Add Experience to Education

A billboard on the side of the freeway conveys a brilliant message "Get a Resume With Your Degree".

 

STUDENTS WITH NO EXPERIENCE

Unfortunately, borrowing your way through school replaced working your way through school. More students graduate with debt today. They borrow student loans. They borrow on credit cards offered by finance companies who throw T-shirts, pizza, and other coupons to establish habits of debt. Many have to drop out of college because of debt related bankruptcy.

 

Consequently, most college students graduate from school with absolutely no, or minimal, work experience. I speak to lots of college groups to encourage them to add experience to their education. A frequent comment is "I graduate in a few weeks (or months). Most of the places ask for 1-2 years experience. I've never worked in my life. How am I supposed to gain experience?". At first, I thought the student ignored the small jobs they had done as youth. Upon further inquiry, however, I discovered that they had not mowed lawns, babysat, or worked during their teen years. Instead, their parents had so focused them on sports, dance, music, and other activities. Work interfered with their play.

 

As a result, they were entering the workplace in their twenties with no work ethic. They suffered a lack of experience. They do not understand the need for punctuality, dependability, and productivity. The only thing they can offer an employer is a diploma. They expect the workplace to conform to their habits. A recent story in US News and World Report lists seven advantages to working your way through college.

 

RICK'S STORY

Let me share the story of Rick. A young man I met in the late 80's. Rick, age 15 1/2 approached me after a presentation. No one in his family for 3 generations had gone to college. He wanted to be a mechanical engineer, but saw no way to achieve his goal. We discussed options. He knew an engineer from his church congregation. He offered to volunteer as a custodian at the engineering firm at which the man worked.

 

After six months of emptying trash and cleaning toilets, the firm hired him part-time. He still cleaned, but the engineers had begun to teach him how to draft using Autocad. He no longer cleaned by his 17th birthday, but drafted 20 hours a week. He also earned twice the average teen wage for the time. I remember him proudly informing me that he was leaving for his chosen university the next week, and had just bought a PC with his own money. Further, the engineering firm offered him work anytime he could come to the office--at three times the usual college student wage.

 

His engineering portfolio, when he graduated from college, did not contain student projects. It contained 11 engineering studies he had completed for the transportation system of a major copper refinery. It contained the design, drafting, and photos of 23 mechanical parts he had engineered for the same project. He added seven years engineering experience to his diploma.

 

Graduate schools lobbied for him to apply to their programs. They courted him as some schools court athletes. He accepted the offer from Purdue. They offered him a position as a teaching assistant. In addition, they gave him a grant to pay for tuition. Finally, they arranged a part-time job with a local engineering firm that paid him $58,000 a year.

 

Today, Rick is a Vice President with a major manufacturer of farm and other heavy equipment. He loves his job. He provides very well for his family. He has worked for the same company since graduating with his master's degree.

 

OTHER EXAMPLES

Many others mirror Rick's story. I know two people who worked their way through school doing film and cartooning. They both now work for Sony and Disney pictures. I know hundreds of students who earned certificates in medical, dental, and nursing assisting in high school. They worked their way through college and professional schools working in their chosen occupational field. I could share thousands of stories of accountants who worked as bookkeepers.

 

My advice to you as the student--or as the parent--work your way through college. Prepare for your future. Verify that your chosen occupation really matches your expectations. Become the person the companies and graduate schools recruit.

 

Add a resume to your diploma.