That said, school administrators (as a class) suck and I will never stand in front of a classroom again.

But I do occasionally give public presentations and, to be quite honest, the best of them are the ones I never even heard. Funny … sometimes ‘something’ takes over and I give a really, really good talk. But, even as I am stepping away from the podium I could not tell you what I said.

I’m glad you had this opportunity. I hope groundhog day strikes and you get to relive it over and over and over again. — Bill

(BTW … I Stumbled in here today — so someone else must have liked the post, too!)
PPS … I’m boiling ‘garbage’ for soup stock as I write this. Vegetable soup stock starts with the cut-off parts of EVERYTHING vegetable and ends up really good for free!

If you’re interested, this could be a good resource for anyone still in school, or just out of school, that is concerned about personal finance:
http://www.playbook.thehartford.com

I am certain that your talk was well executed – perhaps you are a bit hard on yourself because it was your first presentation. I think it’s great that you are reaching out to students in schools – this is where good financial bearing should be taught, and alas few schools do so.

And if you want to do more public speaking and if you are looking for a great place to practice your skills, then look no further than Toastmasters there are chapters all over North America and I am certain there is one near where you live.

There’s nothing wrong with taking the long way around!

Having a very specialized degree makes the job search easier, because it’s obvious what jobs you will apply for, but a more general, ‘academic’ degree can also work out well in the job market, especially if you realize that learning and gaining credentials does not stop the day you get your diploma. I’ve been very happy with how a psychology/economics major has allowed me to work in a lot of different fields and is ultimately more flexible than, say, a marketing major would be. (Of course, mine was a research-heavy degree plan, so I was in good shape for many different analyst type positions. I cannot speak to basket-weaving.) At a certain point, your experience over-rides the details of your major field of study anyway. But for some people, getting the degree that prepares you for a particular job is the correct path.

I think in most cases, going to a lower-rated school or having a low GPA won’t hurt keep you from getting a job, but it can make you less competitive, especially at entry level, where your educational credentials are your primary selling point on paper. If for a particular post, they have the choice to call in people who graduated with honors from Impressive University or those from with undistinguished degrees from Random College, they may choose the first group. So it may be that the reputation of your school does affect your career at the margin.

I have had employers say that my educational background made a difference; when they saw my resume, they thought “She must be smart to have done so well at X University.” Whether they would have chosen me anyway, I can’t say, but it did make my resume stand out.

The last time I reviewed resumes for a position, I did eliminate some people based on low grades in quantitative courses because I was hiring an analyst. (People had to submit their transcript per organization policy. I don’t know whether this is common.)

For graduate studies, where one goes to school does absolutely matter. Especially if you want to teach at the university level afterwards

Some of my friends at University have gone into finance (where they are very well-paid), others are analysts in water, transport, toy manufacturing, supermarket retailing, and other sectors, yet more work in areas allied to engineering and technology – it’s usually easier for mathematicians to learn the application on the job, than for others to learn the maths on the job.

Naturally, YMMV. The biggest problem with a maths degree is that there isn’t an obvious career path, and that makes it hard to find the (numerous) actual jobs that are available. On the other hand, having a degree with an obvious job that follows on, and *then* realising that you really, really hate it is probably more limiting.

“Money can’t buy happiness.. but somehow it is more comfortable to sit and cry in a BMW car than on a pavement”

I think if I got the chance to talk to those kids, I’d like to tell them that they don’t actually have to have a job (at least not a 9-to-5 one at someone else’s company)! Many graduates are interested in becoming part of someone else’s thing and never think about starting their own. I didn’t, either – and I’m not sure why. Maybe because no one ever suggested this to me!

I also agree with Rachel that the school you went to and your GPA are not incredibly important. I do think they have some weight, but not as much as many people seem to assume.

The page you handed out is AWESOME and full of the useful stuff kids need. Thanks for making it available! I’m going to send it to my sisters

I found very good article on MSN which is in the same line as this

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/HomeMortgageSavings/WhyGenerationYIsBroke.aspx#pageTopAchor

***
OK, just saw your clarification–many commented on this so maybe an update in the post itself to clarify the point? I do agree with the clarification, but it’s like anything else in life, basically saying just because you did something one way before doesn’t mean you have to continue doing it that way if it is no longer working for you, or maybe even never really worked for you.

