Things you wish you knew about college, graduate schools, and entry-level careers?

[Flambeur]

Originally Posted by phreak

hey connemara,

ask any one of the workers you dad employs if they would swich positions with him...ask any one of his employees who has it "easier"

its all relative

my point was that there are few positions in corporations that earn a lot of money and are lax, it generally doesnt happen. if you did happen to start your own successful business (i know pio, this is impossible) you would generally prefer (for stress, leisure time, and money) to own it rather than work for it

dude just stop posting. seriously.

 

[phreak]

am i getting trolled, or w/e you vets call it?

this feels too much like CE, so yea, must be troll

 

[yerfdog]

Piobaire, don't forget that in America you can almost always walk away from any lifestyle. You don't even have kids, right? That makes it way easier.

You complain about your friend that screwed around throughout his 20s and 30s and has numerous kids and a tiny house and debt, but has a lifetime of great experiences. Yet if you decided today that you wanted to emulate his lifestyle, you could do so within a year, but you would still be better off, since you have made contributions to retirement accounts, etc. for the past 15 years.

Sell your house and your range rover, quit your high stress job as soon as you pay off any remaining debts, and start working for 6-8 months out of the year as a health care business consultant or lobbyist (if these don't sound like reasonable jobs to you, think of something plausible, I'm sure as the executive of a health care organization you have sought-after skills and expertise that are valuable to people other than your employer, and if you don't then you are probably overpaid anyway). Then travel the other 4-6 months of the year, and you can still have enough cash to enjoy health care coverage and a retirement pension.

If you made something like $60K in 8 months or whatever that should be enough to live on for the rest of the year if your priority is to travel and have great experiences. I'm not saying you'll be able to live like a big timer, but don't think your grasshopper friend hasn't made tradeoffs either - he probably has nothing saved up for retirement.

I think phreak might be overstating the low stress-ness but I do think he actually has some good points that you have summarily dismissed because it sounds silly or would require a lifestyle downgrade. Everything has a cost.

Or, I bet you could find work for the federal government, again, especially with your health care industry expertise: you would make probably $110K, have generous vacation time and maybe even most importantly for you, leave your work at work.

And if you don't have enough money saved up to take a major pay cut, then maybe you weren't an ant all these years after all, maybe you were a grasshopper just like your friend, you just consumed more so you had to work harder for it (a locust?). Or conversely, maybe you just have decided you like your whiskey and your custom kitchen too much to take a pay cut, but that's just a tradeoff you choose to make.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by phreak

hey connemara,

ask any one of the workers you dad employs if they would swich positions with him...ask any one of his employees who has it "easier"

its all relative

my point was that there are few positions in corporations that earn a lot of money and are lax, it generally doesnt happen. if you did happen to start your own successful business (i know pio, this is impossible) you would generally prefer (for stress, leisure time, and money) to own it rather than work for it

Of course they would "switch" positions. They only look at the finished product, not the effort it took to achieve what this man did, and only are cognizant to what they see, not the continuing efforts he puts forth out of their direct line of sight.

Btw, what are these positions in corporations that earn "a lot of money and are lax"? Seriousy interested, as if I qualify, I'm going to apply.

Originally Posted by yerfdog

Piobaire, don't forget that in America you can almost always walk away from any lifestyle. You don't even have kids, right? That makes it way easier.

You complain about your friend that screwed around throughout his 20s and 30s and has numerous kids and a tiny house and debt, but has a lifetime of great experiences. Yet if you decided today that you wanted to emulate his lifestyle, you could do so within a year, but you would still be better off, since you have made contributions to retirement accounts, etc. for the past 15 years.

Sell your house and your range rover, quit your high stress job as soon as you pay off any remaining debts, and start working for 6-8 months out of the year as a health care business consultant or lobbyist (if these don't sound like reasonable jobs to you, think of something plausible, I'm sure as the executive of a health care organization you have sought-after skills and expertise that are valuable to people other than your employer, and if you don't then you are probably overpaid anyway). Then travel the other 4-6 months of the year, and you can still have enough cash to enjoy health care coverage and a retirement pension.

If you made something like $60K in 8 months or whatever that should be enough to live on for the rest of the year if your priority is to travel and have great experiences. I'm not saying you'll be able to live like a big timer, but don't think your grasshopper friend hasn't made tradeoffs either - he probably has nothing saved up for retirement.

I think phreak might be overstating the low stress-ness but I do think he actually has some good points that you have summarily dismissed because it sounds silly or would require a lifestyle downgrade. Everything has a cost.

Or, I bet you could find work for the federal government, again, especially with your health care industry expertise: you would make probably $110K, have generous vacation time and maybe even most importantly for you, leave your work at work.

And if you don't have enough money saved up to take a major pay cut, then maybe you weren't an ant all these years after all, maybe you were a grasshopper just like your friend, you just consumed more so you had to work harder for it (a locust?). Or conversely, maybe you just have decided you like your whiskey and your custom kitchen too much to take a pay cut, but that's just a tradeoff you choose to make.

Yerf, you make some points that I'm actually making. First though, I want to say you are mischaracterizing something. I'm not "complaining" about my friend, I'm commenting and comparing. Yes, I can just run away from it all. I acknowledged that and said that after all these years, this thing I have become is something that is hard to shake. Sure, I could take a pay cut. Heck, we always keep a minimum of one year net salary in cash equivalents, just for emergency. I thought I was pretty explicit in these posts though? I've come to enjoy my nice cars, nice clothes, etc., etc.

