Speaking of Jobs after College

The major is more of a concern to me than taking a couple of years to volunteer. I actually think volunteering with AmeriCorps will HELP her get a job when she's done. It will look great on a resume.
Exactly. I was thinking the same thing something like this looks great on her resume. Plus this also might be a step for her to start networking. A lot of contacts are made through charity organizations. There’s always that wealthy, business owner person that supports these organizations And might be able to pull strings later.It may be a way to get her name out there. If AmeriCorps is the right organization I cannot comment

And the comment above that she might need therapy to deal with adulthood? Are you serious??? Geez I was also a bit bummed having to go into the workforce when I was 20 or 21. I simply was going to miss my summers off should I have taken therapy to deal with that?
 
My DD wants to join AmeriCorps when she graduates so she can volunteer for a couple of years. I think this is a horrible idea.

1. Economy is good right now. She should be able to find a job.
2. She can volunteer all she wants if she has a job. (I'm big into volunteering myself.)
3. She doesn't have to defer her college loans and keep accruing interest to only pay more in the long run. (AmeriCorps will pay for some of these, but deferments are given for this, too.)
4. She only has loans so she had some "skin in the game." Her father and I paid for her education at a private school.
5. She will graduate with a Fine Arts and Art Administration degree. She is an amazing artist, but I think it will be hard for her to find something, even in a good economy, with that degree. I hope I'm wrong.
6. With a job she can start investing in a retirement account so she accrues more over time.

Does anyone have experience with AmeriCorps?

DD said that she will also try to find a job while pursuing this, but I don't think she'll put the effort into it if she's focused on this. I wonder if she is just trying to defer "adulting"? She is very mature, has studied abroad and lives in her own apartment while in school and is NOT a party girl by any stretch.

I couldn't wait to leave college so I could start my earning years. I grew up very poor and didn't want to remain poor. Maybe we've just given her so much that she doesn't worry about us not being able to help her?

While I struggle with this, I know that what is meant to be, will and that all will turn out ok.

Number 3 would be my primary concern. Deferment can really get someone in trouble depending on the size of the loans. Your post made it sound like she possibly financed her entire college education? If that's the case, those are sizable loans which I would not even consider deferring. If she took out minimal loans, I would still encourage her to make sure she can start paying on them while volunteering with AmeriCorps. If she can't do both, I think it's a bad idea.

I also caught your comment about deferring adulthood. The fact that her parent brought up this possibility makes it seem more likely to me. You know her best and if you think this is enough of a possibility to bring it up in your post, I wouldn't doubt it has some basis in fact. This would be a big concern for me as well. I wouldn't want my adult child to put off building their career/future out of fear. I feel like avoiding it, could just make it harder to get started.

There are so many options available for volunteering, I don't see why you would need to put off career-building to pursue that also. Sometimes you can even find volunteer opportunities through your career: many corporations take an active part in community service/volunteering/fundraising/etc.

Last note on the loans. Have you sat down with her and looked at the numbers, and figured out what her payments are going to be post-graduation? If not, do it now. Then walk through what deferment will mean for those loans. How long does she plan to pursue this volunteer path? What kind of loans will she have at the end? What will her repayment schedule be at that point? While AmeriCorps "may" help with loans, she shouldn't count on that until she's got something in writing/concrete. Plan for the worst scenario, hope for the best. I've seen too many kids get loans without fully understanding what the repayment process entailed.
 
And the comment above that she might need therapy to deal with adulthood? Are you serious??? Geez I was also a bit bummed having to go into the workforce when I was 20 or 21. I simply was going to miss my summers off should I have taken therapy to deal with that?

Yes, I’m serious. The OP is the parent and she mentioned the concern that her DD is possibly looking for a way to avoid adulthood. If this is a parental concern then I consider it very likely.

Please don’t continue the negative stereotype of counseling. It can be helpful to have someone outside of family to talk to at transitional stages in life. A good counselor will help the DD talk through concerns and develop a plan to move forward.

I would agree with the suggestions of internships. My DD22 and her fiancé got valuable experience that led to their post grad jobs through internships in college. All of their internships were paid, as well.
 
If she's interested in volunteering, maybe she should also look at Vista and Peace Corps, too. I know that some of the Vista positions pay some of your college loans (or get them forgiven? not sure...) as part of your "paycheck." I know quite a few people (established adults as well as 20-somethings) who did a year or two of stipend volunteering, and they are all glad they did. These kinds of experiences are about more than getting a job, or putting off adulthood. Besides, what better time is there to do this than now, when she has no other obligations: No mortgage, no spouse, no kids, no job commitments... when else will she have the opportunity to do something that fulfills her wishes and desires? What is wrong with "putting off adulthood" for a few more years?

