Experience necessary

As a child, one is usually asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Answers can range from teacher to baseball player to doctor. Although the answer may change over the years, by the time 18 rolls around, the question shifts from a wish to a reality. An undergraduate college education has become a necessity to American life. It rounds out a person and provides him/her with refined skills as well as a degree. Even though there are some mandatory courses, students have the ability to choose their classes for enjoyment, interest, and relevance to their future careers. Unfortunately, with the competitive American job market as well as the tough economy, undergraduate and graduate students are forced to think about the years ahead of them.

Not only is education geared toward a certain field important—interning and working in that field beforehand are just as significant. We can see this in job applications, which always have that fun clause stating, “Experience necessary.” Interning at a firm in your field is just that. Therefore, focusing college education and part-time jobs on your future career path is not only important, it is vital.

According to a recent article in the Washington Post, internships in the federal job market have become extremely important as well. The Post suggests that students and non-students looking to enter the federal field permanently should start out this way.

Internships only provide a taste of a future career. There is actually no better way to figure out if you’re suited for a field than an internship.

As an undergraduate, once junior year hits, it becomes necessary to gain additional career skills at an internship.

But does this take away from the enjoyment of solely learning for the sake of education?

Education needs a curriculum, and students thrive on goals. The structure of attending college for what you want to be in the future is the luxury. Hopefully, students are choosing fields they enjoy or those in which they know they will excel.

Those students who aren’t and are simply looking for a steady future paycheck have the option of minoring in a subject area for pleasure.

School is what the student makes of it, not what society prescribes it to be.

In the face of a tough economy, young people embarking on a life of responsibility have to think about their careers at an early age. The average American cannot go to college solely for the experience and decision on a career afterwards. Students have to think ahead.

Education hasn’t lost anything due to this—if anything, it has gained something. Undergraduate degrees are not even enough anymore. The applicants with the extra edge have graduate degrees in their fields, proving that they have specialized in those fields for a substantial amount of time.

Students majoring in business in undergrad are moving straight to MBA programs now in stronger numbers. According to the Wall Street Journal, more students are heading straight to MBA programs rather than working for a few years in preparation.

The Graduate Management Admission Council stated that roughly 40 percent of applicants to MBA programs had less than three years of work experience, something that was once uncommon. A trend of students applying while still in undergrad to secure future spots has even begun.

Although education has become more career-focused, it has also become a shield from the job market. American college students can delay entering the work force and keep some of their youth, sticking to the books rather than to the steady life of nine to five. Refining education to match your career hasn’t taken anything away from education—if anything it has added an importance to it. Plus, in this economic climate, the trend seems to have come at the perfect time.

The author is a student in the Graduate School of Journalism.