Career Advice to kids

[matt]

What career advice would you give your young self, or what advice would you give kids today?

I would give several bits of advice that I think I've learned from experience:

- The interpersonal issues are the ones that will get you in the biggest trouble, so pay attention to keeping relationships of all sorts in good repair.

- It's important to find something you like to do for a living, but leave the "passion" for hobbies. Passion leads to a lot of drama, which most people don't like in the work place. (For example, music makes a great hobby, but a terrible way to make a living.)

- Goals are important, but don't underestimate the value of recognizing unexpected opportunity. The best opportunities are often somewhat tangential to your main field.

- It is important to develop a specialty. General knowledge about your field is critically important, but it is tough to find a job just based on general skills. For example, mechanical engineering is good, but a plastics design specialty will help you get a real job.

- Writing skills and communication in general are key to everything. Engineers are notoriously better with numbers than letters, but you need to learn how to communicate effectively with people. Yes, all those English classes are very relevant to what you do.

- Be open to learning from mistakes and from other's experience. When you're young it can seem so easy to criticize "old people" who just don't get it, but there's usually a reason for what they say, and it's probably something that will take a costly mistake for you to learn.

- You don't get promoted just for showing up to work.

[DanPihlaja]

- You don't get promoted just for showing up to work.

My favorite!

[bnemec]

Great words Matt.

If one is looking for management positions it would behoove them to understand that the key to their success is not in showing how great of a leader they are but rather helping those around them succeed. Which goes against many of the "pump'em up leadership speeches" they will hear along the way. Your coworkers are not competition to be buried, they are team members that are all working for a paycheck that comes from being part of a profitable company.

Also, I don't know how it would be shared to someone starting out their employment phase of life, but the concept of "train your replacement" vs "climb over others" when it comes to the "ladder of ..." Everyone I've visited with concerning job security especially in middle management have the same story. They found that when they were able to hire and train someone to replace them they are not out of a job; just the opposite, they are moved into a role of greater responsibility and importance.

[Roasted By John]

What career advice would you give your young self, or what advice would you give kids today?

- Writing skills and communication in general are key to everything. Engineers are notoriously better with numbers than letters, but you need to learn how to communicate effectively with people. Yes, all those English classes are very relevant to what you do.



- You don't get promoted just for showing up to work.

Do you guys also see a huge regression in how the English Language is being annihilated because of Texting, not that my English skills are anything to write home about, but I cringed when I see what the previous owners and sales people sent to the customers. I had an interesting opportunity years ago, I worked in Sales/Design and my co-worker, in the same office for almost 5 years and he majored in English. I hardly ever sent anything out to the customer or potential customer without him reviewing the letter/quote.

Here is what I always said to my children.

"If you have the chance, Always work with the smartest person on the team"

[Frederick_Law]

Create another crypto currency.
Create another social platform.
Physical things has limited price. Digital thing doesn't.

[Ry-guy]

Do you guys also see a huge regression in how the English Language is being annihilated because of Texting, not that my English skills are anything to write home about, but I cringed when I see what the previous owners and sales people sent to the customers. I had an interesting opportunity years ago, I worked in Sales/Design and my co-worker, in the same office for almost 5 years and he majored in English. I hardly ever sent anything out to the customer or potential customer without him reviewing the letter/quote.

Here is what I always said to my children.

"If you have the chance, Always work with the smartest person on the team"

Just to add to you tell your childern. "...and make sure that "smartest person" is not you!"

[Ry-guy]

First and foremost...my first piece of advice for everyone is to make sure that you have at least one job that requires you to be in customer service and another that requires you to cleanup or take care of others!

Why customer service...because it ensures you can communicate effectivly, makes you appreciate the good service you get and recognize what is bad service and finally practice the good service all the time!

Understand that your skills can be transferable to many different jobs! Don't be afraid to take something new because you don't fit the "perfect" resume.

Learn that the best communicators do more listening than talking! They formulate the right questions and then let the other person do the talking!

Make mistakes! Make as many as you can- in a safe environment! We do not learn by winning or being correct. We learn from mistakes.

Do NOT STOP LEARNING new things. Be a continous learner!

And finally, your words have a much larger IMPACT than they do intent. You may say something that has a specific intent but what you said and how others interpret what you said will almost always have a larger impact- good or bad.

[MJuric]

- You don't get promoted just for showing up to work.

You do if you're really good at the Interpersonal relationship part. Not sure I personally could live with myself getting promoted that way but over the years I have seen completely incompetent people get promoted over and over and over again because they knew who's @$$ to kiss and did it well.

Additional advice.

Do your research. Don't pick your job exclusively on what you want right now or where the market is right now. In a good portion of cases what is the "Hot market" today is the dinosaur of tomorrow.

