4 ms·

Unemployment among lawyers is high and increasing. Some of that may be due to the sheer numbers of new lawyers but that's kind of the point. I have two kids un

Unemployment among lawyers is high and increasing. Some of that may be due to the sheer numbers of new lawyers but that's kind of the point. I have two kids under three. My mindset is not to advise them towards a particular profession but to teach them how to learn, explore, fail safely, and get back up again. When they start thinking about jobs in 12+ years, hopefully they'll have a variety of skills and understanding and a willingness to experiment to find something that fits. I'm more worried about our teenager who will be considering college in the next couple years.. I suspect this transition will be painful.

Fezzik 9y ago
Having had a mother that took a very hands-off approach to guiding me towards a career, I highly recommend giving as much guidance as you can as early as possible. Describe how difficult something like medical school is, but how you can easily expect to start earning 200k once you get a job. Talk about the legal profession (where I work) having a steep learning curve for any job, with schooling that is entirely inapplicable to practice, but you can start earning 60k-110k right off the bat and do some pretty cool stuff. If you wait too long, a kid can get listless or behind (I did) and it is then harder to figure things out. If kids are not taught the concrete realities of adult finances and vocations when young, it tends to never really stick. Obviously none of that is relevant to a 3 y/o, but I so wish my mother would have repeatedly explained some of these things when I was younger. Even teenagers understand the benefit of earning six-figures, and can it light a fire under their asses if they appreciate the value of that. And the freedom it provides. I don't think it is happenstance that all my (mostly Indian and Asian) friends whose parents pushed them to be doctors... are now great doctors, and doing financially well. While many of my (Caucasian) friends languished in their family wealth and are still listless in their mid-thirties. /end anecdotal directionless rant.
- eeZah7Ux 9y ago
  No, the parent is right. Being able to evaluate choices and take reasonable decision is extremely more important that being "guided" in life. > If kids are not taught the concrete realities of adult finances and vocations when young, it tends to never really stick citation needed.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- rmason 9y ago
  Well meaning people try to predict the future and fail. When I was in college in the early seventies the hot ticket was learning Russian. No one was learning Chinese because we even lacked a diplomatic relationship with the mainland and besides they had little of an economy or the income to purchase anything. If you'd suggested then that by 2020 they'd be the largest capitalistic economy in the world while still remaining a communist country you would have been considered stark raving mad. Engineers were being laid off in droves and I was actually counseled to study journalism instead of engineering because there were no jobs. Newspapers were creating jobs faster than available graduates. Four years later when I graduated with a degree in Journalism there were no jobs and engineers with a 2.0 GPA were fielding multiple offers. The young should not listen to anyone advising them to go into one field over another because they're more likely than not to be receiving bad advice.

Fezzik 9y ago

Having had a mother that took a very hands-off approach to guiding me towards a career, I highly recommend giving as much guidance as you can as early as possible. Describe how difficult something like medical school is, but how you can easily expect to start earning 200k once you get a job. Talk about the legal profession (where I work) having a steep learning curve for any job, with schooling that is entirely inapplicable to practice, but you can start earning 60k-110k right off the bat and do some pretty cool stuff. If you wait too long, a kid can get listless or behind (I did) and it is then harder to figure things out. If kids are not taught the concrete realities of adult finances and vocations when young, it tends to never really stick. Obviously none of that is relevant to a 3 y/o, but I so wish my mother would have repeatedly explained some of these things when I was younger. Even teenagers understand the benefit of earning six-figures, and can it light a fire under their asses if they appreciate the value of that. And the freedom it provides. I don't think it is happenstance that all my (mostly Indian and Asian) friends whose parents pushed them to be doctors... are now great doctors, and doing financially well. While many of my (Caucasian) friends languished in their family wealth and are still listless in their mid-thirties. /end anecdotal directionless rant.

eeZah7Ux 9y ago
No, the parent is right. Being able to evaluate choices and take reasonable decision is extremely more important that being "guided" in life. > If kids are not taught the concrete realities of adult finances and vocations when young, it tends to never really stick citation needed.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
rmason 9y ago
Well meaning people try to predict the future and fail. When I was in college in the early seventies the hot ticket was learning Russian. No one was learning Chinese because we even lacked a diplomatic relationship with the mainland and besides they had little of an economy or the income to purchase anything. If you'd suggested then that by 2020 they'd be the largest capitalistic economy in the world while still remaining a communist country you would have been considered stark raving mad. Engineers were being laid off in droves and I was actually counseled to study journalism instead of engineering because there were no jobs. Newspapers were creating jobs faster than available graduates. Four years later when I graduated with a degree in Journalism there were no jobs and engineers with a 2.0 GPA were fielding multiple offers. The young should not listen to anyone advising them to go into one field over another because they're more likely than not to be receiving bad advice.