My advice: Join the Navy!! See the world at government expense for a few years.

You said “Automotive: Nope.” I disagree; as long as we’re talking auto mechanics. A really good auto mechanic is worth his/her weight in gold (and can be paid accordingly), and will be increasingly so as cars on the road age due to the fact that nobody can afford a new one. And it can be a good life, filled with the satisfaction of doing something actually useful.

Beyond that, you say this particular newly-minted college grad majored in one of the fine arts, and yet you still describe him as “ambitious.” Something there doesn’t quite compute. His ambition must have kicked in too late to switch to a major that is marketable. Nothing wrong with majoring in one of the fine arts; but it’s not normally what ambitious individuals do unless their ambitions tend toward the arts.

Bing,

I agree. Everyone should spend some time doing something servile and that most others view as demeaning, whether it is driving a cab, waiting tables, tending bar, etc. Learning how to eat shit with a smile on your face and how to talk to people who aren’t exactly like you are two very valuable life skills.

And, hey, the tail while you’re waiting tables is fantastic!

Very insightful Bing. Get that person out of the idea of going the corporate world for as long as possible. It is life wasting and soul sucking – you will look around at 35 and wonder what the hell your life is all about, and wonder if there is anything better. By then, you are likely married, with a mortgage, possibly kids, and there is no way out. Its too late, you are officially a wage-slave and only the next toy you buy yourself alleviates the soul-crushing depression and sense of futility. Welcome to the working world kid.

Great advice. As a recent graduate (Summer 2006) who hit the ground running, I’d advise all new graduates to do yourself a favor and take your time finding out what is right for you, especially if you’re jumping ship from the area you majored in during university.

I don’t necessarily regret hitting the ground running as I’m in a great position now for my age but none the less, you are only young once and you’ll never get those years back. There is plenty of life ahead for most to become career minded and boring/serious, why be in a hurry?

Musicians and physicists start young at their chosen profession, but that’s because, frankly, they probably couldn’t do anything else.

As a professional musician I don’t really know where to start with this.
I’m a musician for a lot of reasons, one of which is because I’m overqualified for a lot of other jobs, and you wouldn’t catch me doing them anyway. There’s not enough time in a lifetime to do everything I want to do.

Can’t do anything else? Ha!

Being a bright eyed, bushy haired aspirant myself, my reason to get on a career track right out of school was purely monetary. After years of living off canned soup and frozen waffles I was ready for some sustenance with taste.

Also, you speak flippantly about buying a new apple (APPL) gadget every couple of weeks or so while it would take a salaried newbie such as myself months to save up for the imac I’m craving. Yes I’m somewhat adverse to debt financing of such consumer goods but can you blame me with all of the financial advice directed at people my age these days? In the early 90’s the theme was say no to drugs, now its say no to revolving credit balances on your shiny plastic cards. Quality goods are expensive and I couldn’t afford any of them working as a ski tech somewhere in Colorado making $9/hour.

My other main reason for starting right out of the gate is so I wouldn’t have to refer to my parents as my roommates to uphold the facade of being independent to whatever group of yuppies I was interacting with. Once again a monetary issue. By the way, I love the blog. Keep up the good work.

I’m with ya Bing. No one takes anybody under the age of 30 seriously anyway. Might as well spend your mid 20’s doing something fun, memorable and irresponsible. I wish I had instead of being one of those career-minded types. I know I’m not headed for a Spitzer-like mid-life crisis, but in terms of looking back on things I would do differently, enjoying my 20’s would be number one on the list.

“Here’s my view. God created youth for people to do what they wanted to do.”

I like your view. Unfortunately, in the rest of America’s view, God created youth to be neck-deep in student loan debt, be lucky to get a job at all (since, like you said, nowadays you need six years’ experience to bring someone their coffee), and support Social Security and Medicare.

That’s why the young fellow in your story majored in Fine Arts. He knew damn well college was his very last chance to do what he wanted to do.

At 22, you’re just barely getting to know who you are as a person. How could anyone expect to hit the target on a career pick at that point? He’ll have 2 or 3 of them throughout his lifetime anyway. Amen on enjoying the early years while living on the cheap and figuring it out. It’s a cliche but “Enjoy it while you can”.

And, hey kids, after that is pretty cool, too.

Tell him to go into law. He’ll spend 10 years learning the trade and doing the grunt work, but by the time he’s in his 30s he’ll have more than enough opportunity and money to do what he wants.

The poor kid is looking for career advice, the Navy is not really a job, apparently from what I understand, it’s more of an adventure.

You forgot Sales. Unless he was wearing a t-shirt that said “Do I look like a #!!#@**!# people person?”

Bing, the problem is that after screwing around for a couple of years, the now-24-year-old will be playing catch-up for the rest of his life. He has to do something that can be justified to hiring managers, and traveling/filmmaking/blogging just don’t cut it anymore.

