Friday, January 11, 2013

Stretch!

http://blog.brazencareerist.com/2013/01/03/3-great-reasons-to-pursue-work-outside-of-your-field

This post suggests that rather than graduating and moving back into your parents' basement, you should consider a job outside your field of preparation and expertise. Benefits: you'll gain new skills and networking opportunities, develop confidence in your abilities to handle a curve-ball, and distinguish yourself with an unusual combination of skills or experiences in your next go-round at the job hunt.

For the same reason: take courses that stretch your abilities. Maybe the title sounds vaguely interesting; maybe you've got an intellectual itch you'll only get to scratch while you're in college (gee, I wish I knew more about...) It doesn't matter. Try something different; you'll learn to think outside the box, and you might even find you like several corners of that odd box you're inhabiting temporarily. In fact, this is the reason most colleges make you take courses which are "unrelated" to your major.

This is also the logic behind the 2008 much talked-about took How Starbucks Saved my Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everybody Else by Michael Gates Gill. (Rich guy burns through his money, gets divorced, fired, brain tumor, becomes a barista and finds happiness.) Or if you haven't got time for the book (mixed reviews on Amazon), you can get a sense of the story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/garden/13gill.html.

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