I don’t think these are “four choices”, as Crime and The Military are roughly interchangeable. Both of them are dead end jobs that only function if they give you a leg up into a degreed profession. I also have to say… you really don’t need to go into a “lifetime of debt” to get a degree from a city college or community college. We’re talking the cost of a car - too much, to be sure - but not every university is charging Harvard rates.
Beyond that, pretty much every job takes you along the path from entry level newb to valued technical master. What skills you develop and where they add that value can change with the shape of the economy and the technological frontier. But in the end, where you spend your time working trains you to do what you will be paid for in the future. There’s not four choices, there’s more like two choices - do what you’re doing right now or change and start back at the bottom of the ladder.
That is what the vast majority of young people are facing.
The vast majority of young people have no experience and no background. So they’re attacking what is a very opaque job market in the economic headwinds of an '06/'07 or '00/'01 financial meltdown. But you’re not an entry level employee forever. Learning your profession is as much about learning how to get paid as how to do the work. Your income is ultimately predicated on your ability (and luck) when navigating between employers and across downturns.
But careers do improve over time. You’re not the new guy forever.
I don’t think these are “four choices”, as Crime and The Military are roughly interchangeable. Both of them are dead end jobs that only function if they give you a leg up into a degreed profession. I also have to say… you really don’t need to go into a “lifetime of debt” to get a degree from a city college or community college. We’re talking the cost of a car - too much, to be sure - but not every university is charging Harvard rates.
Beyond that, pretty much every job takes you along the path from entry level newb to valued technical master. What skills you develop and where they add that value can change with the shape of the economy and the technological frontier. But in the end, where you spend your time working trains you to do what you will be paid for in the future. There’s not four choices, there’s more like two choices - do what you’re doing right now or change and start back at the bottom of the ladder.
The vast majority of young people have no experience and no background. So they’re attacking what is a very opaque job market in the economic headwinds of an '06/'07 or '00/'01 financial meltdown. But you’re not an entry level employee forever. Learning your profession is as much about learning how to get paid as how to do the work. Your income is ultimately predicated on your ability (and luck) when navigating between employers and across downturns.
But careers do improve over time. You’re not the new guy forever.