Twentysomething: Be responsible, go back home after college

By Ryan Healy - According to Monster.com, 60 percent of college graduates move home with mom and dad after graduation and the trend is on the rise. The statistic holds true with my friends from the class of 2006. More than half moved back to the suburbs to start adult life, much the same way they ended high school life — with their parents. A lot of people say generation Y needs to grow up and take some personal responsibility and that we have been coddled by our helicopter parents (see the comments section).

But when you look closely, it is glaringly apparent that moving back in with parents is one of the the most responsible things a new college grad can do. By sucking it up at home for a year or two, young people give themselves the opportunity to take control of their career, take control of their finances and transition from the care-free college fantasy world to the real-world of work, marriage, kids, mortgages and car payments.

Take control of your career
To live comfortably in a big city like New York, students are forced to take a high paying, but less than satisfying job. Often, top graduates end up working for the best paying investment bank or law firm. I’m sure you could find a small minority of conservative students who had dreams of becoming an I-banker since middle school, but for the most part these jobs are going to the top tier students who are trying to make a quick buck before they retire at 30 (or so they say).

By moving home after graduation, you have little or no rent which allows for more freedom when searching for a job. There is no need to sell out to an investment bank if your real goal is to work with underprivileged children. Depending on where your parents are located, you are probably missing out on the big city night life and social scene, but you have lots of opportunities to find the perfect job, regardless of pay. If ditching the social scene for career sake doesn’t demonstrate responsibility and independence, I don’t know what does.

Take control of your finances
Real wages today are lower than they were for the past two generations of workers. Couple that fact with today’s insane housing costs and an increase in contract workers not receiving benefits, just getting by on forty or fifty thousand a year in a major city is nearly impossible. Attempting to save any reasonable amount of money the first few years is a joke.

However, moving home with mom and dad will immediately save you about $700 a month in housing costs. At least there is some extra cash flow. In two years, you can save up enough to move out on your own without worrying about going into credit card debt for basic necessities like fixing your car or buying groceries.

Take an appropriate adjustment period between college and the real world
People really do struggle adjusting from college to the real world. A good friend of mine just fulfilled her life long dream of moving to New York. She still loves the city, but she is overwhelmed and doesn’t exactly like her day job. Sure, many people go through this tough transition period, and chances are she will eventually enjoy it, but the transition from child to adult is different, and oftentimes, more difficult for today’s youth.

“This period is not a transition, but an actual life stage, according to Jeffrey Arnett, associate professor at University of Missouri and author of Emerging Adulthood: A Theory of Development from the Late Teens through Early Twenties . Arnett describes the period between college and adulthood as, “a self- focused stage where people have the freedom to focus on their own development.” Notice he calls this period of stage in development and not just a transition between two stages.

So why do we still try to go from adolescent to adult in a matter of weeks or months?

Moving home for a while enables an appropriate and productive transition. Rather than focus on rent, bills and kids, emerging adults living at home with their parents have the ability to focus on the most important aspects of emerging adult life: figuring out who they are and what career is right for them.

Ryan Healy’s blog is Employee Evolution.

Some Interesting New Job Postings...

I come across some less common job postings from time to time in the Indianapolis area, so I've decided to pass them along as I find them. Let me know if any of them sound intriguing.

Director of Public Engagement & Community Outreach, Lutheran Child and Family Services - Develop strategies to improve community awareness. Manage special events as directed by the agency and manage staff from the referral relations and admission office. Devise communication material on behalf of Exec. Dir. and manage content of LCFS website. Bachelor’s degree in Marketing (Master’s preferred) or other related field. 3-5 yrs experience in marketing and/or community outreach. Valid Indiana Driver’s license and clean driving record. Ability to work some evenings/weekends, with the possibility of limited overnight travel. Respond by Aug 31 with completed application, and 3 prof references to: Human Resources, Lutheran Child and Family Services, 1525 N. Ritter Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46219. FMI visit www.lutheranfamily.org/employment

Executive Director, Community Caring Foundation – Ministry to the elderly seeking high energy, self starter with non profit management experience for small, non-profit, organization serving Hamilton County. Responsible for strategic plan implementation, fundraising, marketing, partnership development and program expansion. Request full job description and submit cover letter, resume and salary history at: kfrank@legendarypartners.com or fax to 317-843-5369.

