Author Archives: Margo Aaron

Unsolicited Advice

Posted on December 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

I considered launching a website this month called “Unsolicited Advice.”  The “About Us” section would read: Unsolicited Advice is a chronicle of the myriad of unsought after tips, ideas, opinions, and suggestions people offer up regarding not-their-own future.  This site is a forum for examining the tenability of the claims.  More specifically, it would be documenting the journey of one particular post-graduate student [yours truly] from graduation to employment.  Comments are welcome.

The impetus for this site was the fascinating amount of rather useless unsolicited advice I have received since graduating from graduate school.  Mind you, dear readers, I have been a proud M.A. recipient for an apparently gasp-worthy two weeks.  Before I could even take a moment to exhale from the painful amount of work that went into receiving that degree (not to mention, concurrently interning and doing research), I was verbally bludgeoned by friends, family, and acquaintances.

Those who were succinct and clear about my direction told me I should write a book, open a tattoo removal business, consult to pharmaceutical companies regarding clinical trials, be a clinical psychologist, and apply to be a notary. Then there were the bizarrely nebulous suggestions that proved to be the most useless such as: work for a nonprofit, narrow down my research interests, expand my interests, publish something, go out on my own, and go volunteer somewhere.   By and large, the most common piece of unsolicited advice I received was, “You should go back to school. With the economy the way it is right now, it’s a good time to be in school. Ride it out.” These individuals seem to ignore the fact that I just finished doing exactly that.

The odd part of all this is not the ineffectual advice.  The advice itself is irrelevant. I think any grad student can attest to being the recipient of unwarranted career recommendations that tend to be immaterial to your end goal.  The business people tell you to get out of academia, the academics tell you to get more research experience, the researchers tell you to get more published, and your mom tells you to get some sleep.   What is relevant is why people seem to be soliciting advice.  Is there an implication that those who finish graduate school without a job are directionless? That we are wandering aimlessly in unemployment? That we are acting as leeches on the economy?  I am not sure.

It is amazing to me, though, how few unsolicited advice-givers have stopped to ask me what my degree is actually in or why I went to graduate school in the first place. These bits and pieces of information just might be relevant…in the meantime, I am off to research becoming a notary…

~Margo Aaron

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Posted in Career Advice, Career Big Picture, Graduate School

We Are Not Special

Posted on July 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

As often happens with the viral age of You Tube, I strolled upon Harvard College’s Class Day where the student speaker wryly lamented to his classmates that they were not, as had been claimed throughout their lives, special.  Obviously, the group in attendance that spring day in Cambridge had been lauded with kudos since probably in utero, but had achieved much distinction by actually graduating from the Miramar of American higher education.[1]

While the speaker was subjecting his classmates to self-deprecation, his larger point should serve as a noteworthy message, we are not inherently exceptional.  The problem with the educators of our generation, our parents and teachers, is that this country’s young and well-educated now believe that they can and will achieve regardless of miniscule rates of success.

Case in point, a friend of mine called me for advice the other day about attending a preeminent law school ranked by the only publication that apparently matters, U.S. News and World Report, in the top twenty.  By all accounts the school is truly a great legal center with top minds teaching to our nation’s neophyte lawyers.  The problem with this school, and ostensibly all legal education today, is that the opportunity costs to attend probably only make sense to those that graduate at the top of their class and land the Big Firm job with its accompanying six-figure salary.  In this particular instance, that would mean the top twenty percent.  When one considers that tuition remains upward of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars and that three years spent in the library usurps the ability to collect a paycheck, one realizes that these costs are real.

My friend has excellent credentials graduating from one of the finest private liberal arts colleges in the nation and spending the last four years in public relations.  He has the ability to out-perform eighty percent of his classmates, but he must also recognize that his classmates matriculate with comparable grades, board scores and experiences.  Every person believes that they will be in that coveted percentile.  Few will actually succeed.

