Grad School Is Dead
Learning Opportunities
Today, professional advancement is not the same as it was ten years ago, and certainly not the same as fifteen years ago, when everyone thought that they knew what to tell us ten years ago. Professional degrees don't mean the same as what they used to. All professional degrees have been over-produced: MBA, PhD, MPA, JD. On top of that, because everyone has been going after professional degrees for the past ten years instead of developing their own career, institutions of higher education can afford to have high costs, little financial aid, and little career support. The whole system has shifted focus to quantity over quality. For this reason, it's as true as it ever was: you should only go to graduate school if it fits in directly with professional development for a career you are already enjoying and building.
Graduate education was never meant to be a continuation of the searching and finding of oneself that is encouraged in college. Ten times out of ten, you are better off working a four different jobs over two years, exploring what fields and positions interest you rather than racking up tens of not hundreds of thousands of dollars in indelible debt. In fact, employers, organizations and institutions have many options availble to encourage and support recent college graduates in doing just this--exploring their options--with full immersion work and training programs. The great thing about these working-learning opportunities is that not only do you not go in debt but make money, you learn entry level skills in an industry, with exposure to a spectrum of related positions, AND you get real world experience, where you professionality is the measure of your work and not a grade, your ability to beg, or work around your classmates for two weeks.
These world experiences are not the character journeys that we make heroic. Programs like Teach for America or the Peace Corps offer amazing experiences outside of one's comfort zone; however, they require a long period of commitment and demand a certain attitude and mindset that fits within institutional missions. Below is a sampling of positions that last no longer than a year and allow individuals to explore according to their own value set and interests. At the same time, these programs are not just escapes from life or decision making. THese opportunities allow students to invest in others, to invest in skills, to invest in
values.
AmeriCorps: There are a ton of different AmeriCorps positions available in the US. Because of budget cuts these may shrink, however, that doesn't mean they will disappear. Simply type a search for 'americorps' and the location where you want to work into any job search engine and opportunities will pop up. Idealist.org: By extension, idealist.org is another great way to find short time projects that allow you to work fully immersed in a given job with relatively little experience. Browse around the site, typing in keywords that represent some of your interests.
But how do I decide?
"`Cheshire Puss,' [Alice] began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. `Come, it's pleased so far,' thought Alice, and she went on. `Would
you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
`I don't much care where--' said Alice.
`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
`--so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.
`Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.'"
"`But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
`Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'
`How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
`You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'
Some of the best advice ever given. The most thing about setting off on a journey isn't so much where you are headed but that you are moving forward. You will find your way in the midst of the thing. You don't know which way to go? Pick one and try it for a bit. You can't go wrong. You will certainly learn something from the experience. If you have many interest pick one thing. If you have no interests, try something new. It's very likely that you will in the process of carrying out the new task learn a little bit about what you do like.
//You can't make a choice if you don't have any options. //
Once you know you like something a little bit more than you like something else, work on putting yourself in a position where you can do more of the thing you like. But, it's no use in trying to decide what you do or don't want to do until you have tried a couple of different things. You can't make a choice if you don't have any options.
Professional Internships: Professional internships are great because they give you the chance to immerse yourself in a new work environment, to learn new skills, to meet important contacts, and to get paid, all at the same time. Think you might be interested in working at an auction house? Try to get a position with Sotheby's. Interested in the film or music industry? Check out Sony's online listing of positions. Any big company you can think of has a slew of summer internships that you can apply for, paying you and opening a potential gateway for a job.
Advertising agencies, public relations firms, law office, banking institutions--they all pay you to gain experience. Apply to a bunch with decent references and a clear personal statement and you are sure to get something. Maybe not in your favorite city and maybe not right away, but, it is worth checking into. Good at sales but don't appreciate selling something you don't think people should by? Nonprofits, organizations with social justice or humanist missions are also looking for people who can promote their organization.