It's her life, she's an adult, offer your opinion when asked, and let her make her own final decision. I see 3 outcomes:
She's gonna do it and love the experience;
She's going to do it and not love the experience. Short term she'll wish she hadn't done it, long term she'll realize she made the decision on her own with the information available at the time, and move on;
She WON'T do it and will regret it. Even if she doesn't regret not doing it, she'll always remember that there was something that she wanted to do, that she had the opportunity of doing... and didn't take it.
 


Yes, I’m serious. The OP is the parent and she mentioned the concern that her DD is possibly looking for a way to avoid adulthood. If this is a parental concern then I consider it very likely.

Please don’t continue the negative stereotype of counseling. It can be helpful to have someone outside of family to talk to at transitional stages in life. A good counselor will help the DD talk through concerns and develop a plan to move forward.

I would agree with the suggestions of internships. My DD22 and her fiancé got valuable experience that led to their post grad jobs through internships in college. All of their internships were paid, as well.
I am not being negative about counseling. It has helped many people. I have an issue of creating a mountain out of a molehill. Many college grads I know, myself including did not graduate college hitting the ground running. None of us were 100% thinking: 1. need job to start retirement savings, 2. Need loan pay-off plan. sure we had these thing abstract in the back of our head.. as Yoga says, "stupid we are not" and we figured those things out. .... A college graduate is yes an adult, but not born overnight with "adult thoughts and priorities" Many leave school still not knowing what they want to do or thinking why did I get THIS degree. My best friend got a teaching degree, realized after graduating she actually hated working with kids... bar tended for a few months, traveled, partied, she is not hurtiing as she missed that one year or two adding to a 401k. .. Maybe I am old school but "transitioning" in life (God that sound so clinical) IS life. People don't have answers and will make mistakes... No need for therapy or a counselor holding your hand.. Sure maybe some people need help but IMO, would have needed help earlier if they cannot transition from college to life.. It's called growing pains.. After school I could have been considered depressed, I was bummed.. unhappy as I missed my college friends, partying/ drinking.. I had a great college life... At some point one realizes there are bills to pay and then sadly you grow up and then realize I am an "adult".
 
3. She doesn't have to defer her college loans and keep accruing interest to only pay more in the long run. (AmeriCorps will pay for some of these, but deferments are given for this, too.)
So is she being paid for any of the volunteer work? If so is it stable enough as a consistent pay?

I did look very very briefly and one of the 'perk' listed on AmeriCorps website is
  • Career opportunities with leading employers from the private, public and nonprofit sectors
Has she been able to figure out what she would really be doing there or is it really she likes volunteering and happened to find out about AmeriCorps?

1. Economy is good right now. She should be able to find a job.
Are you saying that she should only be involved in a full-time volunteer program if the economy is bad?

6. With a job she can start investing in a retirement account so she accrues more over time.
True but believe it or not you can catch up too when doing it young. It def. depends on the company and their 401k program including matching though. I was silly and didn't contribute to my 401k for over 2 years at the job I had when I got out of the college with a dollar per dollar match up to 6%. When I woke up I became agressive and had 10% of my paycheck going towards 401k so I was getting 16% contributed to my 401k each paycheck. My mom was in a worse off position because the company she worked for (which was actually the same company I worked for) didn't use to have a 401k traditional plan until recently in terms of how many years she had been slaving away there (halfway joking here). They had profit sharing and no she wasn't just stashing that away in an account for many-a-years.

I wonder if she is just trying to defer "adulting"? She is very mature, has studied abroad and lives in her own apartment while in school and is NOT a party girl by any stretch.
Most of the time when someone refers to adulting and not doing it while being serious at the same time (rather than joking about "I'm done adulting today for example) they don't also refer to the person as being mature, living in her own apartment not being a party girl, etc

I'd probably dig deeper in into her desire to join AmeriCorps before labeling it as her trying to avoid what are referred to as adult responsibilities.

I couldn't wait to leave college so I could start my earning years. I grew up very poor and didn't want to remain poor. Maybe we've just given her so much that she doesn't worry about us not being able to help her?
Honestly? Out of all the comments in the OP this seems like the most telling. Is it possible that you see her wanting to do volunteering work and because you couldn't wait to start out at a job and work that until eternity (half-way joking here lol) and that you grew up poor and didn't want to remain poor while also paying for a private college education for her (I'm assuming it was college you were referring to as you only said private school education) that at least some of your hesistence towards this is you have a vision of what you want her to be? Certaintly having consistent money to pay for the student loans and other things is very important, which is why I can't be totally for the program without knowing that aspect. But at the same time it is also an admirable quality (IMO) to want to volunteer such as this and it does seem like this could help her in the long run with networking as well. It's just looking over if the volunteer work is a good fit, at the moment.

Maybe it's worth discussing in-depth with her about it, having her get all the information so all are in the know.
 