In other words it seems kind of obvious to me that if your degree is in a field very different from one you want to be in, you would research and learn whta you need to do to try to enter the field you’re now intersted in. Goes without saying, I guess, is what I’m trying to say, but I guess not for everybody.

Anyway, I think it’s great you challenged yourself by doing something you don’t seem fully comfortable with yet but that you wanted to do and that would help you grow. Great job. That’s a trait I really admire and believe in.

1) It does not necessarily matter where you go to college but there are certain school that have really good programs. This should be a consideration if you know what you want to study. Also, while I am sure I could have gotten a good job upon successfully graduating from any college, the one I went to certainly helped secure the job offer I ended up accepting. People DO ask you where you went to school, but it does not matter all that much. It’s what you do when you get on the job. Every job I have had after college, it has come up (maybe i’m just really young still).
2) Your GPA DOES matter but you should not fret too much over it. It matters potentially for your first (possibly few) jobs and certainly for graduate schools. All of the jobs I interviewed for out of college had minimum GPA requirements. That being said, I did not meet the minimum GPA requirement for my first job but that did not end up mattering. Other jobs I was not even considered for an interview based on my GPA.

Your first point is less true for graduate students, but the second point is true for those of us who are doing research.

I went to an unknown state school and wound up in a top tier university for grad school, because that’s where the name counts.

1) It doesn’t matter where you go to college – an expensive Ivy League school doesn’t make your degree better. NO ONE WILL EVER ASK YOU WHERE YOU WENT TO SCHOOL.

2) Your GPA doesn’t matter. Yes, you should try to do your best – but if you come out of college in your interviews NO ONE WILL EVER ASK WHAT YOUR GPA WAS.

Now, I’m sure these might be a little different if you are getting ready to go to graduate school or medical/law school – but for anyone planning the 4 year route, that is a pretty standard rule of thumb.

I also think that it basically doesn’t matter what you study at college, you can still have a great life and be happy. Even if you’re a basket-weaving major or an engineer.

It’s better to do something that you’re good at and love that doesn’t obviously lead into a well-paying job than to pick a subject you don’t like just so that you can get a job, that you will then probably dislike.

Naturally, if your favourite subject is accountancy, then you’re pretty set. But you can be a success with a degree in media studies as well.

But I think it’s good advice overall, a person just has to have some judgment about when it applies and when it doesn’t. There are very few absolutes in life.

Undergrad majors in my field are helpful, but if you have a specialized degree, that is what will what defines your career. Most of that is because the training you receive for a specialized degree, at least in my experience, is an order of magnitude more rigorous and makes you into a hardened specialist. Those are the skills you are wanted for, not the generalist stuff.

I quit several jobs while in college because I didn’t enjoy them. Now I’ve graduated and employed full time, but the first several months on the job weren’t enjoyable. Now that I’ve been here 8 or so months, I’ve learned the product and procedures better and am enjoying work a lot more. I’d have missed out on this if I had quit during month 4 or 5.

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On being a manager, title’s aren’t everything. My business card has said ‘manager’ since I was hired, but since it’s a small company, I only had to manage myself. (though that’s changing as we grow).

As an interesting side note, I graduated in 3.5 years, thus saving my family a semester’s worth of money, and in an odd way, that became a minor hurdle in my job search. I was amazed at how many times people would look at an application on which I stated that I had a B.A., do the start/end date math and, upon seeing that I had been in school only 3.5 years, ask, “Did you graduate?”

And your speech sounded great, too! So don’t sell yourself short. (I think I just made a financial pun there without meaning to

I am one of the ‘ Long time reader, first time writer’. I read several personal finance blogs, but you are my favorite blogger! I really like how you give credit to others and inspire people like me.

Great post. Really liked how you summarized other speaker’s thoughts. I wish I had this knowledge when I graudated from college. But better late than never I guess, I am 29 and have gotten in a decent financial condition this year than I ever was ! Thanks to you and other bloggers!

Keep up the good work.