My cousin was forced into the medical field by her dad who is in the medical field himself. She fought with him constantly but she eventually did get a degree and a job right away. She’s 27 and now makes 50k and drives a BMW but she still hates the medical field. All my family members are proud of her and show her off because she has a medical job now but she’s not happy with herself. I hung out with her and she still struggles to show her individuallity.

With all these significant deaths it has made me realize that our time is NOW. Dont wait until after you’re retired to start doing what you love. Anything can happen tomorrow that can wipe everything out. Take advantage of every minute you have on this earth because sometimes life is shorter than you think.

http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-decline-of-the-english-department/

Of course, as those majors are flooded, the value of each individual’s degree becomes less, as we’ve seen happen with the popularity of the MBA.

I think that we do have schools that teach employable trades, but they are not colleges–they are the trade schools. And there’s absolutely no reason why someone can’t go both to college and to trade school.

As far as Trent’s original post goes, I have two comments. First, I had the same confusion that Ramona did about the example–unless the first job did not have benefits, the difference in pay is not a big jump. Second, I completely agree that once a person makes enough to cover their needs, the next concern should be satisfaction with total work experience, not more money. I know some people who believe that work doesn’t matter, it only serves to allow you to buy the things you want. I can’t think of anything I could buy (beyond food and shelter) that be worth being miserable for the majority of my waking hours.

However, I do think that when looking for overall job satisfaction, people should beware the job that underpays compared to other similar jobs or for their level of experience. It can be a sign that the employer doesn’t fully value its employees and that the coworkers are only going to be people who aren’t good enough workers to be choosy.

One of my friends completed 3 years of an engineering degree before nearly starting over on an English degree. He had high hopes in the beginning but eventually became resigned to staying at his decent-pay job that makes him depressed (it has nothing to do with English or engineering).

It takes a lot of introspection or courage to realize that you have to change your life around completely to be happy. I congratulate anyone who’s faced their demons and done it.

I’m one of the lucky ones who picked history and is actually working in a related field (which is NOT teaching). I had no idea what I wanted to do when I picked that major, but I’m glad I did! I think college is a great experience with any major, as long as you like school and go somewhere inexpensive.

This is a huge difference from the man I met and agreed to marry. Just last night he said that he wished he had quit this job when he had the chance, meaning when the unemployment rate wasn’t hovering at 12.2% (CA) and he could reasonably expect to find a different job.

I miss him and have seriously been thinking about calling off our engagement. The idea of spending the rest of my life with someone who is perpetually unhappy, constantly complaining, and never really present in the relationship is more than I think I can (or want) to handle.

I’m a huge college football fan, but I really believe that most universities spend WAY too much money on these programs (part of this is, believe it or not, due to Title IX). I dislike the mondo practice facilities and enormous stadia that seat the population of Delaware. All to get the right prospects so the team wins, so the aluimni donate more money, so they can get the right prospects…

Very few colleges are run like businesses (Phoenix comes to mind), but the problem with them is that money is their ONLY driver.

The problem we face is the perception that you need college to have a “career.” First of all, nearly half the population should NEVER BE in college in the first place. They simply lack the brainpower (I know, I’m politically incorrect, but if your IQ is below say, 95, you won’t be getting any benefit of a year and a half of college only to drop out). Unfortunately in our zeal to show our national advancement we left behind skill training programs and apprenticeships in the dust.

Bill Gates and company want to give every American a world class college education. That sounds nice, but is in no way realistic. We need to educate EVERYONE, but not everyone needs to go to college. This country is stagnating for lack of good trade schools and similar programs.

As to a degree in mathematics, for example, it is true that only the academic stars have get good teaching and research positions. But are you seriously telling me that a math major, particularly one with an M.A. or higher, is not sought after in industry after industry?

The best people to speak to about job prospects related to a degree are people who understand and are familiar with the field, possibly professors, who will know what some of their students are doing for work.

This reminds me of the commonly heard canard “I don’t see how I’ll ever use any of this (math) in my life”

To which the response is “That’s probably because you haven’t met or really spoken to any engineers, scientists, or mathematicians, statisticians, economists, or actuaries.”

In other words, if your refernce point is only those around you, and you don’t come from that kind of a background, you don’t see that lots of people understand and use those skills and concepts in their day to day living.

As for English majors, how about publishing, publicity, public relations–you name it.

