My decisions are usually made with my future in mind
especially regarding my education. There
is almost a direct correlation to academic success in college and future salary
so that is why I make my current decisions with my future in mind to mitigate
income risk. As I said, academic success
is the easiest way to reduce future income risk and that is why I have kept my
GPA at high level throughout my college career.
This shows future employers you have a good work ethic especially coming
from the University of Illinois which is always highly ranked amongst public
universities. The combination of having
a high GPA from a top school really puts myself ahead of other applicants with
lesser credentials when applying for internships this summer because companies
know I earned these good grades while taking a more rigorous work load than applicants
from other schools. I also need to
maintain a high GPA to qualify for certain financial aid and scholarships which
save me tens of thousands of dollars each semester.
I am an Economics major here on campus and chose that for a
few different reasons. I came to campus
as a MCB major with intentions to go to medical school after. However, quickly into first semester freshmen
year I realized the medical field was not what I was truly interested and the
cost of four years of medical school would have put me in a giant financial
hole. I made the switch to economics because
I saw that a career in the business world was more fitting for my personable
personality and hard work ethic. I
decided to join economics instead of trying to transfer to the business school
because I was already in LAS so it was a simpler process to change to econ instead
of transferring. I apply for a lot of
the same jobs and internships as the business students and I believe I am a viable
candidate for these positions with my economics background because economics
has taught me to think logically and thoroughly through every situation am I
faced with. This is critical in the
business world because every problem you are faced with is not going to have a
cookie cutter solution and you will have to work out the situation
logically. Also work experience is very important
and I have had a job with a logistics company the past summers which has put me
in contact with companies such as Wrigley and other logistics companies for
future employment. In fact, I am in the
interview process for an internship this summer with a larger logistics company
in downtown Chicago that I got set up with through my summer job and fraternity
members. These work experiences have lowered
my future income risk because they are giving me a better opportunity to be
hired by a reputable company than if I did not have these work
experiences. It also has given me good
knowledge in the field of logistics and supply chain management which I can use
to talk to recruiters and interviewers during interviews.
Other experiences outside of internships are very helpful to
your future success as well. I am apart
of a social fraternity on campus which has provided me so many experiences,
connections, and has taught me lessons that will help me tenfold in life. Companies look at other things than your GPA during
the hiring process and a majority of it comes from the interview. You have to be a good communicator and
personable in business because almost all your interactions are working with
other people. Companies always tell you
about their culture and the environment of their office/work place usually
boasting about how the office has “competitive” or “energetic” atmosphere with frequent
company outings (at least for the companies I have worked and applied to). Due to this, recruiters want to hire someone
that is qualified for the job and will also fit in with other employees; thus,
the person with the highest GPA will not always get the job because they could
be lacking social skills the company seeks.
Being a recruitment chair for my fraternity has taught me very important
social and communication skills that I can now apply to interviews or preinterview
meet and greets.
I have an older that just graduated from DePaul’s business
school and accepted his job offer from Tesla.
He said to be patient and not jump at the first offer because it might
seem like a good choice for the moment but not the right choice for the future. My brother turned down offers from
Bridgestone tire that had a higher starting salary than Tesla but did not
provide stock options nor did he see potential growth in the company down the
line.
While many of the posts I've read have talked about major and its impact on future income, yours is the first to mention GPA. So I'd like to unpack that one a little. Do you think the market is able to drill down as far as specific courses are concerned? in other words, getting a B- in a really tough class might be more of an accomplishment than getting an A in a very easy class. But if the market can't tell that, then there is an incentive to take those easier courses that offer the high grades. Do you think any of that is going in in the course you opted for?
ReplyDeleteYou talked about competition with students from other universities from internships and new jobs, but you didn't mention similar competition from students at the U of I. There are quite a few Econ majors, and of course there are also students in the College of Business, each of whom might sever as potential competition for you. Do they all play their cards similarly to how you have? Or is there some specific that you have done that these other students wouldn't have replicated.
The logistics business, in particular, where you seem to want to work might benefit from having courses in supply chain management or perhaps in industrial engineering (and maybe other subjects too, I am far from expert here). Have you tried to take such courses though they are outside your major? Or can you learn the important skills in other than a course setting?
Your comments about culture suggest that general maxim - it's not what you know but who you know that matters most. I hope that works for you.
I do sense that students nowadays are likely not going to stay in the same work area their entire careers, so part of the risk management issue is having the flexibility to switch fields when the time is ripe for that. One might then ask not just how you are positioned to find that first job, but if you are doing anything now to position you in a good way 10 years out of college. Students tend to focus on the entry level position. As I've tried to say since day one in class, much of the human capital that you get in college doesn't impact the entry level job that much. However, it can impact that down the road job a great deal.
Great questions professor,
ReplyDeleteAs far as your question regarding easy or tough classes I believe it is in my best interest to push my academic horizons as far as I can with classes that can be more challenging than others. I have been apart of interviews where they ask me to talk about a course that I succeeded in and which subjects I liked about that course. If I were only to take the easy classes I would have an unimpressive answer to this question rather than be able to take about an advanced topic with direct substance to the position.
The academic competition at U of I is very high which I enjoy because it forces me to hold myself accountable up to the highest possible academic standards. The competitive atmosphere also inspired me to join other clubs on campus to make my resume stronger in case my gpa slips due to a couple difficult classes.
John,
ReplyDeleteSomething that really stood out in your post was where you mentioned how you originally came to thee University as an MCB major with a premed track and then switched to Economics. I too did the exact same thing. At first it took time to accept I was going to pursue a different path and even more time to convince my parents I was making the right choice for my future. Thinking about it now, I remember being hesitant on the switch thinking that I would regret the decision later on in my college career. Looking back now, I see that decision as a way of minimizing income risk.
John,
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear that you have kept your GPA so high over your time here and that you found yourself a new major that you like. I am also and economics major who was previously a different major as well so I can relate to that part very well. I definitely agree with your analysis on economics majors and how we think logically, I think this is a lost skill amongst people in our generation. Furthermore, the parts where you talk about company culture and being a good communicator when talking to recruiters- I echoed very similar sentiments in my post. GPA and school is what gets you in the door but it is how you can mesh with the company's culture/goals and communicate about your yourself/experiences effectively to recruiters that will (hopefully) get you the offer. I am also in a social fraternity and many times have recruiters gone off-key during an interview to talk about their greek life experience or ask if I know someone who was apart of the same organization only a few years before me. I won't say it is an end all be all selling point to recruiters but in no way do I think it negatively impacts me; the experiences can only help.