money and pay for the stuff you want in life. Don't borrow money for a nice car, a big house (clarification - don't buy a house you can't afford), or an over-rated education. Paying off debt is slavery. (So are taxes, but that's for another survey.)
- Everyone will face failures, bad times, bad economies, and bad bosses. This is so you can identify the good times more easily.
- Be positive, everyone loves to work with positive people."
I can't make the claim that I personify all of them, but this is advice, not a mirror. So what do you think? Is this good advice? What would you offer up to the a person "starting out?"
______________
Never have more than two drinks of alcohol at a work function.
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