Old timers, need some advice on what to do after graduation.

[fuzzybabybunny]

I'm a 5th year senior and will be graduating with a Supply Chain Management degree this year. Currently I'm unsure of what I should do right after college. I'm kind of looking for advice from the old timers. During the last day of class this semester, one of my teachers who is a leading authority in the Supply Chain industry gave our class a talk about life in general. Among the topics was to use our young years wisely.

If there's something that I want to do, like travel, volunteer globally, etc, do it now. I will never have the same opportunity as I do now to do these things. This includes being in the good health that I'm in now.

Do something that you're passionate about. He knows a lot of people who are working just for the paycheck or just because the work matches their major and see that they are miserable. He knows someone who graduated with a Logistics degree, worked for a logistics company for a few years, hated it, and is now a kindergarten teacher and couldn't be happier. He envies her.

So I'm not sure what to do. I love to travel and see new places. I love the outdoors and photography, and feel that I would certainly have a passion working for something that has to deal with these things. I love my free time. I do not want to end up locked into a job that I don't particularly have a passion for, and before I know it I'm in my late thirties and wondering what happened to all the time in between.

Any old timers have any input? Any regrets for not doing such things right out of college? Being a 5th year, I feel like I really need to get out into the working world, yet I don't want to get trapped in it. So should I go for a job? Or do something like backpack Europe?

 

[zebano]

Do you have money??

 

[gururu2]

work will pretty much consume your time, but if you are in debt or in short of finances, try to get some work experience as soon as possible. if you are young, you can afford to be mobile, so plan on perhaps working 2-3 years, lining up other jobs, and traveling between while working on retirement.
my advice: horde money, travel economically, don't plant roots until you are in your late 30s/early 40s.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Whatever you do, don't let money be the reason, greed will tear you apart, and it's only a temporary motivation.

 

[IronWing]

If you have debts, get out from under them as quickly as possible. Being debt free makes you a lot freer.

 

[sash1]

travel somewhere and take more awesome pictars

 

[Saint Nick]

after i graduate, i'm going to get a job for two or three years and save as much money as i can. once i get as much money as i need, i'm going to quit and travel the world until i'm out of money. then i'll repeat the process one more time, making a note to see things i didn't see before. then plant my roots eventually.

thanks puffff

 

[FoBoT]

get a job with a Fortune 500 company ASAP and get your cube ass planted like the rest of us worker bees

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: sash1
travel somewhere and take more awesome pictars

Bingo. Whatever Supply Chain Management is, it sounds like a tedious soul-sucking job. Get out into the world for a little while and enjoy life while you still have one.

Good luck! :thumbsup:

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Anyone here ever done anything like travel the world right out of college?

 

[Farang]

I've managed to travel the world while in college, 21 countries in the past couple of years. Living abroad is quite the experience, but for me having a reason for being there is much more fulfilling. I studied in Bangkok for the better part of a year and so I had time to feel like I had roots set down where I was living, as well as travel to all the surrounding countries in my free time. If you're feeling aimless and just wanting to screw around for a while, I'd say become an English teacher in Asia for a year or so. Make new friends, learn the language, take it easy and make a decent living wage. Be an expatriate for a bit and then if you still feel like it, come back and find yourself that high paying job you were thinking of when you decided to major in Supply Chain Management.