how to do an education that increases job chances

[duyen]

My friend's kid completed a 4 year CS degree from a decent college and had to take a bootcamp to finally land a job. I am weary of spending so much for my kids' college degree and still find it hard to land a job.

1) What are some good degrees that increase your job chances?
2) What are alternatives to a 4 year college degree (e.g., bootcamp, sales certification, accounting certification etc) that have good job chances

[Cgbg]

There is value to a college education beyond preparing one for a specific career.

Dh and I are engineer. Our oldest has his engineering degree and is headed to grad school. My youngest will graduate with his engineering degree in a year. Depending on the economy, he may choose grad school. That’s their choice and their path which isn’t suitable for every college student. Some kids find their way with an art degree and I would argue that’s as valuable as an engineering degree.

Public utility work (water, wastewater) are always in demand. Most of those careers involve a limited time program through a community college.

[Laura33]

What is your actual goal?  Is it to get a job immediately, with as little extra time and education as possible?  Is it to find a stable career?  Is it to maximize long-term income potential?  The answers are different.

If the goal is immediate employment, then your kid should go to the local CC and take one of the many certification/career training courses they offer.  Depending on your offerings, they may even be able to take these classes in HS -- my kids' school has career path options that range from culinary to assisting in a local nursing home to database management stuff.    Many kids graduate with full-time jobs.  Or go to work as an apprentice plumber/electrician.  Or go into the military and do college after using GI Bill benefits. 

Of course, many of the jobs available that way have limited income potential options without a lot of additional training/education -- nursing home assistant, line cook, etc.  So if you want to maximize long-term career potential, then you're looking at a four-year college.  But the real secret about college is that the specific degree doesn't matter that much to getting a job.  Sure, if you want to be an engineer, then you need an engineering degree; if you want to do computer science, you need a CS degree.  So if your kid wants to be an engineer, then by all means, that's a great option (that's my kid currently). 

But you don't have to be an engineer to get a good job.  There are many, many jobs out there where the degree honestly does not matter.  Because it's not about specific skills, like how to chop an onion quickly and safely.  It's about learning the basics of your chosen path, and then learning how to learn the rest.  I'm a lawyer; I have seven years of post-HS education.  You think they teach you the law in law school?  LOL.  They teach you the framework -- the general principles -- of a bunch of different areas.  But really they teach you how to teach yourself what you need to know after you graduate and start working -- where the resources are, how to find the most recent cases or rules on your issue, how to put together an argument, how to write and argue effectively, etc.

So what does matter in college more than the degree itself?  What are the factors that set your kid up for one of those jobs that doesn't hyper-focus on one specific skillset?

1.  College reputation/program reputation/alumni network.  Note this doesn't necessarily mean Harvard.  If you want to stay local, your local public university probably has the best local connections.  You want to maximize your kid's chances interviewing by having a strong alumni network to call on and a solid reputation in the area your kid is studying.

2.  Grades/classes taken.  By and large, employers are going to want to see that your kid took demanding classes and did well in them.  Not because the actual substance or grades matter.  But because the grades are a proxy for your kid's level of effort and drive and intelligence.  Employers want smart, driven, diligent employees.  They can't tell that based on a 15-minute interview.  So grades and choice of major are one of the ways they can feel comfortable that your kid will show up every day and try to do a decent job. 

2.a.  The corollary to 2 is that your kid should choose a major that they find sufficiently interesting that they're willing to put in the work to do it well.  Again:  most employers want to see drive and willingness to learn.  A kid who is motivated to pull straight-As in a history degree is likely going be more appealing for most jobs than one who parties his way to a C- engineering degree. 

3.  Internships/part-time jobs.  See alumni network above.  These are useful for your kid, because they can help provide a peek into different career paths.  But what they are really useful for is giving your kid contacts at various potential future employers.  You know the whole "it's not what you know, it's who you know"?  This is what that means.  Not in any bad nepotism kind of way.  It goes back up to 2:  employers want people who are diligent, driven, and smart enough to do what needs to be done.  There is no way to judge that in a 15-minute interview.  OTOH, if someone's already worked there for some period of time, it's a much easier hire. 