Unless you're planning on moving careers anyway try to picture your life 20,30,40 years from now. What do you want from your career then.

To add to your "Opportunities", ALWAYS keep learning. Don't get "Good" at your job and just do your job. Look for every opportunity to learn something new especially if it's not part of your current job. You'll never know when that additional skill will come into play to help you keep your job, get promoted or move into a better opportunity.

[MJuric]

Do you guys also see a huge regression in how the English Language is being annihilated because of Texting, not that my English skills are anything to write home about, but I cringed when I see what the previous owners and sales people sent to the customers.

There is a generally degradation in the ability of people to communicate. I see it everywhere from newspapers and articles to instruction manuals.

Some of the most horrendous English I have seen in the last 5 years or so have actually come from my kids teachers. Sentences that make no sense, words missing, misspellings and on and on. I've seen it on tests, letters to parents, homework and emails.

When I was 20 my grammar and spelling was among the worst of my co-workers and peers. Today, I would consider myself above average in this area and I'm pretty sure I haven't gotten much better

[Roasted By John]

Just to add to you tell your childern. "...and make sure that "smartest person" is not you!"

Thinking I can always work by "myself" - not sure if I can work with "myself", thinking then it'll be time to move on

Good stuff

[Glenn Schroeder]

1. When you make a mistake, and you will, don't try to sidestep it or blame someone else, and if possible you be the one to bring it to your supervisor's attention before he or she finds out from someone else. When you do, try to have a possible fix to present to him or her at the same time. Don't just say "I made a mistake and this happened" and then stand there looking stupid. Instead say:
a. I made a mistake.
b. Here's what happened.
c. Here's how I think it can be fixed.
d. Here's the step(s) I plan to take in the future so it doesn't happen again.

2. Show up on time and be ready to work. Keep in mind that while you're there you need to make more money for your boss or company than you're costing them.

3. Don't piss off coworkers in general, but especially not the people in the front office (secretaries, bookkeepers, HR, etc). If you don't know why, get on one's bad side. You'll figure it out pretty quick.

4. CAD/Engineering specific advice: An engineering degree or proficiency with a 3D modeling software is of limited value without practical experience in your chosen field. Owning a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter, and owning a wrench doesn't make you a mechanic. Get some hands-on experience. If that isn't possible for whatever reason then seek advice from the people who will be building what you're designing or modeling, and then listen to them.

5. I agree with the comments above about communication. I got an application for a student worker position a few years ago that was full of grammatical and punctuation errors. As you can imagine, he didn't get the job. (The one who showed up 15 minutes late for the interview didn't either, or the one who, after being told that I interview at 8:00 am and 1:00 pm replied "I'll be in around 10:00.")

[bradb]

Along the lines of all the suggestions and comments already noted, to me they all fall under the concept of "Do you know how to work"?

Can you show up on time, be ready for whatever the job at hand is, do it correctly, not always looking for the easy way out or passing the buck, owning up to your mistakes, when a task is completed asking what's next. Working with other people and communicating with them. You don't have to be best friends with everyone but you have to work together with everyone.

My first real job in high school was pumping gas at a local station (a lost career opportunity these days) and if nothing else the owner taught you how to work. He could be tough, but the perks we got as young car guys with full access to everything in the shop was well worth it.

Getting a paycheck for being there isn't the same as getting a participation trophy for being there. The paycheck needs to be earned.

[MJuric]

My first real job in high school was pumping gas at a local station (a lost career opportunity these days) and if nothing else the owner taught you how to work.

My second real job. I spent a lot of time at the cash register and I learned several important life lessons about people and myself....first and foremost that I should never be in any position where I had to depend on dealing with the general public for my living.

[DanPihlaja]

...

And finally, your words have a much larger IMPACT than they do intent. You may say something that has a specific intent but what you said and how others interpret what you said will almost always have a larger impact- good or bad.

Agreed. I have always said, "It doesn't matter what you said. It matters how your audience received it."

[Tom G]

"If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star … you’ll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren’t so lazy."
Terry Pratchett, from The Wee Free Men

Last night I learned that curiosity spikes the useful brain chemicals that enhance the learning process. So, if you aren't that into it, then get out.

[zxys001]

It's a journey,...so, trust you will get there eventually... and don't beat yourself up too much along your way, you'll need to pick yourself when you think you've exhausted everything,.. you will get there.

[MJuric]

"If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star … you’ll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren’t so lazy."
Terry Pratchett, from The Wee Free Men

Last night I learned that curiosity spikes the useful brain chemicals that enhance the learning process. So, if you aren't that into it, then get out.

I think there has to be a balance between "Do what you love" and "Work hard". On one end of the spectrum you have the "Dreamers" that "Follow their dream" and that "Dream" doesn't include any hard work. On the other end of the spectrum have the workers that go to work each day and work hard but have no desire to be doing what they're doing.

