The Worst Career Advice Parents Can Offer Options

[Mommy]

Honestly, I think whoever wrote this article is an idiot. Tell me what you think.

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/careerist/32601

Basically, she says that worst advice parents can give is:
1) Get a graduate degree

2) Don't job hop

3) Don't ask about time off until you have the job

4) Don't have gaps in your resume

5) Earn enough money to pay rent and buy food

She explains why each point is bad advice, including saying that a graduate degree is pretty much useless these days and that job hopping is somehow good? My parents didn't teach me that shit. My friends in the workforce, college professors, and managers have. I would be surprised if anyone on here agreed with her.

[James]

Honestly, I think whoever wrote this article is an idiot. Tell me what you think.

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/careerist/32601

Basically, she says that worst advice parents can give is:
1) Get a graduate degree

2) Don't job hop

3) Don't ask about time off until you have the job

4) Don't have gaps in your resume

5) Earn enough money to pay rent and buy food

She explains why each point is bad advice, including saying that a graduate degree is pretty much useless these days and that job hopping is somehow good? My parents didn't teach me that shit. My friends in the workforce, college professors, and managers have. I would be surprised if anyone on here agreed with her.

My parents have specifically told me #1. They've implied #2. The rest I've not received as advice from anyone, but I did figure out #5 - food and shelter is all one needs to survive, anything else is pure luxury.

I actually agree with her on the graduate degree aspect, with conditions. As a teacher, it's harder to find initial employment if you have a graduate degree versus just having the bachelor with certification because they have to pay you more to start or they can pay a little less for this other person to start. I'm sure the same holds true in other job markets - engineers with Ph.D. instead of just a Master's also comes to mind.

Everything else I disagree with her on.

[Seeker]

i agree with all her points, except the last one, who wants to live at home

[schwab]

graduate degrees pay more for engineering...but yeah

[James]

graduate degrees pay more for engineering...but yeah

Which is a pretty good reason for an employer not to hire you Bottom line and all that.

[impala454]

The woman giving the advice (Penelope Trunk):

After spending 10 years as a marketing executive in the software industry, Trunk subsequently founded three companies of her own. She's endured an IPO, a merger, and a bankruptcy. Prior to that, she was a professional beach volleyball player.

Trunk began writing business advice when Fortune magazine ran an open call for a woman to write about her life as an executive. She auditioned with a piece about her brother's stupid Internet ideas and another piece about her boss's sex appeal, and won the job.

yeah... this is where I want all my career advice...

[JRockTTU]

The woman giving the advice (Penelope Trunk):

yeah... this is where I want all my career advice...

Some people have found that they can make a lot more money writing about business than they can being good at business.

[impala454]

and on her amazing advice:

1) Not true. Getting a grad degree is very situational. Some fields are better off with them, some aren't. It's stupid for this chick to say "graduate school generally makes young people less employable, not more employable." At the worst a grad degree means you owe two more years worth of school loans. BFD.

2) This is just stupid. Job hopping is expensive for the employee. You never get into the meat & potatoes of a job, and it typically involves moving. You also have problems with health insurance not overlapping, you never start building a respectable retirement fund, or tenure with a company.

3) I agree some, disagree some. I agree with stuff like "I have a vacation planned for a month from now, is that ok?". But it's pretty dumb to come into a company (if it's a typical 8-5 M-F job) and ask for Tuesdays off. If a company is that flexible, they'll tell you up front.

4) So this bitch says you should take time off for "gaps" in your resume, to show that you've done reflecting on your life? Geez.

5) This is complete BS. Even the business majors I know that started at the bottom of the totem pole made around 30k starting. If you can't pay the f'n bills with 30k, you need to lower your standard of living. This bitch totally misses the real reason kids can't pay the bills with their new life after college graduation: The kid tries to live the life his rich parents did. Like has been said on here many times, the Thirty Thousand Dollar Millionaire.

[impala454]

Some people have found that they can make a lot more money writing about business than they can being good at business.

well from her bio it looks to me like fortune hired her to fill their diversity woman spot.

