I think encouraging young people to learn marketable, in demand skills, in order to get a good paying job is solid advice. I wish this advice were coupled with encouraging some frugality, which would free most people up to do what they really want to do, without much concern for finances, by the time they're 30.
Well, they don't, of course; that's why so many of them end up changing their majors. At least it's a better ideal than asking 17-year-old kids to anticipate what the job market will be like in four years.
> Why do we expect people to work a "whole lifetime" doing stuff they don't really want to do?
How many people would be doing the exact same job they're doing now if they had no need for the money? It's not zero percent, but it's certainly not 100 percent either.
At virtually any time in modern history, majoring in engineering is going to be more lucrative than majoring in History or English. Accounting, mathematics, law, etc. all have pretty high likelihood of continuing to be lucrative fields. Let's also not discount trade schools. Electricians, plumbers, HVAC workers, masons, etc. make solid livings, and get to start their careers ~4 years earlier. These are good options that we often neglect / look down upon.
> How many people would be doing the exact same job they're doing now if they had no need for the money? It's not zero percent, but it's certainly not 100 percent either.
Yea. I assume it's much closer to 0 than than 100 percent.
I’ve never told my children to “pursue their dreams” as their career without one eye toward being able to support themselves.
Scott Adams sums it up perfectly.... https://www.slideshare.net/Scottadams925/goals-are-for-loser...
http://www.nber.org/digest/nov15/w21473.html
I can attest to the idea that improving my social skills played a large part in the rapid ascent in my career over the past nine years compared to the nine years prior being stuck in a dead end job.