Life Before Noon: A Millennial’s Manual

Editor’s Note: The next two weeks will be the Weeks of Wisdom on Life Before Noon. As we unwind from post graduation we will feature various guest bloggers. The first is by Monica O’Brien who offers advice on our transition out of college. Monica is the creator of the Web site Twenty Set.

Graduating from college is stressful; but here are three pieces of advice to achieve the success you’ve always dreamed about:

Get a Job, and Stay There For At Least a Year

Once you’ve graduated, it’s time to get on with real life. At this point, you can stop focusing on studying subjects and start focusing on a new education - learning about yourself.

Your education is changing. Instead of looking to textbooks, you should be exploring your hobbies, reading blogs or books, taking personality tests, and developing relationships. Learning about yourself and figuring out what you want from life is the absolute best thing you can do for your career as a young person. And frankly, the easiest environment to learn about yourself is after 5pm, with all your bills paid, and not worrying about whether you are doing what you love.

If Given Multiple Offers, Choose Money

The first year on the job serves the same purpose pre-school served - it’s used to get young professionals acclimated to sitting at a desk for 8+ hours, 5 days a week. Realistically, you will probably leave your first job within two years anyway, so stop trying to find a cool one and go for the one that gives you the most valuable package of salary + benefits.

With so many students graduating into mounds of debt, it’s worth dealing with a mediocre job to get your debt down before pursuing your dreams. So don’t be afraid to chase money for a little while, because money is going to enable you to do something you love… eventually.

Stop Blowing Your Paychecks

Duh, right? But if it’s so obvious then why do so many twentysomethings live paycheck to paycheck?

So forget about new furniture, an HD TV, extra cable packages, game systems, iPods, and the worst, a brand new car. Every time you purchase something on a payment plan or credit you may as well be purchasing a ball and chain.

It all comes down to lifestyle commitment. If you live right at the edge of your means, you will never escape your job because you need that salary level to maintain your lifestyle. So as rough as being a poor college student was, leave with the mindset of still conserving your money.

Here are a few reasons why you will disagree with my advice:

You are entering graduate school. It’s difficult to learn about yourself when you are in school because there’s no real transition to adulthood. Going to graduate school right away postpones growing up and can affect a young person’s maturity level negatively. In general, a year between undergrad and graduate school can do wonders for your perspective, especially when graduate school is a professional degree that will lead to a lifelong commitment to one career. Like med. school.

I do understand that many career paths require post-graduate education; but be aware of your lifestyle choices and make a conscious decision to become an adult. Consider working part-time in a professional environment related to your degree. Teach a class as an assistant or work in a lab. And live on your own, with as little help from your parents as possible.

You want to follow your dreams right now. As a member of Gen Y, you have big dreams for yourself. But here’s what no one tells you about dreams: following them is a huge commitment. Even if you think you know what those dreams are, it might be smart to take a couple years to make sure.

If you are like most people, you will change jobs roughly every two years anyway. Two years is hardly a longterm commitment, so why not take them to slow down? Even if you don’t like your first job, you will be out of there and onto better things soon enough.

So really, the road to success is conservative at first. I wouldn’t advise making too many commitments, and I would advise sticking to the rules, for now. Your time will come, and success will be that much sweeter when you actually know what you want to succeed at. Good luck!