We do not want to change the focus of this blog, however numerous emails have come in asking for career advice that does not pertain to Wall Street. We will not do write ups on alternative careers, since we have never done them, but we will provide our opinion on how to think about your future if it is not on the Street.
Overall Advice
Do Something You Enjoy: There is no such thing as a perfect job. Unless you started a successful company or luckily inherited a trust fund your first job will include tasks you do not like. With that said you should certainly enter an industry that you enjoy. This choice alone will allow you to become a more positive person.
Choosing The Industry: If you are in your twenties you should have many hobbies, lets say you enjoy fixing cars, lifting weights, design and foreign languages. Of those four you should have a job to pay the bills, so a mechanic, personal trainer, internet web designer and private tutor are possibilities.
Notice the trend of job choices laid out here, you choose a hobby you enjoy that will pay you the most while you develop more skills over time. To make things more clear lets say you want to go into design you’re better off working for a major web design company to pay the bills while you continue to work at home on your other projects.
Develop A Niche: Now that you have some decent income coming in from a job you somewhat enjoy, you should develop specific knowledge in the space. Again sticking with the design example lets say you find that your skill-set lies in designing advertisements for the health care sector. Now you can focus in on creating designs for health care companies over time you will be known as the go to person for health care internet advertising.
While the above example is hypothetical, the point is to find a hobby you enjoy doing and develop niche knowledge within the space
Blue Collar is Okay: If you really have no interest in white collar work, it is not a bad thing to take blue collar jobs. If you have to choose between $100K in debt for a degree in design that will lead to a $40K per year job, it probably makes more sense to become a mechanic and make $80K+ while you work on your design passion at home.
If you are worried about people judging you, who cares what they think, most people are losers so go get your money and forget the rest.
Pitfalls:
Startup Companies With No Skills: Do not start a company with zero value add, if you have no skills or information no one will listen to you. You cannot simply start a company and hire people to do your work for you, they will quit and start a company by themselves without you. If you do not have legitimate information and knowledge you should not start a company with no value additive products or services.
Your Parents Do Not Know Everything. Even though a college education worked for them, times are changing and it may not be the right decision for you. Sometimes your family is actually a waste of time.
Your Professors May Be Wrong: If you are in college, make sure the professors you listen to have real experience. If they have no experience in what you hope to accomplish they will not have helpful life advice for you. Your sociology professor will not help make money in finance, design, as a mechanic or otherwise.
Get New Friends: This is the toughest one to overcome. Your Facebook friendszsz are not adding any value to your life. Continue to search for new and better contacts or else you will rise and fall with your current peer group. Unless your peer group is significantly superior to you, it will be tough to improve.
Conclusion:
Many people mistake the advice “Do what you love” for going all in on a single hobby or habit with no value additive experience. Until you are an expert within a field, it is our view that you should continue to learn and grow until you are able to take full advantage of your niche skill-set. Unfortunately, if you have zero hobbies beyond watching TV and playing video games you have a steep mountain to climb. Develop a wide variety of interests early in life and you can connect the dots as you move forward.