This is not to say that my friend should not to attend this law school.  I am as warm-blooded an American as exists and I certainly believe in choice and free will.  What I am saying is that we should rethink our thought process before making these decisions.  Rather than hubristically thinking one can achieve coveted status, such as the top twenty percent, because of an innate specialness, one can ask, Is this what I want to do if I fail to achieve this particular benchmark.  If “no” is the answer, maybe a different path could be found.  Ultimately, introspective questions such as this might allow oneself to find something enjoyable, fuel a passion; and yes, maybe even be special at it.

-Michael Gordon is a baseball enthusiast with great taste in white wine.  He has an infallible record when it comes to choosing where to have the best Sunday brunch

[1] Apologies if you missed my reference, as I might now be showing my age, but I was referring to the home of the Top Gun aerial combat school depicted in the film of the same name and starring a young and pre-Scientologist Tom Cruise.

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What are you going to do with that?

Posted on May 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

Arguably, the most daunting and ubiquitous question asked to college students is: “So, what is your major?”  It is comical when we consider that it is extremely rare that people pursue their majors as a career. In fact, in today’s world many careers are graduate-school entry level.  They assume a college degree exists, but do not care what field it is in as long as it was earned from a reputable institution.

Yet, any innocent situation (dinner party, wedding, generic family event) is liable to erupt into an interview where “What is your major?” is followed by a feigned sincere, “Oh, so what are you going to do with that?”  Your answers purportedly represent (or raise flags about) your intelligence, marketability, and ability to eventually attain self-sufficiency and financial stability etc etc etc. And the euphemism game ensues.

Business majors are promptly endowed with positive qualities such as ambition, level-headedness, and financial savvy.  Poli-si and history majors are assumed to be applying to law school. A psych major implies you don’t know what you want; and everything else typically points to, as my parents and their peers like to say, “you’re lost.”

I recently heard someone say, “In the real world you can change majors all the time.”  The verity behind those words is ironic considering we, as a society, focus so intently on choice of major as a predictor of future success.  In today’s world, college is not the ticket to your career the way it once was.  It is no longer a novelty. It is a prerequisite for hiring, in most industries, but it certainly is not the golden ticket.

Soon social norms will catch up with society in understanding that the immediate applicability of your major to your career is not what matters and does not mean all is lost.  College, in America at least, is synonymous with emerging adulthood.  The point is not the accumulation of obscure facts or to become knowledgeable in a recondite field, but rather social and emotional development.

So, the answer in most cases to the “What are you going to do with that degree?” question is, quite simply, “nothing.” Frankly, while it evokes fear and worry from parents, the problem is not the answer (“nothing”); the answer is true.  The problem is the question.

-Margo Aaron

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Posted in college major, Real World, Resume, What do you do?

Vertical Limits

Posted on April 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

A few weeks ago, I met a woman who, in her lifetime, had been a psychologist, a consultant, and an entrepreneur.  To most, her path seems random. To her, it was inevitable. “We all go through multiple careers in our lifetime,” she told me. “You aren’t the same person at 64 that you were at 40 and you aren’t the same person at 40 that you were at 27.” She had a point.  Do the decisions we make in our 20s have to be linear correlates to the outcomes of our 60s?

On a certain level, they are invariably related. Experiences form our skills and values which, in turn, inform our actions. It is a linear progression. Then again, anything in retrospect can sound linear.  Hindsight is 20/20.  You can always make sense of your decisions in the past. You have context and outcome to use to justify your path.

In the midst of these changes, it’s not so simple. Often the decisions you make are not linear.  New opportunities arise, economic climates change, your priorities change, you have a family, you move, you age.  The vertical heights you will achieve later in life are not yet in sight. And the ones staring you in the face might be limiting.  Sometimes, to get a better view, you need to move laterally, shift left or right.  Readjust, refocus, redirect.

It is much more palatable to think of your career linearly, but it isn’t always realistic. This woman had her doctorate and ultimately discovered she was an entrepreneur.  She did not limit herself by reaching for the highest she could go in one field (academia), she reached out and tested the waters in a few others (business).  Just as we grow with age, as should our careers. It seems that reaching vertically is limiting.  It can’t always lead us to the highest place we can go.