The topic is, things you wish you had known. I'm telling people, you get used to all these things. Addicted. The security of money in the bank, after spending more than my first 20 years under the poverty level, is pretty damn important now. If I had never changed, I'd not know what it feels like, and not be addicted to the security, lifestyle, etc. I'm just telling people headed into this whole rat race, there is another way.

To the bolded, I addressed this too. Of course he's got nothing saved up! I said two or three times, that I figure I'm paying for his nursing home stay too (implied: through tax dollars).

I will admit part of these posts was about me feeling butthurt and pissed off that the rules of the RE game have changed, and I got caught in the cross fire, something came up at work and the two week Mexican vacation I had planned with my dying brother needed to be canceled, and I was/am just a little burned out. It made me a bit contemplative of the whole paradigm of my life. I just booked off three weeks in April to road trip and just exist and visit friends and family, and odds are 70/30 I'll be doing it in my new MB, so I'm feeling better already.

I'm not dismissing your post Yerf, but in summary, I just want to say I'm telling people on the way into this to just question things.

 

[GQgeek]

Let me add to the pile-on. Phreak doesn't know what the hell he is talking about. Very few businesses run themselves. My parents owned a hotel and I was actively involved in it and it caused major stress for all involved. There were always something, whether it be the chef acting up and being a drama queen, the air conditioning crapping out in the middle of summer, full blackout in the city due to a storm, guests/employees stealing, guests trying to con you to get free ****, long hours because it's very very difficult to find competent employees as a small business, and it goes on and on.

Of course there were tremendous benefits as well, but nobody had it easy. My mother used to leave me at school overnight b/c she was stuck at the hotel for some crisis or other.

 

[Flambeur]

Originally Posted by phreak

am i being a troll, or w/e you vets call it?

this feels too much like CE, so yea, must be troll

yes, yes you are, a pretty good one too.

 

[JonHecht]

Originally Posted by Flambeur

dude just stop posting. seriously.
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[phreak]

Btw, what are these positions in corporations that earn "a lot of money and are lax"? Seriousy interested, as if I qualify, I'm going to apply.

every senior position at my bank. the ceo works from 10-3 with a two hour lunch break. his main fx is to be a figurehead and has the final say on "big" decisions with research done by, well, me. O and he thinks of reasons to throw awesome parties for clients with bank money. we basically have the market completely cornered on student loans and car loans in an area covering 300k people and a uni that has 30k students

my buddy is the manager of a bar right next to campus. according to him, the owner shows up 2-3 nights a week. he simply doesnt give a **** about day to day operations, thats what the manager is for. he nets "around 150k". it is my understanding that this is how many "college town" bars operate.

see i can post a couple examples backing my point that dont validate my arguments 100%. SF groupthing is strong

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by phreak

every senior position at my bank. the ceo works from 10-3 with a two hour lunch break. his main fx is to be a figurehead and has the final say on "big" decisions with research done by, well, me. O and he thinks of reasons to throw awesome parties for clients with bank money. we basically have the market completely cornered on student loans and car loans in an area covering 300k people and a uni that has 30k students my buddy is the manager of a bar right next to campus. according to him, the owner shows up 2-3 nights a week. he simply doesnt give a **** about day to day operations, thats what the manager is for. he nets "around 150k". it is my understanding that this is how many "college town" bars operate. see i can post a couple examples backing my point that dont validate my arguments 100%. SF groupthing is strong

 

[yerfdog]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

The topic is, things you wish you had known. I'm telling people, you get used to all these things. Addicted. The security of money in the bank, after spending more than my first 20 years under the poverty level, is pretty damn important now. If I had never changed, I'd not know what it feels like, and not be addicted to the security, lifestyle, etc. I'm just telling people headed into this whole rat race, there is another way.

Fair enough, good points.

 

[Johnny_5]

Phreak, Phreak, Phreak...Just do yourself a favor and never open your own business.

 

[phreak]

too late...

we have another one in the works as well, this one a bit more fun than moving furniture for old women/college freshman

 

[LawrenceMD]

if you're in medschool and have any doubt think about this:

if you just started like you're in your first semester then you can leave and go on...

if you're in 2nd year and you're still on sure you can leave and go on....

3rd-4th year (clerkship/internship)... you have to probably just finish up that med degree then move on from there...

residency - well you're too ass deep into it now..

 

[Flambeur]

Originally Posted by LawrenceMD

if you're in medschool and have any doubt think about this:

if you just started like you're in your first semester then you can leave and go on...

if you're in 2nd year and you're still on sure you can leave and go on....

3rd-4th year (clerkship/internship)... you have to probably just finish up that med degree then move on from there...

residency - well you're too ass deep into it now..

We were recently talking about med school with a couple of doctor and resident friends. Everybody had their tough time in medicine - some their first year, some in residency. Everybody who toughed it out is happy that they did, despite feeling like they should have left at the time.

 

[migo]

I can't say much since I've just graduated, but what I do wish I'd known is 1) Always have a plan B (grad school might not work out), and 2) Start looking for a job early, and work at it.

Will continue to learn these lessons until I find a job