Six Things to Consider First

Note:  This article does not necessarily apply to someone thinking about “Going back to school to get/finish a bachelor’s degree” because you had not previously. In most cases, though not all, the answer is “Yes”, but see “Alternatives to the 4-year Degree”.

I frequently have college interns, recent grads and young professionals asking my advice about “going back to school” (or staying in school, if they are still finishing up a Bachelor’s degree) for a Master’s Degree.

Again, you know what’s best for you, so this is a decision for no one but you (and your family if applicable). With that said, here are 6 things to consider before you make a graduate school decision.

1. Is a Graduate Degree required for your Career?

If your desired career REQUIRES a graduate degree, then yes, of course. For example, if you know you want to be a veterinarian, or a dentist, or a social worker, you know you are going to need a Master’s Degree. 

Otherwise, typically it is not required. But whether it is or isn’t, you might consider taking a school break between undergraduate and graduate school for a year or two to work in your chosen field and get some real experience that you might not get in an internship.

2. If not required, explore WHY you want a Graduate Degree.

And I don’t mean that someone told you “You can’t get a job without an MBA anymore,” or “Pretty much all companies require an MBA these days,” because that is decidedly NOT true.

I highly recommend you take a deep breath and spend some time thinking seriously about WHY you would do it.  

Are you sure you are not just choosing graduate school because you don’t know what else to do?

Because you don’t like first or second job out of college?

Because you think you can earn a ton more money (keeping in mind the debt you will incur)?

Are you so fascinated by the field that you don’t want to stop learning about it?  I’m guessing probably not. Most people, at the end of four years (or, your whole life, assuming you went straight from high school into college), are ready for a breather.

And, if you had to finance all or some of your bachelor’s degree, I suggest pausing to pay that off instead of piling more on.  (See point #4.)

Some people choose to go straight from undergrad to grad school because “the economy sucks and it’s going to be impossible to get a job anyway.” Hmmm…  If you have reviewed all these other questions and you would otherwise work for a while before grad school, I would go for the work and don’t use the economy as an excuse. There are almost always career-related jobs out there for people who are hungry.  

If you REALLY want to know if the “economy sucks”, in YOUR field, do some research on www.onetonline.org (Browse “Bright Outlook Occupations” before you use the economy as an excuse.)  Direct Link: https://www.onetonline.org/find/bright?b=1&g=Go

3. WILL YOU GO BACK later, if you don’t go straight from undergrad?

You know yourself.  Can you make the commitment? If you are afraid that you’ll really never go back if you don’t just do it now, then maybe you should go straight to grad school if you’ve considered all these other things. 

Of course: Life gets in the way.  You get a job you love and there’s no time or money to go back.  You get married, have kids, there’s not time to go back… 

On the other hand, working for a few years might reinforce, focus or spark your desire to go back later! If the answer to this question, “Should I go to graduate school”, after doing all your research, is not clear to you IN YOUR GUT, I suggest the answer to the “Should I go to grad school” question is, “Right now, no.”

Story: I had ZERO interest in going to grad school after I earned my Bachelor’s Degree. After I worked for four or five years at a small agency, I realized the work I was doing was repetitive there was no real opportunity for growth in the market I was working in. I just knew in my GUT that I was capable of more.  My mentor was really pushing me to get my MBA, but that didnt excite me. (Accounting, Finance, Management – barf!)

I spent some time researching graduate programs and talking to people, and found one that felt designed JUST FOR ME! I was ecstatic! (Furthermore, while IN grad school, I discovered the very specific career that I fell in love with – one that I didn’t even know existed.)

4. How will you pay for it?

If you thought undergraduate school was expensive, wait until you see the cost of a graduate school credit hour! What will your earning potential be with a Master’s degree? 

If you think your current employer will suddenly give you a big fat raise once you’ve earned a master’s degree, you better check on that first! Most times, you’ll get NO raise (and I know many people who will attest to this)! It’s highly possible you will have to switch jobs to see a salary increase.)

If you’re earning $40,000 year and going to grad school will increase your salary to $80,000/year, that sounds like a great investment.  But is that the case?  Or, are you simply piling this debt on top of other school debt?