4.  And for the love of Pete, please God learn to communicate -- to write, to reason logically, to speak effectively.  Your school and degree will get you your first job.  But every single job you get after that is based on all the "soft" skills you learned that weren't official parts of the degree.  Showing up on time.  Self-control.  Initiative.  Emotional intelligence.  Ability to communicate.  My DH and I took very different paths -- I'm a lawyer, he's an engineer (uber-geek, too:  Ph.D in electrical engineering).  You know why we've done well?  We both communicate effectively.  I have to translate highly complex regulatory requirements to my clients, and when they screw it up, I have to communicate their story back to the regulators or to the court in a compelling way.  He has to translate between the technical people who are doing Ph.D-level advanced research and the business people with BAs in Political Science and MBAs and wouldn't know a mosfet if it bit them in the ass.  The substance of the areas we got our degrees in is just the foundation knowledge; the actual work we do involves all the other skills we built on top of that. 

Note that this last point is why I have told my daughter to take classes beyond her major (engineering).  Everyone should take a basic business class to learn how businesses operate.  Everyone should take sufficient writing classes to communicate effectively.  Everyone should take enough math and statistics classes to be able to use those basic skills should they become necessary on the job.  Etc. 

The idea of liberal arts gets routinely denouced as fluffy rich-people privilege.  But this is really what it's all about.  Life isn't about a specific set of skills -- at least if you want to move beyond entry-level.  A targeted degree with a specific skillset is fine; it will very likely get you a job, and if you enjoy the work, you can live a pretty happy life doing that forever, or learn on the job if you want to move up.  But the rich and powerful play the long game; they don't have to worry about that first job, so they can afford to focus on building the knowledge and skillset and connections that will serve them well long-term.  So if you can afford to send your kid to a four-year school, by all means, help them think about their career path and take the classes and internships to get them there.  But play the long game as well as you can; make sure that your kid has enough understanding of a wide variety of topics to make it as easy as possible to grow beyond that first job.

[nereo]

As usual, Laura33 has some fantastic insight.  I come here often just to read her posts.

One thing I would add (and seemed overlooked in the OP) is that it's critical to consider what your kiddo wants and what his/her stengths and personality are.  You can push them down whatever path you think has the best balance of job security, education requirements, earning potential and location... but if it's not who they are they'll never excel, and might wind up downright miserable (or simply rebel).

[EricEng]

My friend's kid completed a 4 year CS degree from a decent college and had to take a bootcamp to finally land a job. I am weary of spending so much for my kids' college degree and still find it hard to land a job.

1) What are some good degrees that increase your job chances?
2) What are alternatives to a 4 year college degree (e.g., bootcamp, sales certification, accounting certification etc) that have good job chances

This is bizarre.  They shouldn't need a bootcamp with a CS degree to land a job.  I went straight in with BS in CS and have never needed any accreditations.  We have been hiring CS grads by the dozen at my work.  When we are hiring software engineers for CS, we pretty much ignore all certs and focus on degree, gpa, and intern experience.

1) Engineering, especially EE, CE, CS.
2) 2 year IT, IA, or SysAd degree maybe.  No cerification/bootcamp will come close to job prospects of a 4 year engineering degree.  Yes, there will be lucky exceptions, but not on average.

[mm1970]

4.  And for the love of Pete, please God learn to communicate -- to write, to reason logically, to speak effectively.  Your school and degree will get you your first job.  But every single job you get after that is based on all the "soft" skills you learned that weren't official parts of the degree.  Showing up on time.  Self-control.  Initiative.  Emotional intelligence.  Ability to communicate.  My DH and I took very different paths -- I'm a lawyer, he's an engineer (uber-geek, too:  Ph.D in electrical engineering).  You know why we've done well?  We both communicate effectively.  I have to translate highly complex regulatory requirements to my clients, and when they screw it up, I have to communicate their story back to the regulators or to the court in a compelling way.  He has to translate between the technical people who are doing Ph.D-level advanced research and the business people with BAs in Political Science and MBAs and wouldn't know a mosfet if it bit them in the ass.  The substance of the areas we got our degrees in is just the foundation knowledge; the actual work we do involves all the other skills we built on top of that.

The whole post was great, but I had to highlight the importance of communication.

My husband also has a PhD in EE, uber geeks for the win!
He's one of those unicorn engineers who got a higher score on the verbal SAT than the math.

We are both in positions now that use our communication skills.  It can be ... wearying, in some sense.  We both are engineers and LOVE the tech work - but as we are also 50-ish now have moved into positions where we simply have to communicate.

