Thoughts on Education Later in Life

[aponi]

I work for a big company. One time I got tapped to go along with HR to a career fair event at a uni not too far from here. I really only did it because my husband was looking for work at the time and I thought I could somehow get his resume past the computer filters if I did HR a favor. It didn't happen, but the whole thing was rather um educational for me. For one thing we were there looking rather specifically for engineers and accountants. I don't think this school even has an engineering dept so that seemed odd. Really I think what we were doing was maintaining a presence on that campus. I have no idea and maybe I'm just soft or something but I found the parade of fresh faced young kids looking to take on the world depressing. Here these kids are with their marketing or history or lord knows what all degrees from a really good private school and for a fact they're going to end up making less per year that a single year of tuition cost.

I left when this older guy came through the line. He was obviously someone who had gone back to school later in life and I didn't see his transcript or anything but this is not an easy school and like I said its private so he's obviously worked very hard to be there. The HR people just laughed him off, they didn't even look at his resume. That's when I remembered that I had some meeting back at the office that I needed to get to and left.

not to discourage anyone from going back to school
I'm sure there are places out there with sense enough to realize that someone who is older is probably going to be more serious about the job and all. I just think schools in general should do a better job of career counseling. What did these kids think they were going to do with an art history degree?

[tulip]

What did these kids think they were going to do with an art history degree?

Go to grad school. I found my art history degree to be a broad based liberal arts education that included the visual as well as history, writing and languages. Actually, it was (and is) quite useful in my subsequent jobs and graduate school. I got a good state job in the field after undergrad, with benefits and upward mobility and pretty decent pay. My grad degrees are not in art history, but in a much more practical field. That's what grad school is for -- practicality, while undergrad in liberal arts is much broader and allows the student to explore, write and THINK (not so common for some "practical" undergrad degrees). I'm all for a liberal arts undergrad education, as long as you realize that grad school or further technical training is in the future.

As for sticking out a dreaded, boring, or simply uninspiring job for years...that's not my thing. Life is for living and I want to live now, not wait until later. What if later never comes? Give my something I'm passionate about. But that's just me. Everyone has different approaches, so you have to find what works for you. Best wishes as you figure out your path, yellow.