Will an employer pay for it?  If you are currently employed, that is a great question to pursue.  (If you’re not currently employed, or the answer to the previous question is “no”, consider finding a job at a company that DOES offer education reimbursement program.) Many do, with limitations:  They might pay a certain percentage, if you get an A or B. They might only pay for classes (or a degree) highly-related to your job, etc. Regardless, this is an incredible opportunity to take advantage of. If you think graduate school might be in your future, when you are applying for a full-time job after college, be sure to ask your employer if they offer tuition reimbursement!

5. Are there other options, besides a graduate degree?

What about formal training or certifications that will better forward your career at a fraction of the cost? In fact, there are some certifications available for free, or at nominal cost, online. Your employer might pay for these as well, if they are related to your job responsibilities.

You owe yourself the time and effort of some research on this before you make a graduate school decision.

6. Talk to people with Master’s degrees (ideally, in your desired field).

Have you been serious about your research? Are you SURE this is the field you want to be in for 20+ years, before you make this commitment?  You owe yourself the effort of talking to a few people who have graduate degrees in your field of interest. Ask them how they decided. Ask them about the cost vs. the benefits. Ask them about the program – how it worked, the quality, the cost, the time committment. Ask them how it has helped them, specifically? Did their salary level change?

You can ask people you know, or ask friends of friends. (This is where your network comes in handy, and is a great opportunity to spark a conversation at a networking event.) Send out a call to your network on social media. Most people will be happy to tell you their opinions.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Here’s my best advice about going to graduate school: Unless a graduate degree is required for your chosen field, or you KNOW you want a graduate degree BUT believe you will never go back if you don’t do it right now:

You will get more out of graduate school
if you work for a few years before you go.”

-Kim Bailiff (yes, this is my own quote.)

Why? Because learning is about context. 

Life is about applying the CONCEPTS that you learn in school to life experiences. 

Otherwise, they are just floating around in your head as ambiguous, theoretical ideas.  When I graduated from college and someone asked, “What did you learn?” I was like… “Uhhhh….”

I knew I got a good education… but I couldn’t tell you what I was going to be able to actually DO. Because I hadn’t really done it yet (other than some cool internships that had me doing more minor, tactical stuff.)

Ever wonder why “case studies” are so helpful when you are learning concepts? It’s APPLYING the concepts. 
If you work for a few years before grad school, you will have your own experiences to apply concepts to.

The benefits of working a few years before grad school cannot be underestimated:

• You will be better able to internalize what you learn by thinking of how it would apply in a real life work situation. It will feel more tangible.  It will stick in your brain better. You will get so much more out of what you learn!
  
• You will be able to contribute more. You’ll ask better questions. Your classmates and professors will appreciate your ability to share relevant experiences. 
  
  Story: When I started grad school, I had roughly 5 years of work experience, which gave me plenty of context.  My classmates who came straight from undergrad had little to share and, I fear, had a harder time absorbing the concepts. 
  
  I distinctly remember feeling a little sorry for one classmate who seemed to often have a blank look on her face when the professor was explaining concepts… Unless she always looked like that... (Resting Confused Face?)

Again, as always, the decision is yours to make but, given the investment (time and money), it should not be taken lightly. 

I hope this helps give you some direction, or at least, food for thought.

Preamble: I started writing this blog a long time ago , the summer of 2019, after finishing my Certification in Career Services. The most valuable thing learned was this simple, free and effective way to help people choose a career. I followed the process myself and also “tested” it a lot on others. If they already knew what they wanted to do, this process aligned incredibly well. It validated their career choice. In other words: IT WORKS.

I was finally inspired to hurry up and post this while teaching a college marketing course. I asked my students, after learning that they all graduate this year, if they knew what they were going to do with their business degrees. Not one raised their hands.

Oh, no! No more procrastinating! Here it is! DIVE IN and give yourself the gift of a motivating goal and purpose!

First, choosing a career is a process that involves a lot of self-awareness and reflection.  You’re not going to decide in one sitting.  But you may be pressured to choose before you feel really ready, for example, so you don’t waste time and money taking college classes that you won’t end up applying to degree or certification. 