I feel ancient at 26, yet every move I’ve made was in consideration of a career path that hasn’t yet emerged from under the dusty, dead grass.

Under what circumstances was this young man in your office? Does an entry-level interview at your company really yield a face-to-face with the Great and Iconic Bing?

Don’t join the Navy – Navy stands for Never Again Volunteer Yourself

Or join the Army and see it up close and personal.

If the kid is actually interested in hunkering down for a life time and is looking for stability, take some kind of government job. If you want all of that and some adventure, apply for a position with the Foreign Service.

Well… I’m screwed.

if that person told you with a straight face that he wanted to go into marketing he deserves Business School!

Retirement has a way of catching up to one, even at 22.

The choice is to fade out into euphoric enrapture like Elliot, or practice, practice, and more practice of one’s desired aspirations until one realizes them.

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going”.

We’re in a “World Economy” on a planet of six billion, plus, people.

Competition is keen for resources on a planet where the sun never sets.

Peace Corps

I’d tell him to join Teach for America or AmeriCorps. Yes with AmeriCorps, you’ll live at poverty level but after the year or two you’ll come out with money to pay on student loans and an appreciation for having the opportunity to make a living-wage salary once you land that “real” job.

wow.

if Bing’s advice wasn’t enough, everyone else’s sure was.

I like the guy featured, majored in fine art, graduated and said “i want to be in marketing.”

Since the blog wasn’t published 3 years ago, I actually did it.

Things have gone well. Got a great job (took a few sh*&^y ones to get here). So at 25 I lead a great team, manage the offline marketing for my company, and get paid nearly 6 figures.

There are parts of my choice that I love. 1. Not being broke 2. Enjoying strange new things like vacations and restaurants with out drive through windows 3. Not knowing my pizza guy by name 4. No debt

That said, I am probably one of few of my friends that made this choice. My roommate and friends look at me like I’m an AARP card holder when I’m not down to play beer pong on a Wednesday night.

So there are probably some things I am missing out on, but I’m ok with that. I would rather miss out on back packing through Europe with $200 to last me a month, or mastering the beer bong abilities. But Ill get other perks like owning a home, and being able to retire well funded.

I think its different for everyone. For some twenty-somethings taking a few years off is entirely necessary, for others, not so much.

This young man sounds like a perfect candidate to be a blogger like Bing. I believe that Bing should offer his position to this young man. Bing should then use his life savings to sail around the world. I believe that Bing’s gift to this young man would mean more to Bing than all of the riches in the world.

Getting into marketing from fine arts is not a bad transition. I did film and later produced short documentaries when I was in my late teens/early 20s. Now I’m 26 and am very happy with the internet marketing job I have. It’s going to be a good transition. He can get into a lot of other fields from what you suggested to him. Good advice Bing.

As a career strategist I meet smart, capable, and confused people every day — and they almost all have the same desire no matter what age they are. They want to have compelling work that engages them on many levels so that at the end of the day they know they did something that mattered. The twenties are for trying things out, learning how to be an adult and how to trust yourself and your own decisions. Go out and make some mistakes. And keep following the stuff that holds your attention.

Tell Him to join the Army. anybody who takes the courses he took in school would make them elgible for cannon fodder or teachers of basket weaving

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

I know I don’t have to tell you guys, but as appropriate as Michael’s comment might be, and well written a poem, too, I might add, it is the work not of Michael himself but of one Edward Arlington Robinson, one of the most popular poets of the 20th Century, now remembered for this and perhaps one or two other poems. On a list of famous people, he would probably now rank somewhere below Danny Bonaduce.

Mea culpa for neglecting the attribution. Thanks, Bing.

I would tell the young man or woman to pursue something in the area of science. What a challenge to our youth to save the world from environmental disaster, global warming, extinction of animals, starving in third world countries, the cure for so many diseases, etc.

Forget the emphasis on money and success. We need our youth to concentrate on the arts and sciences. Their lives will be more fulfilling and what do you suppose success in business will mean when one day cars are flying and we are traveling to distant galaxies?

@ Alan,

Hahahhahahahahahaa. As someone with a PhD in the hard sciences from a top tier school I just have to say that in response to your comment. If you think science careers, be they academic, industry, or government, are much better than what Bing describes, you are thoroughly out to lunch. Science is even more insidious because you don’t even get money in reward for signing away the best years of your life, and those ’scientific accomplishments’ they use as a carrot/stick instead often feel empty as well. Science has more in common with the double-edged sword of non-profit work and it’s imperfect idealism than it does with business. After a few years of exploitation I jumped ship and now run a few internet businesses. Now I have a martini outside in the sunshine instead of working unpaid overtime. Science and tech is no better than anything else and should not be entered into lightly. Bing is right on this one, particularly about the internet. A person still needs an education, and I don’t regret mine, but you have to balance that with not drinking too much of the “societal kool-aid” and getting screwed.