Students pursue a college education with the aim of securing a successful career upon the completion of their degree. Like any other investment, it takes a long time to attain and demands a considerable financial outlay to realize. However, that investment does not always guarantee a successful career following the graduation. However, there is a close relationship between college education and a successful career. In fact, it takes some time to get into a successful career following graduation.
It remains factual that college degree takes a long time to achieve. A college degree takes about four years to attain and for other technical courses, it takes a longer time. For instance, the medical students take at least four years, and they have to undertake an internship program before attaining a certificate. In other non-technical courses, students are also required to take about three to six months for their practicum to enhance the skills from the classroom environment. While one may consider four years to be so long for a degree, that length of time is essential since it allows students to have a holistic development. For example, college students have time for the sororities, for co-curriculum activities and also social work in the community. All these activities ensure that students gain soft skills like communication skills and life skills that will be handy in the career journey. Although the co-curricular activities are essential, the students are required to balance their time such that they are not distracted from the focus of attaining good grades that will secure for them working opportunities in reputable organizations. Notably, even in pursuit of a certificate, associate, or graduate degree considerable amount of time is used.
Higher education is a costly undertaking that requires proper financial planning if one is to complete schooling. Goyette (1) underscores this fact about the high cost of education and also asserts that the prices vary across disciplines. For example, the highly demanded courses such as medical fields are more expensive compared to social sciences. However, within a short time in the career field, one may be able to pay back. However, for social sciences, with the high population of graduates, the financial returns in the corporate world may take longer than for biological sciences (Altonji, Arcidiacono, and Maurel 305). Therefore, if the primary motivation for undertaking a course is purely financial, then students are bound to be discouraged. Nonetheless, passion and abilities should be primary motivators to pursue a career regardless of the prevailing opinions. With zeal, skills, and attitudes, one can be entrepreneurial and still make a successful career following graduation.
Notably, upon the completion of one’s higher education, the kind of jobs that can be secured is mostly entry jobs. These jobs are characterized by low pay and more working hours than the fellows who have been in the profession a couple of years (Altonji, Kahn, and Speer 361). These authors continue to assert that since ‘newcomers’ in the corporate world may not have sufficient skills and exposure, they may not go into consultancy which is more rewarding. Thus, fresh graduates stick in the career world for some time to gain relevant experience and move up the ladder to increased salaries and financial freedom.
In conclusion, college education, be it a certificate, bachelors, associate or graduate requires a considerable amount of financial input, takes a long time to complete and places one at the entry level in the corporate world. For one to realize a successful career following graduation, patience, determination and hard work are essential.
Works Cited
Altonji, Joseph G., Lisa B. Kahn, and Jamin D. Speer. "Cashier or consultant? Entry labor market conditions, the field of study, and career success." Journal of Labor Economics 34.S1 (2016): S361-S401.
Altonji, Joseph G., Peter Arcidiacono, and Arnaud Maurel. "The analysis of field choice in college and graduate school: Determinants and wage effects." Handbook of the Economics of Education. Vol. 5. Elsevier, 2016. 305-396.
Goyette, Kimberly A. Education in America. Vol. 3. Univ of California Press, 2017.
