I have spent the day wondering whether I missed the point of Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist blog entitled “The new post-college prestige job is retail”? I know I didn’t miss the patronizing words on emerging adulthood and the somewhat bizarre suggestion that an individual who doesn’t know what they want to do in their 20’s is somehow lost (how can they be lost, they’ve not started the journey!) but what frightens me most about this post are the words, “it doesn’t take a lot of brain power” to describe a retail opportunity said to be prestigious. And although the jury is still out, I’m leaning towards a verdict that I didn’t miss the point. Rather, I simply think it is wrong! For what is being suggested is the setting of a bar so low, that I wonder whether it was even worth those who attempt to reach it going to College in the first place?
It is not that I have an issue with new grads exploring opportunities in retail. In fact, I think there is an enormous amount to be learned in retail, much of which is applicable across industries. Customer service skills, marketing skills and analytical skills to name but a few can all be mastered by the retail employee. What I have an issue with however, is the suggestion that new grads should opt for retail to make friends, work flexible hours (should I assume this means few?) while experimenting with multiple other career options until they find out what they want to be. Worth particular consideration are the following:
1.) Every hour you spend at work not using your brain power is an hour wasted. If you want a flexible job and choose retail in the early months post graduation then gain something useful to your long term career from the experience. Learn about point of sale marketing and implement change to increase demand for a particular product. Or alternatively, do some study of purchasing habits of a segment of your customers and learn to target particular products to increase revenue from that demographic. Standing around chatting to your colleagues is a waste of your time. Do that when you’re off duty.
2.) It is highly unlikely that you’re going to find out exactly what you want to be during your 20’s. In fact, even if you think you have discovered it, the likelihood is that you’ll change your mind in your 30’s and perhaps again in your 40’s and 50’s. If, as is suggested, you’ll change your career 4 or 5 times in the course of your working life, then does it really matter if you find your perfect niche in the first couple of years. No! What does matter though is that you establish a pattern of behavior that results in achievement. As you attempt to move careers in the future, nobody will be interested in you if your early career years demonstrate nothing of material value. Be sure your prestigious retail opportunity is capable of helping your show this before you see it as your best option.
3.) The debt accumulated by attending Grad School is only a burden if you fail to apply what you’ve learnt in the real world for commercial benefit. If you’re going to Grad School simply to put off getting a job then more fool you but if you’re serious about a post graduate qualification to give you the best possible foundation for your chosen career, then the cost becomes irrelevant against the returns gained through the years you apply what you have learnt.
It is rare that I take such offence to the words of others in the Blogosphere. However, as an advocate of new grads, their capability and opportunity, I am incapable of refraining from comment where other commentators give the green light to the waste of their potential. The current generation of new grads about to embark upon or in the early years of their career are perhaps the most capable group in history. They have the potential to make radical change through their technological savvy, communication networks and global mobility. And so by encouraging members of this group to set a low bar for achievement at any stage in their careers is to lessen the positive impact their enormous utility can have. My fundamental belief is that the long term success of Gen Y and the new grads within it will secure the long term prospects for us all. To think of them wasting their time folding shirts in a store then is something abhorrent to me and I would hope to us all.
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Hi. RJ. I think you and I are in agreement, actually. I am thinking, though, that the hardest thing to do is admit that there is no clear path. We spend our years in school on a very clear path, and it used to be that overachievers graduated and then put themselves on another clear path — law, medicine, PhD, climbing a corporate ladder, etc.
Today those clear paths are not clear and safe anymore. It’s very hard to admit that — to admit that there’s no clear path. It’s hard to be zen about not knowing where to go next. You can pretent you have a path, and pretend you’re not lost. Or you can admit you’re lost and panic.
Or you can acknowledge that leaving college into a world where there is no clear path is scary and disorienting. It’s important to be with those feelings instead of denying them. One of the most zen-like choices in this case is retail — because it i a job that ends when the shift ends. Which leaves you a lot of time to think and explore and feel what you are feeling at home.
A lot of times we take our work home with us (consulting, law) or work all the time (entrepreneurship) and it’s a way to avoid the hard parts of our lives (feeling lost). My point is that retail is a brave, honest place to work when you need time to adjust from school to not-school. Retail gives you time to think and process and get to know yourself in a way that other jobs do not.
You might not agree, but I thought the comment section on the post I wrote about this was really intersting. There are about 60 comments. And the people who got through their 20s in retail tend to agree with the post, and the people who are in their 20s now are skeptical.
Penelope
Hi Penelope, I appreciate your comments. I’m relieved to hear that you think our message is the same and as this is the case, let me build upon the two concepts you have articulated below. Firstly, the path. The path remains unclear only to those who misunderstand it. The path is not about structured mechanisms that we see lawyers, medics and others on graduate entry programs processed through. The path is about achievement and demonstrating an ability to deliver tangible goals. Failure at any point on a structured scheme will see you summarily dismissed from its particular course. Continuance along its route is dependent upon continued achievement. As you observe, these structures are less prevalent in the current environment (something that actually frees the truly high achievers to achieve more – see my post titled ‘a graduate entry scheme could actually hold you back!‘) but this does not mean that the path has changed. Those who continue to achieve will also continue to see direction unravel before them. It is those who procrastinate too long who will find no guide to help them. Which brings me to the second of your points on which I wish to build, that of being Zen. Taking time to think and understand oneself is important. However, a key component of Zen taken from its origins in Buddhism is to focus on the present. To worry about who you have been and what you might be for too long is to allow yourself to be lost and to miss the opportunity to be who you are today. And therefore, in the absence of clear direction, I would encourage all Gen Y to spend only a small amount of time on introspection but rather employ their efforts to their labor focusing upon over-achieving in whatever task they are presented with. For by doing so, both their path and their understanding of self will become clearer to them and to all.
Again, I appreciate your clarifying comments. I will continue to follow the fascinating debate that has ensued from your original post.
Great post RJ and I’m really glad to read Penelope’s comment as well… I just responded to Penelope’s post on her blog so I’ll just add it below and see what you think…
I would suggest that someone graduating with a degree get a job as an assistant in an industry that piques their interest instead of going the retail route. Of course, I’m biased because we offer online and interactive assistant training as our service at ProAssisting but hear me out…
Consider this: Ivy league grads and lawyers trek Hollywood every year to get a job that pays $400 per week to work as an assistant. They are just trying to get their foot in the door. But what if you take that same idea and put it to use in a different industry that excites you? As an assistant you’ll get a “bird’s eye view” of the industry/company you work in and you’ll know pretty quickly if it’s right for you. You’ll also put valuable experience on your resume for a future position. Coming from retail into corporate is a tougher sell. Lastly, being an assistant offers the same “self evaluation” that this post talks about in terms of retail (usually when you leave the office, you leave the work behind and have a life) while still teaching you the ways of corporate America. Just my two cents…