Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - Thinking about a career, for the first time, EVER

Tristan · 07-22-2007, 06:30 PM

Hi There,

It doesn't matter what kind of a job you get right out of college, so long as it supports what you want to do down the road. Heck....flipping burgers at McDonalds might sound crummy to most people, but not to the person who's career goal is to open up a McDonalds or a competing franchise all over the country. What would they say at McDonald's corporate headquarters if you were to walk up there and ask them for their business plans, marketing strategies, etc. And you get paid for learning! There is no better replacement for building career and/or business accumen than by immersion.

This reminds me of one of my coaching clients (we'll call him John). John was a middle-aged well-paid corporate executive who was burned out on working for a large and cold corporation and felt that his number was coming up on the corporate downsizing "chopping block." He wanted to run his own bar and grill restaurant as food was a passion of his, but he didn't know how. I suggested to him to take a job as a lowly cook or janitor at a similar restaurant and he looked at me as though I were nuts. Of course, John was making well over a six-figure income and I was asking him to leave that behind and take a minimum-wage job. Since he was financially sound, I urged him to follow his passions and he took my advice, quitting his job and taking a position as a waiter at a restaurant. At first he thought he would hate taking orders from people he unfortunately saw as "beneath" him, but he told me that he loved it. He loved the fact that he was learning the inside "guts" of the business and he loved the excitement of being "incognito"--The millionaire waiter that no one knew. He quickly realized that it wasn't about the pay...it was about the experience he needed in order to make his transition a success. That lowly job as a minimum wage waiter armed John with the business acumen needed to run a successful restaurant.

Like most college graduates, your marketable skills are probably limited and you need to build those skills up. The important thing is to build up those skills in the area that is congruent with what you see yourself doing 5-10 years from then. Base your decisions on that.

07-22-2007, 06:30 PM	#5 (permalink)
Tristan Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: San Diego, California Posts: 53	Choose a Destination Before you Hop on the Plane Hi There, It doesn't matter what kind of a job you get right out of college, so long as it supports what you want to do down the road. Heck....flipping burgers at McDonalds might sound crummy to most people, but not to the person who's career goal is to open up a McDonalds or a competing franchise all over the country. What would they say at McDonald's corporate headquarters if you were to walk up there and ask them for their business plans, marketing strategies, etc. And you get paid for learning! There is no better replacement for building career and/or business accumen than by immersion. This reminds me of one of my coaching clients (we'll call him John). John was a middle-aged well-paid corporate executive who was burned out on working for a large and cold corporation and felt that his number was coming up on the corporate downsizing "chopping block." He wanted to run his own bar and grill restaurant as food was a passion of his, but he didn't know how. I suggested to him to take a job as a lowly cook or janitor at a similar restaurant and he looked at me as though I were nuts. Of course, John was making well over a six-figure income and I was asking him to leave that behind and take a minimum-wage job. Since he was financially sound, I urged him to follow his passions and he took my advice, quitting his job and taking a position as a waiter at a restaurant. At first he thought he would hate taking orders from people he unfortunately saw as "beneath" him, but he told me that he loved it. He loved the fact that he was learning the inside "guts" of the business and he loved the excitement of being "incognito"--The millionaire waiter that no one knew. He quickly realized that it wasn't about the pay...it was about the experience he needed in order to make his transition a success. That lowly job as a minimum wage waiter armed John with the business acumen needed to run a successful restaurant. Like most college graduates, your marketable skills are probably limited and you need to build those skills up. The important thing is to build up those skills in the area that is congruent with what you see yourself doing 5-10 years from then. Base your decisions on that.