Your First Job After College Often Doesn’t Matter
For better or worse, your first post-college job is a learning experience and the best learning is hands-on.
Forbes reports.
Why Your First Job After College Doesn’t Matter
If you’re one of the thousands of new graduates who have claimed their diplomas and set their sights on life after college this spring, job hunting is more than likely at the top of your priority list. As you polish your resume and take those first halting steps toward creating a LinkedIn profile, you probably have certain expectations around what your first real career job will look like.
I’m here to shatter those.
The first job you land out of college doesn’t matter. It matters that you find work, of course, but the nature of the work isn’t of particular consequence at this stage in your life. Here’s why:
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I must strenuously disagree. In my case, my first job out of college most certainly mattered a great deal. This job with a well known multinational technology company added significantly to my foundation of professional skills.
My job title was Manufacturing Engineer so, yes, I absolutely used my engineering education. Moreover, my work experience at this company was one of the qualifiers that enabled me to obtain my Professional Engineer license.
It is true, I changed jobs and job titles several times working at seven companies in total. One job title built off of the previous job titles culminating as a Director of Manufacturing Operations for Asia. Throughout my career I worked in high technology factories in various countries.
My first job had plenty of substance. My boss for the last year and a half demanded that we manufacturing engineering conceive of and implement concrete cost saving each year totaling at least five time our annual salary and benefits. My cost reduction work focused on improving quality by making irreversible changes that reduced scrap and rework for a wide range of assemblies and complex components.
The company at which I first work also taught me much more about professional ethics, strong work habits, and management. That company also paid for quite a bit of in-house formal training that I used throughout my career. The company also paid for me to get my MBA.
My experience at my first job out of college is by no means unique. I was one of many thousands of new STEM graduates who spent a few years diligently working at a good company, learning how to be an effective professional, learning solid work habits and principles, and by implementing various improvements more than paying for my salary and benefits in real money.
I have no idea from what personal experience the author, J. Maureen Henderson, bases her opinion. Whatever it is, it certainly doesn’t match mine.
What will matter is getting that first job, since that isn’t a given anymore because of the current economy.