Youth & Children's Minister, North United Methodist Church - As a large metropolitan church at a diverse intersection in urban Indianapolis, we strive to be a place where a variety of spiritual journeys meet. We are searching for a full-time minister of children and youth with dreams and vision for growing and developing an already dynamic program. Responsibilities include oversight, supervision, and planning for all aspects of children and youth ministry. Candidates should have a desire to share the love of Christ with young people and enable them to live out their faith in the world. For more information, visit www.northchurchindy.com. Mail application to Children and Youth Minister Search Committee, North United Methodist Church, 3808 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN 46208, or e-mail cysearch@northchurchindy.com.

Public Relations/Communications Director, Town of Fishers - Communicate information and gather citizen feedback about the Town through various media and public forums. Organizes public relations events and programs and is involved in crisis management communication. Must have college degree in public relations, communications or equivalent and 4 yrs experience with emphasis on media relations, writing skills and/or special event coordination. APR certification preferred. Should be proficient with Microsoft products, Adobe Photoshop, Pagemaker and Acrobat or ability to learn. Submit resume or application to: 1 Municipal Drive, Fishers, IN 46038, fax (317) 595-3110, or e-mail to: hr@fishers.in.us.

Director Member and External Relations, Indiana Grantmakers Alliance - Direct activities that support and foster positive relations with Indiana Grantmakers Alliance's key stakeholders, including grantmaking members, the larger organized philanthropic sector in Indiana, policy makers, media, and the general public. This includes activities to develop and secure revenue to support achievement of Indiana Grantmakers Alliance's mission. Respond with cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to: Sarah Geis at sgeis@indianagrantmakers.org by September 15, 2007. See full job description at http://www.indianagrantmakers.org/pdfs/Director_Member_External_Relations.pdf.

The Perfect Labor Storm

Crazymakers...Learning to Recognize Them

Beth and I are working through an interesting little book by Julia Cameron called The Artist's Way. It's a workshop sort of book for people wanting to recover their creativity. As a want-to-be-artist I thought it would a good process to work through. She takes you to some interesting places along the way. Today she focused on a type of person that can rob you of your creative side. She calls the Crazymakers

She describes them this way. They are those personalities that create storm centers. They are often charismatic, frequently charming, highly inventive and powerfully persuasive. Crazymakers are the kind of people who can take over your whole life. To fixer-uppers, they are irresistible; so much to change, so many distractions...

Crazymakers like drama. If they can swing it, they are the star. Everyone around them functions as supporting cast, picking up their cues, their entrances and exits, from the crazymaker's whims.

Here's her list of descriptions:

Crazymakers break deals and destroy schedules

Crazymakers expect special treatment

Crazymakers discount your reality

Crazymakers spend your time and money

Crazymakers triangulate those they deal with

Crazymakers are expert blamers

Crazymakers create dramas - but seldom where they belong

Crazymakers hate schedules - except their own

Crazymakers hate order

Crazymakers deny that they are crazymakers

Of course I have to admit that we're all Crazymakers at times. But it did make me think about a few of the people I've known and know who as I step back fit the description.

Career Interview: Social Work

I'm starting a new feature this week. As a career counselor I get a unique glimpse into many different people's life work stories. I think one of the best way to evaluate your own career fit is to listen to what others do and how they feel about it. Today I'd like you to meet my friend Zoe.

Dave: In simple terms, what exactly is it you do?