The former group never gets anywhere because they never do the hard things necessary to succeed. The later group never gets anywhere because all the innovation, ideas, drive to excel etc etc doesn't exist because they can only think about getting away from what they are doing.

I don't abide by the saying "Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life". There are scant few things worth getting done that don't at one point or another involve doing something that you'd rather not do. At the same time "Hard work" is not the end all and be all to success either. Balance is somewhere in the middle like "Find something to do that you enjoy most of the time and when the hard stuff comes along, do it and be done with it"

[MJuric]

It's a journey,...so, trust you will get there eventually... and don't beat yourself up too much along your way, you'll need to pick yourself when you think you've exhausted everything,.. you will get there.

Yeah, not so much. I think we have this "Ideal" that some how if I work hard enough, do the right things etc etc that we'll be able to reach all our goals. Nature is a fickle beast and some times things just don't work out the way you want them to.

[HerrTick]

Every job or career or business requires a certain amount of grind. It's just a question of whether the grind is worth it.

[zxys001]

I think there has to be a balance between "Do what you love" and "Work hard". On one end of the spectrum you have the "Dreamers" that "Follow their dream" and that "Dream" doesn't include any hard work. On the other end of the spectrum have the workers that go to work each day and work hard but have no desire to be doing what they're doing.

The former group never gets anywhere because they never do the hard things necessary to succeed. The later group never gets anywhere because all the innovation, ideas, drive to excel etc etc doesn't exist because they can only think about getting away from what they are doing.

I don't abide by the saying "Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life". There are scant few things worth getting done that don't at one point or another involve doing something that you'd rather not do. At the same time "Hard work" is not the end all and be all to success either. Balance is somewhere in the middle like "Find something to do that you enjoy most of the time and when the hard stuff comes along, do it and be done with it"

Agree, you are your own gardener,.. balancing your dreams and your work,.. set apart what is important for you as a person and what is also important for other responsibilities within your life.

[zxys001]

Yeah, not so much. I think we have this "Ideal" that some how if I work hard enough, do the right things etc etc that we'll be able to reach all our goals. Nature is a fickle beast and some times things just don't work out the way you want them to.

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geezus, a fish!?

[SamSpade]

I tell my kids to be true to themselves, this way they can true to others.

To never shy away from an opportunity or difficult challenge. Never be afraid to try something new because feel you might not succeed at it.

Make yourself heard without being obnoxious. Some of the best ideas come from the most unlikely of places.

Lastly, as others have previously mentioned, communication is key. The art of convening thoughts concisely is learned over time, God knows I'm still learning. I don't know how many times I've told my kids to make a conscious effort to formulate their thoughts before opening their mouths. I think it's starting to set in.

What sets me off, and maybe it's because I'm a curmudgeon, is the over use of the work 'like'. It simply drives me bonkers. I have to deal with a couple co-workers that cannot seem utter a simple phrase without say it, like, I don't know, like, maybe like a dozen times. Sorry for the rant.

[MJuric]

What sets me off, and maybe it's because I'm a curmudgeon, is the over use of the work 'like'. It simply drives me bonkers. I have to deal with a couple co-workers that cannot seem utter a simple phrase without say it, like, I don't know, like, maybe like a dozen times. Sorry for the rant.

I'd like to see a study on what happens to our brains when we do this. Almost ever person I know including myself that ends up giving a speech, presentation etc occasionally ends up slipping into a "Catch word". Like, And Ummm and a plethora of others end up being used over and over.

When I'm doing a presentation I have to consciencely be aware of this and take steps to make sure I DON'T do this. Some people I know just do it all the time. I had a waitress the other days who's phrase was "Sure yeah" and it finished nearly every sentence she said.

[mike miller]

Do you guys also see a huge regression in how the English Language is being annihilated because of Texting, not that my English skills are anything to write home about, but I cringed when I see what the previous owners and sales people sent to the customers. I had an interesting opportunity years ago, I worked in Sales/Design and my co-worker, in the same office for almost 5 years and he majored in English. I hardly ever sent anything out to the customer or potential customer without him reviewing the letter/quote.

Here is what I always said to my children.

"If you have the chance, Always work with the smartest person on the team"

What do u meen I can't use txt lingo? I can reed it fine, can't u? It saves server space 2.

[Glenn Schroeder]

What do u meen I can't use txt lingo? I can reed it fine, can't u? It saves server space 2.

That's not text lingo. You used punctuation and capitalization when appropriate.

[Roasted By John]

What do u meen I can't use txt lingo? I can reed it fine, can't u? It saves server space 2.

f y rlly wnt t sv spc nd b bl t cmmnct, thn y nd t lrn hw t wrt lk ths nd mke ppl scrtch thr hds nd btt