I really like history and living interpretation. One organization that opens that up to me is Plimouth
Plantation:
Summer 2013 Media Relations and Promotions Internship
Summer 2013 Institutional Writing Internship
Summer 2013 Graphics and Web Media Internship
Summer 2013 Photography and Videography Internship
Summer 2013 Wampanoag Indigenous Program Foodways Internship
Summer 2013 Wampanoag Indigenous Program Curatorial Internship
Summer 2013 Native Third Person Interpretation Internship
Summer 2013 Wampanoag Indigenous Program Wardrobe Internship
Summer 2013 Research and Reference Library Internship
Summer 2013 Collections and Material Culture Internship
Summer 2013 Library and Archives Internship
Summer 2013 Farm Program Internship
Summer 2013 Museum Education and Public Programs Internship (2 positions available)
Summer 2013 Horticultural Internship
Summer 2013 Historical Clothing and Textiles Internship
Summer 2013 Maritime Artisans Mayflower II Internship
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, https://www.hrapply.com/cwf/CompositeSearch.app
If you go to a place like this, and you take whatever job you can as a server or actor-interpreter, you will be able to make other opportunities that go in directions that are more what fit your interests.
Name the big institutions, small companies, or skilled professionals that you respect and would like to spend more time with. Now, figure out how you can do that. Can you approach them directly? If not, what are the steps you need to take to get there from where you are? Maybe asking them what they think you should do is the best first step.
Your professional development is your own delicious pie, that you bake with the ingredients you search after. We are all given the flower and water of hard work and time. Whatever flavoring or shape you give your pie makes it your own unique flavor and flare. There's no sense in rushing it. A good pie takes time. Take your time, and let the ingredients set on the counter for a while if you need to. You know it will taste better in the end.
Organic Farming: These positions usually last for nine months beginning late winter going to mid-fall.These positions, though not incredibly competitive do require planning ahead. Be prepared to apply in late November. Also, it helps if you have worked on some different organic farms ahead of time, to prove that you know what you are getting into. Ask around to find farms that are well run, places your friends have already checked out.
- Hawthorne Valley Farm, http://hawthornevalleyfarm.org/internships-apprenticeships-employment-farm
- Phillies Bridge Farm Project, http://philliesbridge.org/?page_id=317
- Roxbury Farm, http://www.roxburyfarm.com/apprenticeships
Today, professional advancement is not the same as it was ten years ago, and certainly not the same as fifteen years ago, when everyone thought that they knew what to tell us ten years ago. Professional degrees don't mean the same as what they used to. All professional degrees have been over-produced: MBA, PhD, MPA, JD. On top of that, because everyone has been going after professional degrees for the past ten years instead of developing their own career, institutions of higher education can afford to have high costs, little financial aid, and little career support. The whole system has shifted focus to quantity over quality. For this reason, it's as true as it ever was: you should only go to graduate school if it fits in directly with professional development for a career you are already enjoying and building.
Graduate education was never meant to be a continuation of the searching and finding of oneself that is encouraged in college. Ten times out of ten, you are better off working a four different jobs over two years, exploring what fields and positions interest you rather than racking up tens of not hundreds of thousands of dollars in indelible debt. In fact, employers, organizations and institutions have many options availble to encourage and support recent college graduates in doing just this--exploring their options--with full immersion work and training programs. The great thing about these working-learning opportunities is that not only do you not go in debt but make money, you learn entry level skills in an industry, with exposure to a spectrum of related positions, AND you get real world experience, where you professionality is the measure of your work and not a grade, your ability to beg, or work around your classmates for two weeks.
These world experiences are not the character journeys that we make heroic. Programs like Teach for America or the Peace Corps offer amazing experiences outside of one's comfort zone; however, they require a long period of commitment and demand a certain attitude and mindset that fits within institutional missions. Below is a sampling of positions that last no longer than a year and allow individuals to explore according to their own value set and interests. At the same time, these programs are not just escapes from life or decision making. THese opportunities allow students to invest in others, to invest in skills, to invest in
values.
AmeriCorps: There are a ton of different AmeriCorps positions available in the US. Because of budget cuts these may shrink, however, that doesn't mean they will disappear. Simply type a search for 'americorps' and the location where you want to work into any job search engine and opportunities will pop up. Idealist.org: By extension, idealist.org is another great way to find short time projects that allow you to work fully immersed in a given job with relatively little experience. Browse around the site, typing in keywords that represent some of your interests.