Karen and I launched “No Filter…” because we saw too many students “forced” to choose their careers at a pretty young age without a lot of information.  We’ve also repeatedly heard students say that they took assessments that were NOT helpful: “My assessment said I should be an artist.”  Could that be any more vague?

The goal of this blog is to give you some tools to get a better idea of SPECIFIC options and then give you some tips on how to explore them to find, hopefully, a really good FIT for you. Best of all, this method (specifically the assessment), besides being free and easy, is actually proven to lead to job SATISFACTION.

Here are the steps:

STEP ONE:  Go to www.MyNextMove.org.  

You can explore this site any way that you like, but I recommend you start out by clicking on the blue square button to search by “Interest” in the upper right (it’s a little face). You can go directly there through this link:  www.MyNextMove.org/explore/ip.  This website is part of O*Net Online, a site run by the US Department of Labor and Statistics using huge amounts of data to help people select a career!  It’s amazing. (Yes, i just said “Government and amazing” in the same breath.)

It will take you to the Interest Profiler, which is based on a theory created by John Holland, called The Holland Assessment, Holland Personality Test, Holland Code, RAISEC, etc.  Basically, it identified six personality types related to career and vocational choice. They are Realistic, Artistic, Investigative, Social, Enterprising, Conventional (RAISEC). 

Take this assessment (10 minutes, max) and then write down or print out your score for your career portfolio. You will have a number by each of the six types.
YOUR HIGHEST THREE SCORES, IN ORDER, ARE YOUR “CODE.”
Example, my code is SAE: I scored highest in Social (shock), Artistic, then Enterprising. 

STEP TWO:  With your code in hand, go to www.ONetOnline.org.

You are going to use your code to find SPECIFIC careers or jobs to match it.

From the home screen, go to “O*NET DATA, and select the drop down “interests”.  (Note, they changed this, so I just updated this 9-18-22.)

Then it will show you the screen with the six words.  Click on the one that you scored highest on.

For example, I would click on “Social”, because my highest number was 26 in Social.  If you want, you can go straight to this page:  https://www.onetonline.org/find/descriptor/browse/Interests/  and then click on your highest-scoring word. That will take you to the page that shows your highest letter in the first position and then you can enter the next two letters in the boxes that say “None selected.”

ISNT THIS EXCITING! Look! It says I should be an Annoucer! LOL! YES! Or a Teacher, Teacher, Teacher. WHAT A COINCIDENCE, I’M A TEACHER!

STEP THREE:  The next thing you will need to do is select your job zone. 

That means HOW MUCH preparation you would be willing to do/plan to do/have done to get a job. If you just want an entry level job, straight out of high school, choose Zone 1.  If you’re willing to go get your PhD, choose Zone 5.  If you get an Associate’s degree or a Vocational Certification, maybe Zone 2 or 3.  A Bachelor’s Degree, 3 or 4.  You can play with it. You’ll see what I mean when you see the results.

STEP FOUR:  Play around!

If the list you see at first doesnt excite you, try different things. Enter different job zones. If there aren’t enough choices for you or you don’t like these choices, try entering just TWO LETTERS OF YOUR CODE!  Play around with one Job Zone or all 5. 

Review the different job titles and click on the ones that intrigue you. Read about them.  Note whether this is a job labeled as “Bright Outlook” which means there will be lots of these jobs open… or not!  Look at the salary range.  Can you get all your needs (and wants) met with that salary range?

Be sure to explore a few or more of the job titles that appeal to you.  This website has lots of interesting information, but you will want to do your own research too on other websites.  Have fun finding the options that you’ll want to look into further.

Even if you think you already know what you want to do, I still encourage you to take the assessment to learn your code (and print it out/write it down, save it for when you want to come back so you wont have to do it again. And, incidentally, if I didnt already say so, I have taken this assessment several times and it always comes out pretty similarly, so dont think it was just because you are ain a bad mood or something.)

But if you know, for example, that you have your undergraduate degree in, English or History and you’re thinking you might want to get a Master’s Degree in Library Science, do a key word search for Librarian or similar to see what specific jobs are related! There are SO MANY! Trust me! Have fun and…

GET TO IT!