I'm a program manager - I have to drill through all of the information overload data that the PhDs spit out and come up with a coherent plan of attack.
He's still doing tech work but has a lot of external interaction and has to mentor / manage other employees.  They rely on his communication skills.

Oh, and I work with mosfets, so I just liked that reference.


One or two other things I'd add - figuring out how to learn and research - and how YOU learn.  (I read things, write things down, experiment when I had the fab to do so.)  The ability to learn distinguishes you from the pack when you are working.  Don't just wait for people to tell you things.  Initiative goes a long way.

The other is organizational skills.  I know a lot of engineers who rely on their memory. That's fine and good when you are 20 or 30, but if you don't have a "system" for looking up information by the time you are 40, you are sunk.  Eventually, the memory goes, or it is faulty.  Proper organization (like how to store files on a computer, etc.) can be a lifesaver.

[Goldielocks]

My friend's kid completed a 4 year CS degree from a decent college and had to take a bootcamp to finally land a job. I am weary of spending so much for my kids' college degree and still find it hard to land a job.

1) What are some good degrees that increase your job chances?
2) What are alternatives to a 4 year college degree (e.g., bootcamp, sales certification, accounting certification etc) that have good job chances

This is bizarre.  They shouldn't need a bootcamp with a CS degree to land a job.  I went straight in with BS in CS and have never needed any accreditations.  We have been hiring CS grads by the dozen at my work.  When we are hiring software engineers for CS, we pretty much ignore all certs and focus on degree, gpa, and intern experience.

1) Engineering, especially EE, CE, CS.
2) 2 year IT, IA, or SysAd degree maybe.  No cerification/bootcamp will come close to job prospects of a 4 year engineering degree.  Yes, there will be lucky exceptions, but not on average.

I focused a lot on having some sort of prior work experience, especially if related, before graduation, too.   
Generally I hired from one of 4 schools in our local area (although I also hired from top 25 schools if a candidate was from outside our region) and I hired based on intern experience and the interview.

[Goldielocks]

Here's one for you -- 5 years after high school, most trades around here are hiring like mad and at $65k to $80k/yr, too.

You need to look for the job posting first, check what the typical pay is, and then look at the training.

Elevator repair and sustainable energy building experts are in high demand.  As are building maintenance persons (not janitors, the trades) as well.  Well, ok, custodials are in demand, but start at $40k and end around $60k for someone that runs their own business.

[EricEng]

I focused a lot on having some sort of prior work experience, especially if related, before graduation, too.   
Generally I hired from one of 4 schools in our local area (although I also hired from top 25 schools if a candidate was from outside our region) and I hired based on intern experience and the interview.

Yeah, that is pretty important.  I still think there's more to this story.  I doubt the issue with finding a job was the CS degree. 

Likely issues:
1. GPA
2. Lack of intern experience.
3. Not applying to enough areas.
4. Poorly written resume.
5. Too narrow of location for job search (ie, many tech jobs require move to large cities).
6. Poor interview skills

[Goldielocks]

Insistence on only working with SUN Microsystems.....  :-) 

Some CS friends I have, have very decided and esoteric opinions about what programming languages or systems they will work with, limiting their employer pool to 1-2 per city.

[Sibley]

As usual, Laura33 has some fantastic insight.  I come here often just to read her posts.

One thing I would add (and seemed overlooked in the OP) is that it's critical to consider what your kiddo wants and what his/her stengths and personality are.  You can push them down whatever path you think has the best balance of job security, education requirements, earning potential and location... but if it's not who they are they'll never excel, and might wind up downright miserable (or simply rebel).

This. And to add, that I regularly am telling teens and young adults on reddit that it's their life, and what their parent wants literally doesn't matter. Parent wants Jr to be a doctor, but Jr really doesn't want that? Parent can just shove it. Now, often these kids (and they really are all kids, regardless of the age) are dealing with abusive or controlling parents who are unable or unwilling to see that their children are not copies of the parent, and I very much hope that's not the case here.

So, to the parent here: sure, you can advise and try to help them get on the path, but it's ultimately up to them. Their life, their choice. Including suffering the consequences if they choose poorly.

[EricEng]

This. And to add, that I regularly am telling teens and young adults on reddit that it's their life, and what their parent wants literally doesn't matter. Parent wants Jr to be a doctor, but Jr really doesn't want that? Parent can just shove it. Now, often these kids (and they really are all kids, regardless of the age) are dealing with abusive or controlling parents who are unable or unwilling to see that their children are not copies of the parent, and I very much hope that's not the case here.

