Need help for my son

September 10, 2006 8:54 AM

Need your help finding my son a career. He would like to stay in college but with an idea on what he is there for.

He just graduated from HS, and started a local community college. In HS he liked Graphic Design, but is something he now would like to just do as a hobby.
He would prefer to work for the government City or federal level (because of job security,benefits,etc)
Where can he get ideas? What are some career choices that you guys can recommend.
I know there are many choices but who knows he might like one of your recommendations.
Thanks in advance

posted by FLHunter3006 to work & money (14 comments total)

my local and state governments (ny) have pretty good websites regarding civil service job openings and their required exams. it gives you a pretty good idea of what they are looking for and how much they pay. and the time frame of the exams. there's alot of waiting involved.
posted by amethysts at 8:55 AM on September 10, 2006

I wonder if your son has explored vocational testing? Some colleges offer free or low cost testing through their counseling offices, or can suggest local community counselors who can administer tests and discuss results with your son. Such tests can be particularly helpful to young people who are trying to sort career interests without much personal history of hobbies or other extended means of expressing interests and personality traits.

They don't generally get specific job recommendations, but they can measure themselves against successful people from a variety of careers and backgrounds, to get ideas of what makes sense for them to further explore through education.
posted by paulsc at 9:05 AM on September 10, 2006

Is he interested in criminal justice? Maybe he could become an investigator for a DA or public defender office. A good investigator is more valued than a good lawyer around those places, I hear. Working at a federal defender's office could be a pretty good gig, starting out at 50K. Here's one job posting (PDF).
posted by footnote at 9:27 AM on September 10, 2006

I'm echoing paulsc's thought that your son should first consider taking some vocational tests. I recommend that he also pick up a copy of What Color Is Your Parachute, long regarded as the career planning "bible".
posted by NYCinephile at 9:57 AM on September 10, 2006

I'd suggest he consider looking into training in GIS (Geographic Information Systems). Governments at all levels look for these skills, including the US Federal Government in civilian, uniformed services, and intelligence agency contexts.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 10:30 AM on September 10, 2006

I'm going to have to disagree with paulsc. Vocational testing sucks. I wrote one such test in high school and it told me I had a promising career as a diorama maker.

I'd say your son's best bet is to get into some kind of co-operative education program or a job-shadowing program. With co-op, he would be able to spend a few months in a job that he wants to try out. With a job shadow program, he'd follow someone around for a week and see what that job is like. In both cases, I think this would give him a far better feel about what he wants to do more than taking a standardized written test.

And are you sure about *him* wanting the federal government job or do *you* want him to work in the government? Because when I was a teen, the last thing on my mind was "job security,benefits,etc".

I don't mean to pass judgment on you, but reading between the lines, it sounds like your son maybe really does like the graphic design-type work but you're not such a big fan of it (what with all the insecurity, lack of medical benefits in contract work).

In the end, whatever he chooses should be his own decision. If you try to force him in any given direction, he might listen to you now and then live to regret the choices he made to make you happy and he'll be just that many years behind in actually doing what he wants to do.

It doesn't matter what you do if you're at the top of your game in that department. Passion and hard work always win out.
posted by PWA_BadBoy at 10:35 AM on September 10, 2006

As far as job security goes, you can't really beat Engineering. If you can handle the Math you are exposed to while at school, it is definitely worth while.

Graphic design goes hand-and-hand with Engineering these days. If someone can make good schematics of a design then they wll be a good Engineer. I also say that Engineering is where art meets utility.

The schooling can be like getting your teeth pulled at times, but once you are out in the field it is a lot of fun if you ask me. Engineers work on all levels, government, military, and private.
posted by nickerbocker at 10:42 AM on September 10, 2006

Oh yeah!

In my experience my friends who floated around in college a lot just waisted a lot of time and money.

