Why Won't the Landlord
Take Visa?
A Crash Course in Life After Graduation
Eating, sleeping, picking out your wardrobe... such are some of the fundamental things you'll be doing with the rest of your life once you have finished your formal education and headed out into the "real world." Unfortunately, food, shelter, and the shirt on your back will all cost money. How are you going to manage your budget so that your modest lifestyle can evolve with your early career into the fulfilling life that you've been dreaming about? Read this exclusive excerpt from Why Won't the Landlord Take Visa? and you'll be one step ahead of your peers when you flip your tassel and leave campus as a graduate.
Browse our complete selection of career books & software to ensure that your career planning and preparation are fully empowered.
By Tara Bray
For some, the transition to the real world isn't hard -- maybe they've been working part-time to put themselves through school; maybe their college town is New York or L.A. and they're used to the big, bad city. For others, the first months after the graduation kegs have been rolled away have left them unexpectedly bereft.
No matter how prepared you are to face the real world, the changeover is a little dizzying. College occupies a funny place in the American psyche: it offers all the freedom of adulthood (no parents, little supervision) without all the responsibility.
While this is all well and good when you're in the ivory tower, when it's all over... it's all over. Then what?
Breaking It Down: College vs. the Real World
So what exactly are the differences, you ask?
Say goodbye to... Say hello to...
Earliest class at 11:00 7:30 A.M. status report meeting
Grabbing lunch after class with that hottie you met in Spanish Having lunch at your desk while you try to avoid today's baby shower
The Quad The Cubicle
Sweatpants 24-7 Casual Fridays
More friends than you can handle Derek, the intern
Road trips and camping Business travel and the Days Inn
Senioritis Rookiedom
The sky's the limit The glass ceiling
The credit card The credit card bill
The keg The water cooler
"Pete," your clog-wearing medieval lit. professor "Liz," your cosmopolitan-swilling boss who dyes her twin French poodles to match her shoes
Furnished rooms Futons and IKEA
Student loan agreements Student loan payments
Sophocles Spreadsheets
On the other hand, there are a few perks.
Say goodbye to... Say hello to...
Cafeteria coffee The daily double latte
Pizza parties Client dinners
Tuition Salary
All right, so the list is a bit tongue-in-cheek. Life after college is not all carpal tunnel syndrome and expense accounts. In fact, after a few years out, college will seem like a pleasant but hazy dream: heavy on exams, outdoor barbecues, and earnest late-night discussions. Time well spent, but you're glad it's over.
And despite the monotony of day-to-day life (photocopiers, commuting, and meetings are mostly unavoidable, whether you're a number cruncher on Wall Street or a beachboy in Miami), the world beyond those ivy-covered walls is deeply and infinitely interesting. That's hopefully what college-all those critical-thinking skills!-has helped you to realize: that life, like those bookshelves from IKEA, is a do-it-yourself kind of thing.
A B.A. and a Buck-Fifty...
...will get you a ride on the subway, or so the saying goes. But don't feel too bad; the same sentiment has been applied to everything from a law degree to a Ph.D. to a Master's in Fine Arts.
In reality, at least in terms of a career, the time has never been better for college grads. A decade ago, B.A.s were entering a job market packed with baby boomers at the height of their careers, but today those same baby boomers are starting to move into late-career positions, leaving entry-level work wide open for folks like you. And then there's the U.S. unemployment rate, which in May 2000 hit its lowest point in thirty years.
While we make no promises about the fate of the economy, steady growth in the United States throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium has meant higher and higher starting salaries-and more perks-for entry-level workers. Jobs in the tech industry lead the pack right now, but even in traditionally lower-paying fields like publishing, teaching, and nonprofit social services, starting wages are keeping up with a growing economy-and a growing need for skilled workers. In fact, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, more than half of college students had jobs by graduation day, 2000. Eighty percent were working within seven months. And while liberal arts majors started off at a lower salary ($29,000/year) than, say, your average computer engineer ($42,000/year), wages were up about 5 percent across the board from 1999.