But how do I decide?
"`Cheshire Puss,' [Alice] began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. `Come, it's pleased so far,' thought Alice, and she went on. `Would
you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
`I don't much care where--' said Alice.
`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
`--so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.
`Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.'"
"`But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
`Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'
`How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
`You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'
Some of the best advice ever given. The most thing about setting off on a journey isn't so much where you are headed but that you are moving forward. You will find your way in the midst of the thing. You don't know which way to go? Pick one and try it for a bit. You can't go wrong. You will certainly learn something from the experience. If you have many interest pick one thing. If you have no interests, try something new. It's very likely that you will in the process of carrying out the new task learn a little bit about what you do like.
//You can't make a choice if you don't have any options. //
Once you know you like something a little bit more than you like something else, work on putting yourself in a position where you can do more of the thing you like. But, it's no use in trying to decide what you do or don't want to do until you have tried a couple of different things. You can't make a choice if you don't have any options.
Professional Internships: Professional internships are great because they give you the chance to immerse yourself in a new work environment, to learn new skills, to meet important contacts, and to get paid, all at the same time. Think you might be interested in working at an auction house? Try to get a position with Sotheby's. Interested in the film or music industry? Check out Sony's online listing of positions. Any big company you can think of has a slew of summer internships that you can apply for, paying you and opening a potential gateway for a job.
Advertising agencies, public relations firms, law office, banking institutions--they all pay you to gain experience. Apply to a bunch with decent references and a clear personal statement and you are sure to get something. Maybe not in your favorite city and maybe not right away, but, it is worth checking into. Good at sales but don't appreciate selling something you don't think people should by? Nonprofits, organizations with social justice or humanist missions are also looking for people who can promote their organization.
I really like history and living interpretation. One organization that opens that up to me is Plimouth
Plantation:
Summer 2013 Media Relations and Promotions Internship
Summer 2013 Institutional Writing Internship
Summer 2013 Graphics and Web Media Internship
Summer 2013 Photography and Videography Internship
Summer 2013 Wampanoag Indigenous Program Foodways Internship
Summer 2013 Wampanoag Indigenous Program Curatorial Internship
Summer 2013 Native Third Person Interpretation Internship
Summer 2013 Wampanoag Indigenous Program Wardrobe Internship
Summer 2013 Research and Reference Library Internship
Summer 2013 Collections and Material Culture Internship
Summer 2013 Library and Archives Internship
Summer 2013 Farm Program Internship
Summer 2013 Museum Education and Public Programs Internship (2 positions available)
Summer 2013 Horticultural Internship
Summer 2013 Historical Clothing and Textiles Internship
Summer 2013 Maritime Artisans Mayflower II Internship
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, https://www.hrapply.com/cwf/CompositeSearch.app
If you go to a place like this, and you take whatever job you can as a server or actor-interpreter, you will be able to make other opportunities that go in directions that are more what fit your interests.
Name the big institutions, small companies, or skilled professionals that you respect and would like to spend more time with. Now, figure out how you can do that. Can you approach them directly? If not, what are the steps you need to take to get there from where you are? Maybe asking them what they think you should do is the best first step.
Your professional development is your own delicious pie, that you bake with the ingredients you search after. We are all given the flower and water of hard work and time. Whatever flavoring or shape you give your pie makes it your own unique flavor and flare. There's no sense in rushing it. A good pie takes time. Take your time, and let the ingredients set on the counter for a while if you need to. You know it will taste better in the end.
Organic Farming: These positions usually last for nine months beginning late winter going to mid-fall.These positions, though not incredibly competitive do require planning ahead. Be prepared to apply in late November. Also, it helps if you have worked on some different organic farms ahead of time, to prove that you know what you are getting into. Ask around to find farms that are well run, places your friends have already checked out.
- Hawthorne Valley Farm, http://hawthornevalleyfarm.org/internships-apprenticeships-employment-farm
- Phillies Bridge Farm Project, http://philliesbridge.org/?page_id=317
- Roxbury Farm, http://www.roxburyfarm.com/apprenticeships
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