They would have done better learning a trade in 1-2 years and going right to work. Do that if you are not sure what you want to invest your college career in. By the time he is in his later twenties he will have a much clearer picture of what he wants to do in college and will likely get much better grades then he would now. Everyone I met who went into college around age ~25-40+ were really committed to what they were learning and were for the most part straight A students. Don't put pressure on him to figure everything out for his life right away.

If I were going to do a trade it would probably have been electrician or welding. I may still pick up welding even though I already have my BSEE.
posted by nickerbocker at 10:48 AM on September 10, 2006

PWA_BadBoy sounds like he's pretty close to the money. As a parent, your job is to listen... and NOT meddle with what kids want. That way, in the future, lies resentment when kids wake up and finally see what they want. (i.e. My sister got a business degree at my dad's insistence. She's now putting herself back through school in a working pre-med program in her mid twenties, and might get her MD at 30. Things are... touchy between her and my parents right now, because she really wants it and my parents think she's crazy. Don't be my parents.)

As for your son ... Well, I went through a few crazy career changes too. I went through community college intending to go into photojournalism. While in the journalism program, I discovered I had an aptitude for developing business-logic computer software... and that's now what I'm doing, after completing a bachelor's in business operations. I work for a major state university.

The problem with government jobs being 'job security' is that it's become a myth. A few years ago, things started to shift to more match a performance-based business climate, using the best of the lessons that have come out of the rapid shifts in the business employment climate from the 80's and 90's. Retirement plans started to shift from pensions to private accounts. Performance reviews became meaningful, and the job tree started to develop dead-ends and cul-de-sacs where those who were deemed useless were shoved until they failed and could be terminated. In fact, an entire IT department at my university was terminated (up to and INCLUDING the director level!) when it was discovered that their systems were insecure and put student and employee information at risk.

I would not at this time advise anyone to look at a government or university job as a place to go and work for the rest of their life; as the priviledges and retirement benefits start to dwindle, the bitter, older workers are staying longer and are poisoning the newer employees' chances for advancement and their reputations. I'm having to be excessively careful politically at this time. I only plan on working here for five years at the far outside; 2-3 is far more likely until I get all of the boxes checked on what I'd like my resume to look like and transition to a much higher-paying corporate job. On top of that, the pay here blows goats and I have to take on outside consulting jobs to afford the toys that I enjoy and to save to buy a house.
posted by SpecialK at 10:54 AM on September 10, 2006

I'm a graphic design student graduating this month.

I've a degree from a previous career and wish I'd not thought that I wanted to keep art and design as a "hobby." I think that when I was younger I thought it would turn what I love into a chore, but I've found that when you love what you do, you end up loving going to work.

I realize your son may be different, but he may want to reconsider his opinion of working in graphic design, maybe find an internship with a firm.
posted by bohdel at 10:55 AM on September 10, 2006

Gubmint work can suck mightily. (My parents are retired civil service.) Don't be afraid to expand options.
posted by konolia at 10:57 AM on September 10, 2006

PWA_Badboy & SpecialK, you guys are right, I am the one giving him the idea of the govt jobs, because I wished I had done so when I was his age, I just know a lot of people that work for the govt that are making good money, have GREAT benefits and can retire early in life. I understand that you don't think about those things when your are young, but I really wished I did!
I don't think I have discouraged him away from a career in Graphic Design,(but I'll double check). I am just trying to show him the different options that are out there.
Really appreciate the comments from everybody.
Thanks
posted by FLHunter3006 at 5:28 AM on September 11, 2006

So I'm going to guess that the "he would like to do [graphic design] as a hobby" is also actually your preference, not his.

Stop telling him what he wants to do with his life, and let him go into graphic design if he wants to.
posted by ook at 3:24 PM on September 11, 2006

Oouch! ook, but your guess is wrong. I have never discouraged him going into graphic design, (or telling him what he wants to do with his life) I just point out to him the different options out there. My parents never forced me into any career and I wouldn't do that to him.
I am showing him the posts here....you guys got great ideas...
Thanks
posted by FLHunter3006 at 8:41 AM on September 12, 2006