As much as some of us would like to, we can’t stay in college forever. There comes a point where we must graduate, put on our big-kid outfits and get a big-kid job.
However, choosing a job or a career path is no simple matter.
There are two choices in whatever line of work you go into: make your job your life or have your job support your lifestyle.
Many of our parents are perfect examples of the former, so chances are we’ve been taught from an early age that our job comes first and that hard work always wins.
The recession has further instilled the need for financial stability in our minds.
So we’re left with quite the predicament: Do we start the supposedly safe and excruciatingly stressful corporate climb or do we throw financial stability to the wind and live a life not centered on our career?
I am going through a mid-college career crisis now, and, though it’s not talked about much, I don’t think I’m the only one.
Like any decision, there are pros and cons to each possible path.
A pro of climbing the corporate ladder, aside from an assured paycheck, is you have a lesser chance of living as a nomad and establishing a stable lifestyle is easier.
Among the long list of cons, and probably the most foreboding, is that you will probably find yourself working in a cubicle.
For those of you who have never spent time in a cubicle, they are soul-sucking excuses for an office.
In fact, whenever you get a job offer, ask to see your work space before you accept it just to make sure that it is conducive to sanity. It will make the decision easier.
On the opposite end of the career spectrum is a plethora of choices. You can do what you love to do, regardless of the paycheck at the end of the day.
You can start your own company, which is probably the safest bet outside of the corporate world. Or you can settle with a mediocre job that pays the bills but not much else. This is probably the least stressful and also the least rewarding.
A positive thing about blazing your own path is avoiding the stress of impressing your bosses for a glimmer of hope to be promoted.
A downside of this capricious lifestyle is that you might wake up one day in a much more serious crisis than the question many of us are struggling with right now. Imagine starting over twenty years from now.
I would say do what makes you happy. However, five years down the road you might not be happy if your dream job provides little to no income.
I might also say choose stability over anything else, but you might go grey prematurely, or bald if you’re really unlucky.
So, I think the only thing to do is storm into the real world like you know what you’re doing and hope it works out.
You can reach the columnist at lweinick@asu.edu
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