A Reality Check for Undergrads

I have been walking around campus and hearing bits and pieces of conversation as I pass by people, as well as seeing some different students on campus, and so these notes are to them, because there are some very, very delusional undergrads out there.

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To Students In General, Looking At Your Life Post-Undergrad: A standard "Entry Level" job starts somewhere around $25K, not $40K, unless you're in a field where you need to have a very specialized skill set, or you need to have a Master's Degree (and even then, starting below $40K is the norm). Prepare to keep eating ramen noodles while you start to pay back all those lovely student loans you took out, because after you graduate, you're going to be getting a regular bill for them.

To The Students Who Think It'll Be Easy to Get Their Dream Job As Soon As They Graduate: The economy is still mostly tanked, so please understand that you are not just competing for a job against your age group in your field, you're also competing against every person who has been laid off/fired in the past year or more who needs a new job. Those people will have lots of experience that you don't have, making it much more likely that they'll be getting the job before you will. Also, do not send out your resume to just the companies you always wanted to work for; that is, quite frankly, a stupid thing to do in this economy. Getting a job is more important than getting your dream job, because bills do not magically pay themselves. Plus, any job you have can be put on your resume to show that you are willing to do a less glamorous job in your search for your dream job, which will garner you points in the long run. Quantity over quality in this case is key.

To the Students with Their Hair in Dreadlocks, Who Talk About Getting a Corporate Job to "fight the power from the inside": Yes, employers are going to judge your hair during interviews (even though they would never admit it), and it will not be in your favor. Sorry to spoil your hopes of being the first whistle-blowing corporation killer with waist-long dreads, but it's not gonna happen. You can't fight the power from the inside unless you look like you belong in the corporation, and that means the dreads have to go. Dreadlocks, to an employer, say you're quirky and dedicated to your lifestyle, but not dedicated to the company vision.

To the Students Who Show Up to Class/Meetings with Professors/TAs in Their PJs: So far I have seen a group of you who apparently do not own actual clothes, or if you do, you prefer to look like you rolled out of bed and just wore your PJs to class. I have even seen some of you who think it's okay to wear this type of clothing when you're meeting your Professors or Teaching Assistants to discuss your classwork/grades. This is troubling, and I would like to point out that there are several very affordable second-hand stores where you can buy clothes that are appropriate to wear outside of your bedroom. Please start dressing like you're an adult instead of a bratty four-year-old that wants to keep his PJs on when he goes to daycare. How do you expect to get a letter of recommendation from a professor in the future (either for a job or for getting into graduate school) if you dress like you don't care?

Finally, to the Students Who Think They Know More than the Professor/TA Who is There to Help Educate Them: No, you really don't, and you're being disrespectful to your educators. Every Teaching Assistant on campus already has their Bachelor's Degree, which means they've already been where you are, and have succeeded where you have yet to do so. They may also have several years of job experience in the field they're teaching in, which means that they have something valuable to bring to the table. Every Professor on campus has either a Master's Degree, a Ph.D. or about 15+ years job experience in the field where they teach. That puts them lightyears of understanding ahead of you in the topics they're bringing up in class, and you need to respect them for it. Your attitude towards your Professors and TAs is indicative of how you will act with employers (subconsciously or not), and no employer likes to feel disrespected, especially after they've taken time out of their day to interview you.

Sincerely,
AMW

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P.S.: For those of you who have never seen this blog before, this advice comes from somebody who has a B.S. in Written Communications and is attaining a M.S. in Public Communications & Technology, and has worked as a TA, so take this with a grain of salt if you need to. -amw