Re: Does Success Depend on Knowledge of What's Ahead?

[Shelley Larock <larock -at- TYCHO -dot- ARH -dot- CDC -dot- COM>]

Elizabeth Vollbach wrote,

>      Why does Shelley Larock believe that a student must be told what to
>      expect of the job market if that student is to be successful?  No one
>      told me.  To tell you the truth, Shelley, I think you'll find that
>      regardless of how much Michigan Tech tries to prepare you for the job
>      market, you won't know it until you're in it.  Besides, the job market
>      changes over time and from place to place.  For example, the job
>      market in Michigan in 1984, I found, was unlike the current job market
>      in California.  I think the best advice they can give you is, just
>      grit your teeth and do it.


My apologies, first, for posting this to the wrong list.  I believe
it originated on another list I'm on.  But since it's here now, I'd
like to respond.

I agree that what a university career center tells me about the
job market and what's really out there may be two different things.
However, I still believe colleges and universities should at least
attempt to help students prepare for it.  Whether it's helping
students write better resumes, preparing for interviews, teaching
them more effective ways to search for jobs, or some other related
topic, the bottom line is that students will know that much more
than they did before.

I've learned how to search for jobs based on geographical regions,
work environments, salaries, etc.  Nobody told me, "Hey, Shelly,
there's a job opening in LaLaLand.  It's paying good money," or,
"Don't look for work in this area--not much here.  You should be
looking in the south."  I guess what I've learned mostly are
guidelines for job searching.  I AM out here in the job market
right now.  Nobody told me where to look, nobody told me what
color dress to wear to the interview, and nobody found this
job for me.  I did it by myself.  But I used what I learned from
school and our career center.

I realize that Michigan's 1984 job market was much different than
California's market today, ten years later.  But like I said, I've
also learned about job markets in different geographic regions, so
I would never expect Michigan's and California's job markets to
be the same over a ten year span.

I disagree on the "grit your teeth and do it" suggestion.  I don't
think this is something that is supposed to be painful.  The more
a person knows about what to expect or what's out there, the more
informed, and yes, perhaps successful, that person will be in
finding a job.

FWIW,
Shelly La Rock
larock -at- tycho -dot- arh -dot- cdc -dot- com