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Be Ready for Career Change in 21st Century
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WOW – a ‘horde’ of young, enthusiastic college graduates –
armed with recent education, vigor, and “I can do it attitudes” – entering the
job field.
What does that mean to you?
A lot, frankly. Just plain MORE COMPETITION!!!
Are many of these students as bright and smart as you? Definitely! (Millions might be brighter and
smarter than you)
Are many of these students looking at and qualified for jobs
you are also looking at? Definitely!
Do many or most of them speak English? Definitely!
Will many of them take jobs that you want at a much lower
salary? Definitely!
Will global outsourcing to bright and smart students from
around the world affect you? Definitely!
Economic and You:
Economics talks of three resources to exploit in making
money: land, labor and capital.
Land as a resource – you can mine ore, plant crops, build
houses and shopping malls. I’m in a
rapidly growing suburb of Austin Texas – where rocky, arid, not-good-for-crops
land is selling quickly and houses go up almost overnight. Land is a valuable resource. If you are in New York City or San Francisco,
there just isn’t any land left in the cities.
Housing and buildings go higher and higher. But, for this book, we’ll assume you don’t
have land you can use as a resource.
Capital as a resource – if you have 100 million just laying
around, you can invest it (maybe even in land), lend it out (at interest of
course), and make the money work for you.
Look around most communities – which type of businesses have the nicest
buildings? Banks!!! They have invested by lending money out. Your savings accounts make a little money,
but the banks make a lot. And, again,
for this book, we’ll assume you don’t have enough capital to use it as a
resource.
That leaves one resource – labor. Your labor.
Now labor covers a lot of ground. You can have a minimum wage job barely making
enough to live on. In the United States in 2015, the poverty level for one
person was $11,770 (https://aspe.hhs.gov/2015-poverty-guidelines#threshholds).
Let’s assume that there are 50 weeks in a year and that a
full time person works 40 hours a week.
That means a person will work 2000 hours a year. (The 50 weeks makes computation easier to
understand). To reach the poverty level,
you have to make about $5.88 an hour.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), the Federal Minimum wage is: $7.50 an
hour (http://www.paywizard.org/main/salary/minimum-wage)
– so if you were working full time at minimum wage for a business that fits the
federal minimum wage you would be making about $15,000 a year. Can you live on that? That might depend on you and what ‘living’
means. Can you have a one-bedroom
apartment – no car, maybe little or no health or other insurance – eat very
cheaply – no internet, little spending – if so, you might be able to ‘live’ on
$15,000 a year.
Next level – you
are making the equivalent of $20 an hour – or about $40,000 a year – that is
better. Can you afford a house? (Not in my neighborhood).
One source says this: “If you and your spouse together make $60,000 a year
(which was the median household income for first-time homebuyers in 2009), you
can probably buy a $180,000 home if you have moderate debt (debt
payments of <12% of your income), and a $240,000 home if you have little or no debt and
can make a 20% down payment “ taken from: http://michaelbluejay.com/house/howmuchhome.html
You get to define your own ‘standard of living’. You can have a used car and a modest house –
or a new car and an expensive house. My
wife and I lived in a very cheap one-bedroom apartment for the first two years
of our married life – and with one car (and she took me to school). It worked nicely until we had a child and
needed more room. We have adapted to our
salary and income – not living beyond our means – and yet with plenty.
Now – how does that relate to a career changing ebook? A lot.
If you are leaving a position paying $120,000 a year and going to a
position paying $60,000 a year, you’ll have to make living changes. Are you tethered to a position that you hate,
just because it might change your lifestyle to make less? And … of course you need to consider that
making $120,000 a year does not mean you have $120,000 to spend as you so
desire!! (The government will be glad to
take some of that income)
Do you want to be a millionaire in ten years? It can be done – but you will have to plan
for it.
To reach your goal, you also need to consider the financial
and economic aspects. And … you need to
find your balance – BMW or ten-year-old used Chevy?
When I wrote of running out of money before we ran out of
month, my career change was predicated on making more money for a family of
four – four years after we got married.
What are your wants and your needs? Can you separate them? Do you need to have New York Giant Football
tickets? Do you need to visit your aging
grandmother in Seattle at least twice a year?
About Jobs and
Salaries:
While the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics /
Occupation Outlook Handbook (http://www.bls.gov/ooh/)
gives job salary data, jobs and salaries will vary greatly. It is a delicate balance between salaries and
company profitability. For example,
companies have outsourced jobs to other countries in an effort to save money
and remain a profitable / viable company.
A company may want to pay their employees more – but cannot justify it
financially.
When I was a high school teacher, there was a set salaries
schedule – with bachelors, masters and specialist degrees and years of
experience. Thus a teacher with a degree
in science and a teacher with a degree in history and both with bachelor
degrees and ten years’ experience got the same pay.
As a professor in Computer Information Systems at in an ABET
accredited department in an AACSB accredited School of Business in a private
university, and having been recognized as an outstanding teacher, my salary was
based on my academic discipline (rarer than some degrees) and merit.
In many companies your salary maybe determined by annual
evaluations. If you consistently rate as
one of the top performers in your company, your pay will be higher. Some companies will also freeze (or even
fire) employees who don’t meet annual evaluation standards.
Other salaries may be adjusted by stock options (if the
company’s stock price goes up – meaning the company’s value is higher), you can
get more pay.
Briefly, when you get your new job, work at it heartily, be
remarkable, put your time and effort in to advance the company – and you should
be rewarded financially.
Assignment:
·
Take a couple of hours for this: Make a list of what you absolutely need for
your standard of living – house, car, family, recreation, television, internet,
charity giving, food, movies, entertainment, taxes, insurance, retirement and
more. Then what would you really
want. Then what would be nice but not
necessarily. And … be sure to include
miscellaneous – as things do happen – cars break down and need repairs, you
need to fly to a funeral of a relative, you find termites in your house
·
Do you want or need your spouse to work? At what level of income and work?
·
Will you need to take additional education? At what level and expense?
·
What charities, go-fund-me opportunities,
community groups and investments would you like to be part of your financial
mix.
·
Write up a complete analysis of your financial
situation – you will need it for later lessons.
Quote: Money is only a
tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the
driver. –Ayn Rand
