I made this mistake not too many years ago. In fact, I somehow had it in my mind that upon graduation, employers were going to be banging down the door to hire me. That might be the case for nurses or pharmasists, but with a degree as general as Business Administration, it just isn’t likely.
I also thought that my employer would stop and say, “Hey, that nice young lad just graduated – let’s promote him!”. They didn’t do that either. On the other hand at another previous employer I witnessed a couple promotions just days after graduation as if the employee had crossed some magical line of wisdom.
The mistake I made was that I assumed that I would just be able to work hard towards getting a degree and that the rest would take care of itself. While sometimes a degree can open some doors that would otherwise be shut, it is foolish to assume that a diploma is going to guarantee a good job.
Work hard and smart
I will be the first to admit that a lot of this depends on the field you are working in – but either way, I am convinced that hard work in combination with a willingness to learn and adapt will yield great results. It seems that those who are the most successful at what they do are the ones who work hard and work smart.
For example I’ve known people who were extremely hard workers, but didn’t involve their brain enough in the activity. You can work hard swinging a shovel at a tree and if you work hard enough, you might me able to eventually take it down, but why not use a saw?
Relating this to a career, I spent too many years with my nose to the grindstone, not looking up to see where I would be headed. I just thought that if I kept swinging my shovel hard enough, eventually that tree would fall.
This means different things to different people. For me, it meant getting off the track that I was on and moving to a new track. Working just as hard as before, but seeing much better results.
For some it might mean going back to getting a college degree, in order to extend your path. For others it might mean finding new ways to create value with what you do. But whatever it is, you can be sure that working hard and smart will push you further down your path.
“The hand of the diligent will rule, but the slack hand will be put to forced labor.” Pro 12:24
“The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” Pro 18:15
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I still haven’t gotten my degree and still won’t for a few years. I did think that this would be an issue not to rely just on a degree so I started brainstorming things I could do online to make a business. I’m planning to take this summer to just make my ideas come true, and most of them aren’t easy.
As for working hard… I’m a bit of a slacker… while I know that I try to not to be one but it seems its a bad habit…
“getting off the track that I was on and moving to a new track.”
In regards to being on a track…that was me. 17 years with one company, hard working, loyal to a fault, 1 job for 11 of those 17 years. I had no plans of doing anything else. I was good at what I did, or so I thought. As a Christian, I should have been aware that I my career was stalling. God made me aware. I was asked to resign or go on a PIP for my sales plan. I resigned. If you don’t lift your eyes off of the track you are on and scan the horizon for growth opportunities (personal, professional and spiritual growth), God will do it for you. Since my resignation, my INCOME went to HALF and now down to ZERO as a job hunter in a severely down economy.
I am considering going back to complete my degree but thanks to Bob’s article, I see it’s not important to focus on the Business degree. Should stick to “plan A” from 20 years ago which was Biblical Studies. First, I need to make some money.
Since I have a family involved these decisions are made more difficult.
In His Care, Jeff.
I think now more than ever that is true. I have a brother who just graduated college and can’t find a job. A college education is great in a lot of different ways but that means nothing in terms of finding a job these days, much less a good one.
I am currently out of work in Michigan, and have been seeking to find a job since April. I just enrolled back in college full-time with the expectation that I would have a grant to pay for my schooling for this fall semester. Two weeks ago, I found out the grant didn’t come through, and now I am going to school on only government loans. I have been asking for advice on whether to cancel my classes (and extra accumulating debt) or to continue on in my schooling on credit. After reading this article, I feel that maybe I need to quit pushing so hard at schooling, pay off some bills, and work smarter with the experiences that I do have. Is it good to make more debt?, I think not. I really want to pay off what I have first. I want to bring God honor and glory with the decisions that I make, in all of my life.
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