Your 20’s – Gaining Knowledge, Experience and a Bank Roll

I had a friend write to me wanting some advice – her situation is :

• 20 year old female and has just completed a Social Science degree in Sociology
• got knocked back on some graduate positions due to being shy and maybe a little naïve
• is concerned about employability of sociology graduate in the corporate world
• may like to work for a charity or similar but is concerned about salary
• knows that financial pressure is a reality and feels compelled to earn a good salary

“ I don’t know everything but since you asked me I will tell you my opinion and offer some advice:

Your 20’s – Gaining Knowledge, Experience and a Bank Roll

I see my 20’s and maybe yours also as a time to gain knowledge through study and work, experience in different roles and a time to start saving for the future. I don’t think it is critical, unless you want to pursue a profession, like medicine or maybe law, to move straight into the precise line of work you ‘think’ you want. People tend to change their careers up 5 to 7 times during their lifetimes.

I would be asking myself are my reasons for studying Sociology the same as when I started? If yes then I would try to move into that direct line of work or similar with a goal to move across when the opportunity arose. I would also complete my Masters and commence maybe a PHD during my 20’s, these qualifications will drive up your earnings and your attractiveness to employers.

If you aren’t sure or maybe you want to move into it later then I have two thoughts. The first is that I do believe there is a place for sociologists in the corporate world and secondly because I think you will be of even greater value to charities, orphanages and the like if you have skills from the corporate world. A friend of mine whom recently resigned from my work rang me and said, “It’s amazing, I feel like I have just been through corporate university, the people in my new workplace don’t know how to do anything and for me it’s a breeze “.

So if you don’t want to move directly into sociology then I would advise you to:

• Keep applying for graduate positions at any company you think appropriate
• Consider the skills you may want to gain in the next 5 to 10 years
• Work out what type of jobs use these skills
• Start applying for jobs based on the above
• Take either a job or graduate position that looks best
• Feel free to move jobs or companies every 2 to 3 years
• Do more study – maybe a Masters or similar

You will find in your 20’s as you work in various jobs your naivety and shyness will disappear but you will need to work at it by being social, networking and travelling.

There are lots of websites with information on jobs for sociologists, one is http://www.abacon.com/socsite/careers.html.

People are not necessarily wealthy because they earn a lot of money; they are wealthy by what they do with their money. Let’s say you are earning the National Average Wage of $55,000.00 as Sociologist at age 20. If you can save $500.00 a week for 10 years with average interest of 5% then you will have $300,000.00 by age 30. Putting it in blue chip shares or property would probably give you closer to $500,000.00 by 30.

By the time I was 30 I only had $100,000.00 of assets to my name so you will be 5x better off than me.

It sucks that the world is so materialistic but you have a choice not to participate if you wish. Be happy with what you have and question yourself why you need something, the answer is usually you don’t. Enjoy life and become a good saver and you will be more wealthy than you can imagine.”

Do you feel lost or frustrated in your 20’s ? What are your thoughts where to focus in your 20’s ? What would you tell my friend ?