[impala454]

James, I know what you mean on the teaching degree part. My girlfriend "graduated" with a Spanish major and is finishing up her Early Childhood major and student teaching in the fall so she can take the test and be certified for Pre-K through 4. We have been looking at different school districts for her to apply to and there is absolutely NO incentive for her to get a Master's because of the $2K OR LESS difference in salary for teachers with 0 yrs experience and then each year the pay scale raise is no different than a teacher with just a bachelors.

what I've noticed with teaching degrees & masters (I know lots of people both old and young grads), is that the graduate degree doesn't necessarily earn you lots more money, but it does factor greatly if you're looking to get a job in some of the best school districts. I know some districts actually require masters degrees for certain teaching positions.

[RitalinJunkie]

James, I know what you mean on the teaching degree part. My girlfriend "graduated" with a Spanish major and is finishing up her Early Childhood major and student teaching in the fall so she can take the test and be certified for Pre-K through 4. We have been looking at different school districts for her to apply to and there is absolutely NO incentive for her to get a Master's because of the $2K OR LESS difference in salary for teachers with 0 yrs experience and then each year the pay scale raise is no different than a teacher with just a bachelors.

I wouldnt quite say thats true. Granted you dont get much of a pay raise from the Masters, It does allow you more opportunity to run a department and actually make things in the school less sucky. A lot of schools actually will not hire teachers unless they have a minimum of 3 years teaching experience and/or a masters degree (Allen, Katy, etc). Of course in my case its a little different because Im music k-12....so getting a job is not so much a problem...

I didnt think they still offered elementery certification? I thought you had to get all level now. In any case Tech makes us do all level in our program. Also you dont have to wait until after student teaching to take your TExES certification test. You can do it at any time...and most ed profs will tell you to do it before student teaching since the test is all idealistic crap that will never happen in a real classroom.

[James]

You need the M.S., M.A., or M.Ed., if you want to teach AP classes or dual-credit classes, but otherwise, it's not necessary. It might make you more competitive if you're a non-math and non-science teacher, but honestly, having that higher degree will separate you even further from your students.

You're going to be trying to prove the second fundamental theorem of calculus in the abstract when all they care about is the integral is the anti-derivative and they reverse each other. You know, kind of like how for you engineers, the graduate TA teaching your Calculus 1 class did lol.

[Mommy]

what I've noticed with teaching degrees & masters (I know lots of people both old and young grads), is that the graduate degree doesn't necessarily earn you lots more money, but it does factor greatly if you're looking to get a job in some of the best school districts. I know some districts actually require masters degrees for certain teaching positions.

Exactly. My cousin works for Highland Park Independent School District and told me that she could get me a job, but only if I had a Master's Degree. They dont hire anyone with a Bachelors unless they have 10+ years of teaching experience and awesome recommendations.

[James]

I wouldnt quite say thats true. Granted you dont get much of a pay raise from the Masters, It does allow you more opportunity to run a department and actually make things in the school less sucky. A lot of schools actually will not hire teachers unless they have a minimum of 3 years teaching experience and/or a masters degree (Allen, Katy, etc). Of course in my case its a little different because Im music k-12....so getting a job is not so much a problem...

I didnt think they still offered elementery certification? I thought you had to get all level now. In any case Tech makes us do all level in our program. Also you dont have to wait until after student teaching to take your TExES certification test. You can do it at any time...and most ed profs will tell you to do it before student teaching since the test is all idealistic crap that will never happen in a real classroom.

You can't do all-level english, math, and science because of the way our schools are structured - one teacher teaching multiple subjects in elementary schools. Those are still broken down into EC-4 (general studies), 4-8 (english and social studies or math and science), and 8-12 (math, english, science, history, etc.). The programs the state considers unnecessary - fine arts, physical education, etc - have all-level programs though. And yeah, the state considers those unnecessary. Look at the removal of recess and requiring 4 yrs of math and science instead of the previous 3, effectively reducing the number of hours a student can devote to the non-core courses. I can see the state trying to remove them completely from curriculum 20 years down the road all in the name of "making the economy better because we need more scientists and engineers." Bullspit is what I say to that, but I don't get to make the rules.

[James]

And on a side note, I'd never want to work at one of the "better" school districts. Those kids have everything handed to them on a silver platter. Give me the kid that has a tough time outside of school so I can help him or her make a difference in their future.