Eating, sleeping, picking out your wardrobe... such are some of the fundamental things you'll be doing with the rest of your life once you have finished your formal education and headed out into the "real world." Unfortunately, food, shelter, and the shirt on your back will all cost money. How are you going to manage your budget so that your modest lifestyle can evolve with your early career into the fulfilling life that you've been dreaming about? Read this exclusive excerpt from Why Won't the Landlord Take Visa? and you'll be one step ahead of your peers when you flip your tassel and leave campus as a graduate.
Browse our complete selection of career books & software to ensure that your career planning and preparation are fully empowered.
By Tara Bray
For some, the transition to the real world isn't hard -- maybe they've been working part-time to put themselves through school; maybe their college town is New York or L.A. and they're used to the big, bad city. For others, the first months after the graduation kegs have been rolled away have left them unexpectedly bereft.
No matter how prepared you are to face the real world, the changeover is a little dizzying. College occupies a funny place in the American psyche: it offers all the freedom of adulthood (no parents, little supervision) without all the responsibility.
While this is all well and good when you're in the ivory tower, when it's all over... it's all over. Then what?
Breaking It Down: College vs. the Real World
So what exactly are the differences, you ask?
Say goodbye to... Say hello to...
Earliest class at 11:00 7:30 A.M. status report meeting
Grabbing lunch after class with that hottie you met in Spanish Having lunch at your desk while you try to avoid today's baby shower
The Quad The Cubicle
Sweatpants 24-7 Casual Fridays
More friends than you can handle Derek, the intern
Road trips and camping Business travel and the Days Inn
Senioritis Rookiedom
The sky's the limit The glass ceiling
The credit card The credit card bill
The keg The water cooler
"Pete," your clog-wearing medieval lit. professor "Liz," your cosmopolitan-swilling boss who dyes her twin French poodles to match her shoes
Furnished rooms Futons and IKEA
Student loan agreements Student loan payments
Sophocles Spreadsheets
On the other hand, there are a few perks.
Say goodbye to... Say hello to...
Cafeteria coffee The daily double latte
Pizza parties Client dinners
Tuition Salary
All right, so the list is a bit tongue-in-cheek. Life after college is not all carpal tunnel syndrome and expense accounts. In fact, after a few years out, college will seem like a pleasant but hazy dream: heavy on exams, outdoor barbecues, and earnest late-night discussions. Time well spent, but you're glad it's over.
And despite the monotony of day-to-day life (photocopiers, commuting, and meetings are mostly unavoidable, whether you're a number cruncher on Wall Street or a beachboy in Miami), the world beyond those ivy-covered walls is deeply and infinitely interesting. That's hopefully what college-all those critical-thinking skills!-has helped you to realize: that life, like those bookshelves from IKEA, is a do-it-yourself kind of thing.
A B.A. and a Buck-Fifty...
...will get you a ride on the subway, or so the saying goes. But don't feel too bad; the same sentiment has been applied to everything from a law degree to a Ph.D. to a Master's in Fine Arts.
In reality, at least in terms of a career, the time has never been better for college grads. A decade ago, B.A.s were entering a job market packed with baby boomers at the height of their careers, but today those same baby boomers are starting to move into late-career positions, leaving entry-level work wide open for folks like you. And then there's the U.S. unemployment rate, which in May 2000 hit its lowest point in thirty years.
While we make no promises about the fate of the economy, steady growth in the United States throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium has meant higher and higher starting salaries-and more perks-for entry-level workers. Jobs in the tech industry lead the pack right now, but even in traditionally lower-paying fields like publishing, teaching, and nonprofit social services, starting wages are keeping up with a growing economy-and a growing need for skilled workers. In fact, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, more than half of college students had jobs by graduation day, 2000. Eighty percent were working within seven months. And while liberal arts majors started off at a lower salary ($29,000/year) than, say, your average computer engineer ($42,000/year), wages were up about 5 percent across the board from 1999.