So, to the parent here: sure, you can advise and try to help them get on the path, but it's ultimately up to them. Their life, their choice. Including suffering the consequences if they choose poorly.

While completely dictating their career choice is obviously not good, pushing/encouraging your children toward fruitful career paths (engineering, doctor, etc) and away from dead ends (art history, English, philosophy, etc) is good parenting.  Kids just don't have the visibility to fully understand the consequences of their career choices when they are 18 and still supported fully (or nearly) by their parents.  Yes, their interests have to be factored in it, but it's up the parents to understand the kids interest&strengths and help find a prosperous career that will match.  IE: Encouraging a potential starving artist to instead look at architect, graphic design, video game 3d artist.

The kid's choice doesn't just impact themselves.  When they fail to launch they typically circle back to the parents or relatives.

[Laura33]

This. And to add, that I regularly am telling teens and young adults on reddit that it's their life, and what their parent wants literally doesn't matter. Parent wants Jr to be a doctor, but Jr really doesn't want that? Parent can just shove it. Now, often these kids (and they really are all kids, regardless of the age) are dealing with abusive or controlling parents who are unable or unwilling to see that their children are not copies of the parent, and I very much hope that's not the case here.

So, to the parent here: sure, you can advise and try to help them get on the path, but it's ultimately up to them. Their life, their choice. Including suffering the consequences if they choose poorly.

While completely dictating their career choice is obviously not good, pushing/encouraging your children toward fruitful career paths (engineering, doctor, etc) and away from dead ends (art history, English, philosophy, etc) is good parenting.  Kids just don't have the visibility to fully understand the consequences of their career choices when they are 18 and still supported fully (or nearly) by their parents.  Yes, their interests have to be factored in it, but it's up the parents to understand the kids interest&strengths and help find a prosperous career that will match.  IE: Encouraging a potential starving artist to instead look at architect, graphic design, video game 3d artist.

The kid's choice doesn't just impact themselves.  When they fail to launch they typically circle back to the parents or relatives.

Oh, there is so much here to unpack, and I don't have time.  So let me boil it down to two sentences:

I would have made an absolutely horrible engineer, would not have enjoyed the job, and would have eagerly jumped at the first opportunity to leave (if they didn't fire me first).

I made almost $400K year before last as an English major.

[Freedomin5]

This. And to add, that I regularly am telling teens and young adults on reddit that it's their life, and what their parent wants literally doesn't matter. Parent wants Jr to be a doctor, but Jr really doesn't want that? Parent can just shove it. Now, often these kids (and they really are all kids, regardless of the age) are dealing with abusive or controlling parents who are unable or unwilling to see that their children are not copies of the parent, and I very much hope that's not the case here.

So, to the parent here: sure, you can advise and try to help them get on the path, but it's ultimately up to them. Their life, their choice. Including suffering the consequences if they choose poorly.

While completely dictating their career choice is obviously not good, pushing/encouraging your children toward fruitful career paths (engineering, doctor, etc) and away from dead ends (art history, English, philosophy, etc) is good parenting.  Kids just don't have the visibility to fully understand the consequences of their career choices when they are 18 and still supported fully (or nearly) by their parents.  Yes, their interests have to be factored in it, but it's up the parents to understand the kids interest&strengths and help find a prosperous career that will match.  IE: Encouraging a potential starving artist to instead look at architect, graphic design, video game 3d artist.

The kid's choice doesn't just impact themselves.  When they fail to launch they typically circle back to the parents or relatives.

Oh, there is so much here to unpack, and I don't have time.  So let me boil it down to two sentences:

I would have made an absolutely horrible engineer, would not have enjoyed the job, and would have eagerly jumped at the first opportunity to leave (if they didn't fire me first).

I made almost $400K year before last as an English major.

Yes. Agree 100%. My parents were being “good parents” and like a good obedient child, I have a degree in CS, worked for several summers as an intern at IBM, and started working towards an MBA...and I could not find a job after graduation and hated waking up each morning. Then I went back to school as a psychology major and last year made $250k working part time.

I’ve learned that if you do what you love and have a natural aptitude for, and you are flexible in seeking out career opportunities and using your skill set in creative ways, there will always be a way to earn a living.