Zoe: I am a Social Worker and presently supervise a foster care department. My responsibilities include interviewing, hiring and training employees; planning, assigning and directing work; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

I also assist in the recruitment, training, licensing and re-certification of foster parent providers and oversee our foster parent training. I ensure our compliance to our guidelines and process our referrals for placement.

Most importantly I ensure that out children are placed in properly trained and licensed foster homes; make sure that 24 hour on-call support is provided for our regional foster care providers; and when needed, I also provide crisis intervention.

Dave: Who do you work for?

Zoe: Christian Children's Home of Ohio

Dave: On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the job from hell and 10 being heaven on earth) how would you rank your career satisfaction and why?

Zoe: At this time I would have to say an 8. From the time that I was in 8th grade, I knew that I wanted to be working with and for children. About 13 years ago God let me know that my calling is working with and encouraging children in whatever way I can. That's why I chose Social Work for my career.

Dave: What's most gratifying about what you do?

Zoe: At this present time, it's knowing that I'm putting children into safe environments as they are coming out of unsafe ones. It’s seeing God give me an encouraging word for a child and giving children what I call jewels from Heaven. It’s having the opportunity to encourage a child in the midst of pain and offering them hope and watching them actually walking away with hope.

Dave: What's most frustrating or dissatisfying?

Zoe: The department not having enough money to really do the job that we could be doing. All the demands of paperwork that is now involved with Medicaid and insurance.

Dave: If someone (either a student or mid-career transition type person) wanted to pursue a similar career what steps would you suggest to them?

Zoe: I would encourage them to get their Master's Degree in Social Work because there are so many more opportunities and positions that open up for you. If you don't like paperwork and required deadlines for its completion then don't choose Social Work as a career.

Are they stupid or what?

I just came across this interesting assessment of the BENEFITS of hiring a 50 plus job seeker. Being in that crowd myself, it was both compelling and encouraging. Maybe more people my age who are seeking their next job need to make this a greater selling point.

The post was written by Wendy at Gen Plus. She gives several reasons that she gleaned for hiring a 50 plus person.

1. Huge gain in terms of training time. The experience of the mature worker reduces the amount of time it takes to get a new hire up and running.
2. Experience. The mature worker can actually make decisions - generally good ones-- based on a sound workplace background, which results in fewer costly mistakes.
3. Longevity. With the costs of continually retraining new staff resulting in both lost time and revenues, a mature worker is more likely to stick around if they are satisfied with their compensation, company culture and benefits. Career path is not necessarily the all important carrot dangling from the stick.
4. Value of time spent equals value-added. The younger worker may be willing to put in a 12 hour day, but will not necessarily produce the results that a more mature worker would produce in a much shorter time. If a mature worker can come to a conclusion in twenty minutes that a "green" worker would need a day to figure out, then "who cares how much time they put into the job? They get results!"

From the employer/hiring perspective this can make some good sense and may show a need to rethink some recruiting strategies. From the job seeker perspective, maybe this is just the bit of ammunition that one's flagging self-confidence needs to market your perceived liability as a huge asset.

Re-Graced and Re-Privileged

This morning I was at Christ the Savior Lutheran Church in Fishers, Indiana. CTS is one of the churches I frequent these days and one of the main reasons is Pastor Joe Freeman. Joe describes himself as the world's tallest leprechaun. He graduated from Yale Divinity School and knew Henri Nouwen personally. Joe is one of my favorite people and has helped to restore my trust in Christian leadership.

Today I was privileged to hear Joe share about marriage. That doesn't sound like any big deal. The reason this was so unusual is that Joe and his wife were divorced 7 years ago. He was serving at CTS at the time and amazingly the church decided among much pain and confusion that they wanted Joe to continue as their pastor. Today was the first time after the divorce 7 years ago that he felt ready to speak on the subject of marriage.

I'm proud to be associated with Joe and the gracious people at CTS who, in Joe's words, re-graced and re-privileged him to serve as their pastor. Click hear to listen to Joe's message.

Maybe someone you know would be encouraged by Joe's words and stories. If so, pass it on.