P.S. If you have any feedback on how this process worked for you, or how to make it better, let us know in the comments below.

I am so lucky to work in a community where the partnerships between businesses and schools are tangible.  You can see it all around with corporate sponsorship at foundation events, business food donations to Teacher Professional Development days and students job shadowing and interning throughout the school year and summer, to name a few.

So how can your company, big or small bridge the gap from school to work?

Well there is a need for sure. Business and nonprofit partnerships in public schools enable students to explore authentic career opportunities and expand their horizons. 

To build this relationship you can be part of the following three things.

1. Go into the classroom and share your story and mentor.

It is so important to invite business leaders into the classroom to help create curriculum that students can complete while be mentored by experts in the field.  Long gone are the days where a speaker would just come in and lecture about their sphere of expertise.  Now we create opportunities for students to apply what they learn and get instant feedback from a business leader.

• Regular Business Advisory Meetings.  Our partnerships are fluid because we continue to upgrade and change our curriculum to keep pace with what industry needs.  This regular conversation helps us develop students that have the necessary employability skills, soft skills and technical skills that our community needs to fill high wage, high yield jobs. At these meetings wants and wishes can be granted by telling the business community what labor, money and resources, a school needs, to develop our students. 
•  Offering job shadows, internships and co-op’s.  The final point in this trifecta is getting our students out into the “real” world of business and nonprofit.  Our children have a very narrow mind about the world of work and therefore it needs to be every districts charge to get every child out on an authentic career experience before they graduate.  Through the chamber of commerce, local government and the downtown development authority this task can be a reality. 

By embedding these partnerships a reciprocal relationship occurs, stimulating our economy and making schools stronger. Get in touch with your local school district today!

Seven Ways to Beat Them

This blog is about your first (or second, or third…) “real” job.  And the fact that you may hate it. Maybe you’re not doing what you thought you would be doing.  Maybe you don’t like the hours, procedures, your boss, your colleagues, your commute, your working conditions or frankly, the work.

Here’s how we suggest you handle this situation.

(Before we dive in, allow us to state the obvious: if you are really in any kind of a dangerous or threatening situation, get to a safe place immediately and talk to a trusted adult about it, inside or outside the company. But that is going to be a rare situation.  We are talking more typical scenarios, like general, “I hate my job” feelings.)

1. Work Your Hardest

I’m sincerely sorry you don’t like your job. Have faith that it will get better there or somewhere else. And if you work at it, you will eventually find a job you love. (Karen and I are big believers in ‘everything happens for a reason’, and according to that philosophy, there’s a reason you are in this job – to learn something new, learn something about yourself, or to meet certain people.)

That said, you’ve heard the saying, “work is called ‘work’ and not ‘play’ for a reason, blah blah blah. And “You have to pay your dues” blah blah blah, but it truly is a thing! Everyone at a higher level than you at one point had to do work they didn’t like or was super boring. And if you are irritated about it, people around you will know it, trust me, and it will be duly noted.  People HAVE been fired for a bad attitude. I’ve seen it happen more than once.

As a wise young man once said, “Embrace the suck.”  He and I were working on a painful project, but we leaned into it and worked hard and learned a lot and made the best of it and ended up having fun despite the ambiguity and tedium.  (Note that working with someone else always makes a tough job more fun as long as you both have a good attitude. Find someone you enjoy working with.)

“EMBRACE THE SUCK.”

– Erik

2. Learn as Much as You Can.

I read somewhere that you know it’s time to switch jobs when you stop learning. Which means you should do this first. So, show up every day with a pen and paper. Set your frustrations aside for 8 hours a day and learn as much as you can so that you are not wishing away your time and after you leave, wish you had leveraged more of the opportunity there. No matter where you are, there is something to learn. Talk to as many people as you can. Find someone who is doing something interesting and interview them. Ask them about their jobs and their career paths.

3. Build Relationships

The people you work with now can help you in the future, if you form real relationships with them. So, consider this job a full-time networking opportunity. (More on Networking in an upcoming blog post.) Ask their opinions on anything and everything. Show that you are interested, be a good listener, show you care about their experience and are passionate about the industry.  Reciprocate:  Ask if you can shadow them or help them.  Thank them for their time, advice, insight, even if they are your peer. When you give back and express appreciation, it is noted.

