On-the-job career guidance

On-the-job

Sure, there are great jobs and companies out there that truly care about their employees. Those companies are rare, though, and you'll be lucky if you land a job with one of them. But what if you can find a company that will allow you to experience their workplace like on-the-job training but you can backout anytime. This will give you the opportunity to explore careers to see if it's right for you and offer you more growth. This can also be offered to highschool students who still undecided which major to take.

16 points | 50 comments

By

...
loading bar

The company you work for is not your friend.

  • Reply

@sstevens46 Your employer?whether it?s a scrappy startup or a massive multi-million dollar company?is not your friend

  • Reply

@sstevens46 You are a resource.

  • Reply

I learned it's important to carefully evaluate every 'growth opportunity' against your skills, values and personal opportunity cost.

  • Reply

@relliott49 ?I traded a nurturing environment full of seasoned professionals who were invested in my professional success for a bottom-line-driven environment full of young sharks trying to make their mark

  • Reply

@relliott49 Sometimes when opportunity knocks, we have to look through the peephole before we answer

  • Reply

@tgraham4b Like most young professionals, I heard this message but thought, I'm young and still have time, and instead told myself I would start saving consistently when I earned more or finished paying for this or that

  • Reply

My advice to my younger self? If a job really isn't working out, find something new and change. Life is too short. It's the random experiences that make life exciting and will lead to new opportunities

  • Reply

The biggest mistake I ever made was grinding through my 20s thinking that a job would ever make me [feel] 'wealthy.

  • Reply

@cclark4e If you feel stuck or are growing resentful of your work situation, the solution isn't to simply quit your job and find another one.?

  • Reply

@cclark4e ?Suck it up for a little bit longer, and research what it is you?actually?want to do

  • Reply

@rrose4g I accepted a position with a smaller company, just 10 minutes from my home. The salary is less, the company is smaller, and there is no 'race to the top' because I am already there. The stress is less, and I am truly happy with my decision to mak

  • Reply

As a professor, I can't tell you how many students have take a year off or struggled to find even entry level work in the sciences when they graduate with no real-world experience, while their peers who gave up the summer pay to build their resume were faster to enter their careers.?

  • Reply

@njohnson4i For me personally, a 40-50 hour a week summer internship made the difference in me getting into graduate school, getting better fellowships in graduate school, and continues to be on my resume as something that helped me in my current career.

  • Reply

@njohnson4i I would say as a compromise, try to get a job in something vaguely related to your intended career/field of study if you can.

  • Reply

@skennedy4k My roommate was a business major focusing in marketing with an interest in fashion- she got a retail job with Lucky Jeans part-time, and is poised to start climbing up the corporate ladder now that we've graduated.

  • Reply

@skennedy4k While that's great in theory, a lot of college students need that summer job to pay for school. So their choice is - pay for an internship with money you don't have, or earn money to pay for school in the fall.

  • Reply

@ewest4m students have to eat, and if your parents aren't picking up the tab for your summer room and board, the necessary internships are just impossible for the average student.

  • Reply

Great idea, wish I had thought of it!

  • Reply

Easier said than done for people who have to fund their own education

  • Reply

@dwillis4p I took on an unpaid internship. It helped that I was living at home and my folks did me a huge solid by not charging rent or really asking for any money for food

  • Reply

I highly recommend taking on an internship IF you/your family/friends can help you with some of the hardships you will face such as money, time.

  • Reply

@ntorres4r The other thing to remember is that in some fields/majors you can have the best of both worlds. If you're majoring in Computer Science, IT, Computer Engineering, or another technical field there are many internships that pay?

  • Reply

@ntorres4r ?It is the best thing I have ever done with my career and the boss/mentor that I worked under is one of my inspirations for many of the good working habits I use today.

  • Reply

Unless you want to be a career assistant, don't be too good at being an assistant

  • Reply

@rcook4u This is a great pro-tip. I worked as a hostess that was promised after two weeks I'd start serving. Unfortunately, I was by far the best hostess, so they wouldn't let me up the chain. I eventually quit because I hated being jerked around like tha

  • Reply

@amurphy4v Same story here, sister.

  • Reply

@rcook4u I suffered this when I was on a desk as well, and I still feel bad about it! It's a strange way to start new people in the industry.

  • Reply

@randrews4x ?I both agree and disagree, having made the jump from a very high-level exec asst. to management.

  • Reply

Dont take "career" so seriously. Working every waking hour is not worth it.

  • Reply

loading bar

end of comments