[BeanCounter]

This is why working in high school and college is so critical. It may be even more important than grades. You need to gain work experience in order to figure out what your skill set truly is and what kind of work environment you enjoy most. Not 100% fool proof, but better than picking a major, graduating and getting into a career that you have no actual experience in.

Also agree with other posters that parents cannot dictate their kid's education and career path. Though it's not bad to encourage them to pick a flexible or in demand major. IMHO it's best to decide to give them a set amount of money for school (or none at all) and then keep your mouth shut about it. Let them figure it out from there on.

I was given a lump sum for college, I spent it all on a fancy two year culinary school (because I had been making good money in high school as a caterer). I then decided I didn't actually want to cook, but wanted to be a GM or DM for a hotel or other hospitality group so I cooked my way through business school. Where I met my husband. His career path and mine weren't going to mesh well so I took an accounting position, that company paid for a few classes I needed to sit for the CPA exam. Now 20 years later I'm in corp finance making six figures and I'm putting in my notice to RE on Friday.
Nobody could have predicted that path. All my parents did was give me a boost by providing me some money for school and teaching me that working hard was the real key to success. The rest, the universe and I had to figure out.

[EricEng]

This. And to add, that I regularly am telling teens and young adults on reddit that it's their life, and what their parent wants literally doesn't matter. Parent wants Jr to be a doctor, but Jr really doesn't want that? Parent can just shove it. Now, often these kids (and they really are all kids, regardless of the age) are dealing with abusive or controlling parents who are unable or unwilling to see that their children are not copies of the parent, and I very much hope that's not the case here.

So, to the parent here: sure, you can advise and try to help them get on the path, but it's ultimately up to them. Their life, their choice. Including suffering the consequences if they choose poorly.

While completely dictating their career choice is obviously not good, pushing/encouraging your children toward fruitful career paths (engineering, doctor, etc) and away from dead ends (art history, English, philosophy, etc) is good parenting.  Kids just don't have the visibility to fully understand the consequences of their career choices when they are 18 and still supported fully (or nearly) by their parents.  Yes, their interests have to be factored in it, but it's up the parents to understand the kids interest&strengths and help find a prosperous career that will match.  IE: Encouraging a potential starving artist to instead look at architect, graphic design, video game 3d artist.

The kid's choice doesn't just impact themselves.  When they fail to launch they typically circle back to the parents or relatives.

Oh, there is so much here to unpack, and I don't have time.  So let me boil it down to two sentences:

I would have made an absolutely horrible engineer, would not have enjoyed the job, and would have eagerly jumped at the first opportunity to leave (if they didn't fire me first).

I made almost $400K year before last as an English major.

Yes. Agree 100%. My parents were being “good parents” and like a good obedient child, I have a degree in CS, worked for several summers as an intern at IBM, and started working towards an MBA...and I could not find a job after graduation and hated waking up each morning. Then I went back to school as a psychology major and last year made $250k working part time.

I’ve learned that if you do what you love and have a natural aptitude for, and you are flexible in seeking out career opportunities and using your skill set in creative ways, there will always be a way to earn a living.

That's great English netted you $400k one year and psychology netted you $250k.  Those are not the norm and are quite the outliers. 

I think you both also ignored most of my post where I said you have to take their interests and strengths into consideration.  Engineering obviously isn't the best option for many and no one should be forced into it if it doesn't match their interests.  However, many art, music, literature, English, and social sciences graduates struggle to find employment (compared to STEM), and even then it is in the $40-50k range commonly.  That field by design is going to have big outliers, you either make it really big or you mostly tread water on average.  There are prosperous careers for most every interest/strength, but parents should spot these and try to help them find a good career to go with it.

[Laura33]

This. And to add, that I regularly am telling teens and young adults on reddit that it's their life, and what their parent wants literally doesn't matter. Parent wants Jr to be a doctor, but Jr really doesn't want that? Parent can just shove it. Now, often these kids (and they really are all kids, regardless of the age) are dealing with abusive or controlling parents who are unable or unwilling to see that their children are not copies of the parent, and I very much hope that's not the case here.

So, to the parent here: sure, you can advise and try to help them get on the path, but it's ultimately up to them. Their life, their choice. Including suffering the consequences if they choose poorly.