4. Do Not Become a “Recruiter”.

Do not be that guy who bitches about everything at work. You may be justified, you may be right!  But it’s only going to hurt you. I’m not saying not to bitch. It’s good to blow off steam.  Find a trusted friend who you can vent to. For me, it was my office mate. We were in the same boat and I trusted her not to tell anyone anything I said. Of course, ideally the person you bitch to is not someone in the office, but they can relate and they are less likely to try to “fix” it than a friend or family member.

5. Resist the Temptation to Burn Bridges.

I cannot stress this enough.  RESIST the urge to slack off, be a jerk, say something you shouldn’t, quit dramatically and storm out the door without giving 2 weeks notice. Seriously. Just don’t. Take a deep breath. Be professional. Don’t set yourself up for serious regrets now or in the future.

Story:  I have had (on more than one occasion, I swear I am not making this up) utterly despised colleagues become clients.  This one guy was such an arrogant turd. He was just full of hot air; he never contributed in any substantive way. He just swaggered around and listened to himself talk. I never saw him do a lick of work, but he would order everyone else around and condescend. It was all I could do not to tell him where to stick it.

Fast forward 10 years and here he is, my direct client as the director of marketing at some random company. HA! Boy, was I glad I hadn’t told him what I REALLY thought of him! Turned out that having him as a client was actually pleasant — Because it is not necessarily out of the ordinary to have a client act arrogant and not do any of the heavy lifting , whereas a colleague who behaves this way is maddening. (Also, I think he had been knocked down a few pegs in the interim. Karma. Karma always gets them.)

6. Take Control: Make a Plan Forward.

Instead of being discouraged, start thinking about and making notes on your next step.  What do you like about this job? What don’t you like? What more do you need to learn? Is there a place to move within your company? Do you need to go elsewhere? What kind of companies are out there? Again, network. Read. Learn. Take a free online class. (No, don’t presume you need to go back to school/to grad school  – more on this in another post.)

Consider finding a mentor or coach to help you determine if this is really the right job path for you – it may be that you just need a plan.  Is this dissatisfaction with your job just circumstantial? Or is this really not a good career fit for you?

Story: A good friend from high school earn her degree in Pre-Law… and then Law… and then when she started practicing law at a firm in Chicago, she HATED it.  Ruh roh. To bad she didnt discover this before going into serious debt. But it happens — And you will find something that works better for you. (She did.)

7. If Things Get Ugly, Document.

Again, if things are bad and you’re trying to do all the right things (like points 1-6), and you really are being mistreated, disrespected or harassed: Document, document, document. The only way to complain in a credible way is to write down exactly when and how someone is mistreating you. Specifically, write down who exactly said or did what to you in what circumstances on what date. Note if there were any witnesses. (And, again, if you’re being truly abused, get help right away.) And of course, start looking for a different job. 

Be sure that when you do resign, ask for an exit interview (if you aren’t offered one as a matter of course) and be honest (but polite and professional) with what your experience was. Be thoughtful and constructive and specific. If something is seriously going wrong at your company, they can’t fix it if they don’t know. Sometimes they can’t fix it without enough evidence.

As someone with an “over-developed sense of justice”, I believe that it is your responsibility to communicate this information to the administration for the good of those who come after you. Don’t assume that someone else will report it and/or deal with it. You would be shocked to know how many people actually don’t ever provide feedback on anything.

One Last Word.

There are certain skills needed to productively move forward through long agonizing hours, days, weeks doing something you would rather not be doing. Unfortunately, many of these skills come with time, age and learning the hard way.

So, in the meantime (or instead of learning the hard way), I recommend reading/listening to  “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie (I also suggest, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Steven Covey.) You won’t regret it. It’s $10 on Amazon. Even though it was first published in 1936 (Yes, it’s older than your grandma and more relevant than ever), it’s easy and fun to read and if you follow the advice in this book, it will impact your whole life in a positive way — and even help you make the most of a bad job situation.

Godspeed.