Son wants to start working after undergraduate

[Anonymous]

What did he study? What kind of job does he want?

[Anonymous]

Just be proud of him for wanting to chart his own course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What did he study? What kind of job does he want?

Liberal arts undergraduate degree - not sure what he wants - he would take any job which pays him $30-45K. Since we, the parents, are STEM educated, we have no clue what he can do.

[Anonymous]

Not the hill I would die on. Make your thoughts known, lay out boundaries (are you going to help him financially, fund his future education, rent?), and let him decide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did he study? What kind of job does he want?

Liberal arts undergraduate degree - not sure what he wants - he would take any job which pays him $30-45K. Since we, the parents, are STEM educated, we have no clue what he can do.

I took a 28k job 17 years ago with a BA. Now I make over 6 figures in a creative field. If you work hard, anything can happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did he study? What kind of job does he want?

Liberal arts undergraduate degree - not sure what he wants - he would take any job which pays him $30-45K. Since we, the parents, are STEM educated, we have no clue what he can do.

what's his major?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just be proud of him for wanting to chart his own course.

I am very proud of him - he is quite an independent thinker. But the job uncertainty associated with liberal arts undergraduate education is making me very nervous.

[Anonymous]

What is his major and minor fields of study? Where is he getting the degree from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did he study? What kind of job does he want?

Liberal arts undergraduate degree - not sure what he wants - he would take any job which pays him $30-45K. Since we, the parents, are STEM educated, we have no clue what he can do.

You sound exactly how my parents were like. By any chance, are you and your spouse immigrants, specifically Chinese or Indian? I was exactly in your son's shoes with an international relations degree graduating in the worse of times in 2008. They kept on pressuring me to go get a professional degree, which my brother did go on to medical school, but I wanted to really get a taste of the real world first. I ended up working at a law firm and a consulting firm, went to law school after several years and now doing quite well as an attorney. The most important thing is that he has to have the right disciplined and focused mindset, and not dick around while playing video games all day.

[Anonymous]

You have a child who wants to go to work after college and this is a problem?

[Anonymous]

He honestly sounds really smart and sensible. Esp the part about moving to a low cost of living area. I think it’s way better to work for a couple years then go to grad school vs going straight to grad school.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, his grad school applications will be more competitive if he's coming in with some work experience. My top-tier graduate program (Woodrow Wilson at Princeton) basically never took folks straight out of undergraduate unless they were extraordinarily well connected or in some way truly exceptional.

He will also be more competitive when he goes for his first "professional" job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He honestly sounds really smart and sensible. Esp the part about moving to a low cost of living area. I think it’s way better to work for a couple years then go to grad school vs going straight to grad school.

+1. I make over 100k at 31 with just a plain old liberal arts degree for a state school. A master’s degree would help me exactly 0% in my field. If I had gotten one straight out of school I would have been behind where I am now, frankly.

[Anonymous]

He could become a CPA with only a bachelors degree, and earn $300k on his own after several years at one of the big accounting firms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just be proud of him for wanting to chart his own course.

I am very proud of him - he is quite an independent thinker. But the job uncertainty associated with liberal arts undergraduate education is making me very nervous.

I’m so tired of hearing about the problem with liberal arts degrees from STEM graduates. DH has degrees from the top two STEM institutions in the US and I make 3 times as much as him with my liberal arts degrees from 2nd rate colleges. I also outearn the majority of his fraternity brothers with the exception of those who joined Apple early or had a successful start-up.

The field you go into and the amount of drive you have determines the amount of income you make. Stop worrying about what and how many degrees he has.