Personal Finance King

A Personal Finance Money Blog from a Christian Perspective

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Recommended Sites
You are here: Home / Kids & Finance / For My 16-Year-Old Daughter, 8 Lessons on Finding That First Real Job

For My 16-Year-Old Daughter, 8 Lessons on Finding That First Real Job

January 3, 2018 by Barnaby

Pippa is a junior in high school so naturally she is thinking about colleges…and majors…and jobs.

She’s a confident girl, but utterly lost about what jobs or career to pursue. That’s not unusual at her age, but I think she thinks it is. The girl in her class who has always known she wants to be a nurse burns much brighter in her head than the ten who silently wonder what their life’s calling should be.

And never mind that I’m still figuring out what I want to do when I grow up, and I’m 40-something.

“I guess I could always get a job at McDonald’s, right?” Pippa loves to joke, but there’s not a hint of a smile on her face.

That’s my cue! I run to my secretary (the furniture, not the person) and pull out a yellowed and stained copy of an old Jack Falvey article from a 1986 issue of the Wall Street Journal that I read when I was a teenager. It’s based on his book After College: The Business of Getting Jobs.

Written in prehistoric times (pre-Internet), it’s still highly relevant because it operates on the basic principle that, regardless of technology, jobs and careers are still underpinned by human relationships.

You have any articles like that? Ones that hit home so squarely that they knock you for a bit of a loop, altering your life’s direction, or at least your worldview? You clipped and filed it, then retrieved and reread it on occasion? Eventually, it became so ingrained, or perhaps not relevant in your life anymore, so you gave it a more permanent filing, with the understanding it would only be unearthed again if your child were to enter the same life stage.

Miraculously, I found the article, and presented it to Pippa. Miraculously, she read it.

After she finished it, I was hoping she’d stand up straighter, apply a confident smile, and go attack the world. That didn’t happen, but remember, she’s a teenager. Hopefully, a seed will take root.

Here’s a loose summary of it, in my own words:

Lesson #1: Get a Liberal Arts Degree

Yes, college isn’t for everyone. If you know you want to be a Welder, or a Baller, or a Warfighter, then get specialized training.

But for the millions of Pippas of the world, liberal arts is a solid all-around foundation that allows for a change of mind during studies, and a change of career afterwards. After all, according to a LinkedIn study, the average Millennial has 4 jobs within the first decade after college.

Lesson #2: It’s About Who You Know

I think every adult knows this one, but I didn’t learn it until college. I was a good-ish student, but I didn’t have a lot of academic ambitions. Mainly, I wanted to be a rockstar on the weekly college newspaper, The Bates Student. So I paid my dues, asking for the tough assignments and really going after it as a reporter. When the time came to pick editors for the following year, I applied to be a copy editor, the next logical step up from reporter. I was shocked when two students who had zero combined experience at the paper were chosen as copy editors. What qualifications did they possess? They were both friends of the incoming Editor-in-Chief.

One year later, I had developed a warm rapport with the new incoming Editor-in-Chief, who named me News Editor, the number two position at the paper. What a difference a year – and a new approach – made.

Lesson #3: Look for Information, Not a Job

Do what you have to to get over your inhibitions and set up face-to-face meetings (second best: phone calls) with people of interest and ask good questions:

  • How did you arrive here?
  • What makes this organization unique?
  • Where is this company/industry going?

Start with people you know or share an affinity with: Your school’s alumni, adult acquaintances of your friends, and friends of the family. Then ask for who else you can talk to.

Lesson #4: You Can’t Know What You Want to Be Unless You See What Is Out There

Get experience any way you can. Help out a professor with her research. Get a part-time job. Secure a summer internship.

You’ll receive three important things: Experience, contacts, and money (hopefully).

Lesson #5: Do Not Lead With a Resume

Resumes are for when you are 30-something and have a career to summarize. When you are just getting started, your babysitting and lawn-mowing experience doesn’t do much for you. Mostly you need a phone, Internet for research, and a pen and paper for thank-you notes.

Lesson #6: Avoid Job Interviews

Related to #5. You don’t want to be added to a huge pool of applicants. I wrote previously how I dodged this trap in my own job search. The odds are against you, plus you are competing against people who have an advantage over you – they are an inside candidate or have a relationship they are leveraging. Which is what you should be doing.

Lesson #7: Look for a First Boss, Not a First Job

It’s become a cliche: People leave managers, not companies. Overused, perhaps, but it’s truth.

Don’t necessarily jump at the first opportunity; take the time to find the right boss operating within a good-fit culture. Whom you work for and with is the single most important factor in a new job.

Lesson #8: “Thank You” is Powerful

Saying “Thank You” – especially in a good old-fashioned letter mailed within 24 hours of a meeting – is a really awesome way to stand out. Most people don’t do it, and if they do, they take the easy – and easily-ignored – email route.

Have a 9th Lesson? Let me know in the comments.

Filed Under: Kids & Finance, Work & Finance Tagged With: avoid job interviews, choosing college major, employment thank you notes, first boss, first real job, millennial job changes, value of liberal arts degree, who you know not what you know

About Me

About Barnaby King Welcome to the Personal Finance King blog, which explores issues of Money, Faith, Work, and Family. I am Barnaby King. More
Subscribe to Receive New Posts by Email:

Check your inbox or spam folder now to confirm your subscription.

RSS RSS Feed

  • Quick Takes: Riding Greyhound, Winning Mega Millions & Human Composting
  • Know Your Value
  • My Tiny Bitcoin Investment Lost 64% of Its Value

Most Popular Posts

1. How Should We Respond to Needy People on the Street?
2. We Ported Our Landline Phone to Google Voice, Saving $46 Per Month
3. What Is the Role of Faith in Personal Finance?
4. 9 Life and Finance Lessons from “Alexander Hamilton” Biography by Ron Chernow
5. Top 8 Free and Offbeat Historic Things to Do in Baltimore
6. Why We Live in Baltimore Despite Its Problems
7. How a Prized Pocket Knife Was Imperiled on a Trip to See the Rockettes
8. Is 16 Too Old for a First Phone?

Categories

  • Earning Money
  • Faith & Finance
  • Kids & Finance
  • Love & Finance
  • Misc Finance
  • Politics & Finance
  • Saving Money
  • Travel & Finance
  • Uncategorized
  • Work & Finance

Archive

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • August 2022
  • June 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in