- Margo Aaron

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Posted in Career Big Picture, Career Reflection

Learning From Mistakes

Posted on April 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

In our second installment of createyournewfuture.com’s interview series, we have a trailblazer whose ambition makes Lady Gaga look lazy.   A business woman, soon-to-be author, and entrepreneur, Darrah Brustein is paving her path to success with a potent mix of drive and learned wisdom.  She owns a credit card processing business called Equitable Payments, she writes her own blog for betwixters (to find out what that is click here), and hosts networking events for professionals under 40 in Atlanta.  Thankfully, she took a few moments out of her hectic day to talk to us about her journey.

What do you do?
My primary business is as owner of a credit card processing brokerage.  That means I work with businesses to get them set up to accept credit card payments or find those who already accept credit cards a lower priced/better method by which to do so.  I spend my days getting to know business owners, CFOs, and those who help these people make better operating and budget decisions.  May sound boring, but it’s the most fun I’ve had working (and I came out of the fashion industry if that says anything).
More as side ventures currently, I also host a monthly networking event for young professionals in Atlanta as well as am working to launch a series of books that teach kids the basics of financial education.  I’m a big believer in going after as many of your dreams as you can do well at once.
What factors went into your decision to be an entrepreneur?
Some primary factors were dissatisfaction with other work experiences and primarily, distaste with working for other people.  I worried that was an entitled feeling, but later have recognized that there’s somewhat of a ‘breed’ of entrepreneurs who tend to share this feeling in common.  Oftentimes you want to see how you can do it on your own rather than for someone else, and you’re willing to take the necessary risks to do so.
I’d come out of a couple lay-offs in a relatively short amount of time, so that didn’t hurt to make my decision.  I found it to be hugely challenging to take such a leap when you’re comfortable, no matter how unhappy you are in your current position.
How do you feel about your decision?
I feel great about my decision. While certainly it’s not always been an easy ride, I’ve never felt like I’ve been so true to myself in my work life before.  To make your own schedule, be the one holding yourself accountable, and build a brand that lives or dies based on your efforts is nothing short of invigorating.  With every success, I can pat myself on the back; with every failure, I can learn without someone else coming down on me for it. I’ve always been self-motivated, so never appreciated other people’s micro-management.  I am my own worst critic as well as strongest cheerleader.
I think the current job environment shows that there is no security in working for someone else anymore. So, while it’s not ‘secure’ to work for yourself in the start up years, it certainly feels good to know the uncertainties in-and-out and do everything in your power to make things successful.
If you could make that decision differently, would you?
No.  I don’t believe in regret, but rather learning from mistakes (and more so, not being afraid to make them in the first place). I’m sure there are moments I look back on where I would have done individual things differently, but the decision to go out on my own I would not take back.
What would you tell your 19-21 year old self?
A. You will not be homeless once your parents stop supporting you in college.  B. Don’t be afraid to forge a path that is very different than some of the more traditional ones your friends are taking.  C. Don’t allow others perception of your job title or salary to sway you in your decision to do what is best for you.
What advice would you give to others when they consider their job trajectory?
See a and b above.  Also, be diligent about learning from your current and past experiences. What skills did you find yourself using that you enjoyed? What parts of your days were most interesting/rewarding/fun? When I was job searching, I made a “Top 10 Non-Negotiables” list for myself of my job and work environment. It included everything from commute, to attire, to culture, to salary, to the breakdown of the type of tasks I’d spend my time doing.  Turns out there was a reason why I couldn’t find a ‘job’ that was a good fit. All signs pointed to working for myself, I just didn’t know it yet.
What things do people not consider immediately when making this choice?
How much time you spend every day working. Monday through Friday for a minimum of 8 hours (plus some weekend time if you need to) is the majority of your waking life.  If you don’t enjoy both your daily functions as well as those with whom you share your day (co-workers), you will not enjoy the cushy salary, sexy title, or otherwise luring thing that drew you in.
-Margo Aaron

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