While completely dictating their career choice is obviously not good, pushing/encouraging your children toward fruitful career paths (engineering, doctor, etc) and away from dead ends (art history, English, philosophy, etc) is good parenting.  Kids just don't have the visibility to fully understand the consequences of their career choices when they are 18 and still supported fully (or nearly) by their parents.  Yes, their interests have to be factored in it, but it's up the parents to understand the kids interest&strengths and help find a prosperous career that will match.  IE: Encouraging a potential starving artist to instead look at architect, graphic design, video game 3d artist.

The kid's choice doesn't just impact themselves.  When they fail to launch they typically circle back to the parents or relatives.

Oh, there is so much here to unpack, and I don't have time.  So let me boil it down to two sentences:

I would have made an absolutely horrible engineer, would not have enjoyed the job, and would have eagerly jumped at the first opportunity to leave (if they didn't fire me first).

I made almost $400K year before last as an English major.

Yes. Agree 100%. My parents were being “good parents” and like a good obedient child, I have a degree in CS, worked for several summers as an intern at IBM, and started working towards an MBA...and I could not find a job after graduation and hated waking up each morning. Then I went back to school as a psychology major and last year made $250k working part time.

I’ve learned that if you do what you love and have a natural aptitude for, and you are flexible in seeking out career opportunities and using your skill set in creative ways, there will always be a way to earn a living.

That's great English netted you $400k one year and psychology netted you $250k.  Those are not the norm and are quite the outliers. 

I think you both also ignored most of my post where I said you have to take their interests and strengths into consideration.  Engineering obviously isn't the best option for many and no one should be forced into it if it doesn't match their interests.  However, many art, music, literature, English, and social sciences graduates struggle to find employment (compared to STEM), and even then it is in the $40-50k range commonly.  That field by design is going to have big outliers, you either make it really big or you mostly tread water on average.  There are prosperous careers for most every interest/strength, but parents should spot these and try to help them find a good career to go with it.

I have zero problem with helping kids find "prosperous careers."  What I object to is the characterization of certain degrees as "dead ends." 

First, the flaw in your logic is that you assume that the problem is the degree and not the innate skills/abilities/interests that led someone to choose that degree in the first place.  My best friend in HS had something like a 760 verbal SAT and a 380 math.  Think a STEM degree was a realistic option for her?  There are very, very few people who are equally talented in both STEM and English/history/philosophy.  The idolization of STEM as the Best of All Possible Degrees leads to kids trying to shove their square selves into little round holes that don't fit and don't maximize their talents.

But really, it goes back to my first post on this thread:  are you training for your first job, or for the one after that, or the one after that?  Your major/school/field may get you your first degree, but it's all of the other skills you learned along the way that get you all the ones after that.  And the longer your planning horizon, the broader the skillset you will need.

Look, we have always been very pragmatic with our kids.  We have not given them the fluffy "follow your passion" bullshit advice that leads to part-time baristas having $200K in student loans.  We have focused on finding a career path that is reasonably interesting, uses their strongest skills, and offers the lifestyle they want.  For ex, lawyers and teachers make very different amounts of money and have very different lifestyles; we talk about the pros and cons of each, and the kids can take it from there. 

But the one thing I have told my DD (just finished her freshman year) is to make sure to take classes outside her major.  Yes, she is STEM girl, and she wants to be an engineer or doctor.  Great!  Limited chance she ends up living in my basement!  And she'll make enough to buy a bunch of the crap she likes to buy without going into debt!  But both DH and I I have also told her to be sure to take classes in communications, business, political science, statistics, economics, accounting, and as many other areas as she can fit in.  Because those are the skills that are going to help her long-term. 

And who knows?  Maybe she'll find some opportunity that none of us even dreamed of that completely floats her boat.  Thanks to her freshman seminar, she's now talking about the possibility of law school. . . .

[LiveLean]

If you graduate college with only a degree, you just wasted four years. If you haven't done any internships or otherwise gained real-world experience in your field to prove yourself to potential employers, your sheepskin is worthless. Or, at best, you're going to apply for jobs and pray.

[Pigeon]

I had a father who was an engineer and strongly pushed me into STEM. Not a good idea.

I work with college kids and see a lot who never gave a moment's thought to what they were going to do with their degree and find themselves with a pile of debt and a degree in sociology and no job prospects. Also not good.

What we did was make the kids come up with a plan. We sat them down with the Occupational Outlook Handbook and a few other things. We wanted them to have a good understanding of the educational requirements, employment outlook, working conditions, salaries, etc. for what they wanted to do.

We fully expected that the plans would likely change. But I didn't want them to be that kid getting out with a degree and no clue.