Throughout college I could never understand why some people majored in things that they hated. Even if it’s a little harder to get started down a career path that you will truly enjoy (sometimes it is, sometimes is isn’t) I don’t think anyone should aim for a career simply because it will rake in the dough.

That being said, I’m sure some of our best doctors and the such do it just for the money, and I’m thankful that we have these people to use their skills, even if I would not necessarily agree with their motives.

I once took a 50% paycut to go from a job that I hated to one that I loved. And the difference wasn’t the type of work I was doing but the atmosphere of respect and teamwork that I entered in the lower paying job. I have since moved to another job in a field that I like, but I am again miserable because of the work environment. I don’t think any amount of planning in college or post college could have prepared me for what a difference colleagues can make in job satisfaction.

I’m working in the nonprofit sector and even with a BA and grad work, I only make about $50K annually. And with $40K in student loan debt, I can’t just walk away to follow a passion.

I also like to keep my passions separate from work. I suspect that if I decided to go into business as a seamstress (I LOVE sewing as a hobby), it would no longer seem like fun.

Sorry – I must disagree, at least for public colleges. I’m on the Chemical Engineering advisory council at the local university. Individual colleges within the university are funded directly based on the number of students taking their courses. You wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to adjust the required curriculum for a degree if it means fewer hours taught from a particular college (Fine Arts, etc) – politics at its worst!

It is irresponsible at best that colleges are not required to give ALL students a realistic view of job prospects and starting salaries as soon as they declare a major – while students still have a chance to consider their options.

An ill-conceived degree choice plus huge student loan burdens caused by ‘follow-your-dream’ thinking places many graduates in a terrible position.

Also, I don’t drink beer.

I believe that college should be about a degree that will earn you a good living. I would have been much happier if I had focused on a career that I could tolerate. Instead I wound up in a career that caused me no end of misery and the loss of the desire to pursue the dream that started the career to begin with.

I am still trying to recover.

And, if this is the first time you’re talking with your kids about the future (really talking!), you’re going to get… all of the above.

When kids understand about finances, about insurance, about homeowning, groceries, and that the first time out on your own, it’s not the rent, but toothpaste and toilet paper that’ll bankrupt you every time! They are better equipped to handle a budget, make good decisions in their everyday… that will roll over into their decision to choose their career of choice.

Having ‘passion’ about something and being passionate about something is a semantics thing. If they KNOW who they are, they have a better chance of being all that they COULD be.

What are their goals? Stay home with the kids? Travel? Have a doctorate so they can make their kid brother call them Dr.___, whatever it is, if they are prepared in a well-rounded manner, they’ll be able to handle… all of the above.

Even when they’re accurate (as they were for the most part above) they tend to grate on me. I don’t think the comments area should be a chorus of praise, but I’d like to see her post occasionally to point out something she agreed with.

Funnily enough, I say this as I make my second critical comment in a row here on TSD tonight. I very often agree with Trent. I have mentioned his content and linked to it a number of times on my own blog.

However, I think he’s missing something here. Finding a job you enjoy or picking a major that reflects your passions isn’t so much the right or wrong thing to do as it is irrelevant to many people.

When I was a single mother of 3 young children receiving only $100/month in child support from my ex, it didn’t matter that the job description of the position I held for several years turned out to be the blueprint for my “job from Hell” (an exercise I did from one of Barbara Sher’s books). I needed to keep a roof over our head, food on the table, and so on. And, stressful as that job was, it provided a good salary with excellent benefits. In that, I was actually lucky. Many single parents find themselves working multiple minimum wage jobs just to hold things together.

If you have several dependents, are the sole care for an elderly parent, have health issues or serious amounts of debt you cannot afford to be picky in the short term about the “enjoyability factor” of your job. Neither can you afford to be choosy during an economic downturn when people are losing their jobs left and right.

In the long term, yes, I think it’s valuable to follow your dreams. But you have to be practical too.

Personally, I want to be able to pay off my loans and then fund the life I’d like to live, complete with all the time off to be able to live it. I’m thinking I’d love to keep blogging, work on freelance writing a bit and teach budgeting/money management classes for kids and adults, while taking on a few clients or so as a CFP. Sound like a decent plan? I’m happy with it, just excited that in the next few years I’ll FINALLY be able to start on it…. I’m getting impatient.