Maybe have her set an actual budget for what life will be like volunteering with AmeriCorps. I don’t know anything about that experience, or what they cover vs. what she’d be paid, but maybe that will show her that she can’t depend on your financial support?

What does she plan to do with her degree? I also have a Fine Arts degree and I actually use it and am lucky to get paid to hold a paint brush every day; I realize not all are as lucky, but I hate that people don’t regard art as a worthy career path. As long as she has a plan or a goal and is working towards it there will always be work for artists.
I will sit down and discuss a budget based on living in an area like ours (moderately priced vs. living in NYC or CA). That's a very good idea.

What does skin in the game even mean? Legit I have never even heard of that. Does it mean she has a loan to have some 'debt'?
We believed that she needed a loan to pay after school so she would appreciate the sacrifices that Dad and I made in writing the checks to her school.

Another thought- has she ever had a job? Has she had any internships? Internships are, in my opinion, the best way to create job opportunities in college. Maybe you could steer her towards getting an internship somewhere interesting (to help satisfy the travel bug), and that could at least put her on a career path.
She has worked in several restaurants. She has a wonderful work ethic. She is helping to manage the coffee shop on her campus (they tell her that she is the only reliable person that they have on staff) and she continually receives awards for being a top employee at the restaurant near home.

Great idea! With her degree has she thought about the Disney College program?
I'm going to mention this to her. I hadn't thought about that myself, but it could fit into her degree perfectly!

Exactly. I was thinking the same thing something like this looks great on her resume. Plus this also might be a step for her to start networking. A lot of contacts are made through charity organizations. There’s always that wealthy, business owner person that supports these organizations And might be able to pull strings later.It may be a way to get her name out there. If AmeriCorps is the right organization I cannot comment?
She went to a prep school and to a college that have very solid alumni associations. She has many contacts just from HS that can help her if she wants, if not through them, through their parents. The beauty of her HS was that it wasn't just local kids with whom she grew up. The school had students from about a 45-minute radius and alumni all over the world.

Yes, I’m serious. The OP is the parent and she mentioned the concern that her DD is possibly looking for a way to avoid adulthood. If this is a parental concern then I consider it very likely.
I don't think she needs counseling for this. I think she needs to figure things out. Change is difficult for most people and the transition from school to adulthood isn't easy. She's smart. She'll figure it out. My goal is to guide her to understand all of the options before she settles on something. The ultimate decision is hers.

I'm not opposed to counseling at all. It helped my Mom through my sister's death and it helped my DD to get her arms around her feelings about her brother's cancer.
 


I would not be happy about any of my kids choosing this after graduating, but it is their life and their decision.
They would know that we would not support them financially though if that was their decision. Being an adult means you learn that needs come first and wants come second. A job after graduation is a need, volunteering isn't. Just because it's an admiral decision doesn't mean it's the right decision. I'm all for my kids volunteering in some capacity, but in order to do that they must be able to first take care of themselves.
 
Your DD might benefit from a life coach, versus a traditional therapist--someone to help her sort out her options. I'm sure you (Mom) have been helping her with this, but sometimes a different voice, different perspective can make a difference. FTR, I don't think there's anything wrong with your DD, she just may be a little hesitant about the next phase of life. That hardly makes her unusual.
 
I agree with a PP. Suggest your DD look into the Disney CP or one of their professional internships.
 
She has worked in several restaurants. She has a wonderful work ethic. She is helping to manage the coffee shop on her campus (they tell her that she is the only reliable person that they have on staff) and she continually receives awards for being a top employee at the restaurant near home.

This is the thing that is confusing to me. On one hand you made a comment that she might be avoiding taking the next step to being an adult by taking a volunteer assignment. But then you make the statement above, which sounds to me like a young adult with a better grasp on adulting than most kids her age. So I'm curious what leads you to believe she might be considering volunteering as an avoidance measure? It just doesn't line up with the person you describe above.
 
This is the thing that is confusing to me. On one hand you made a comment that she might be avoiding taking the next step to being an adult by taking a volunteer assignment. But then you make the statement above, which sounds to me like a young adult with a better grasp on adulting than most kids her age. So I'm curious what leads you to believe she might be considering volunteering as an avoidance measure? It just doesn't line up with the person you describe above.
That's the thing. On the one hand, she is mature and can take care of herself (albeit to this point with the financial assistance from DH and I,) but on the other hand, I think she may be fearful about starting this next chapter. FT volunteering seems to be an option that, in her mind, will keep her current lifestyle going without having to make long-term decisions yet.

At first, I thought this was a way for her to keep hanging out with her roommate, BFF, but she said that they were not necessarily going to get to be placed in the same place if they both joined AmeriCorps. I thought it was her roommate's idea, but she said it was hers based on what her professor told them about it being good on their resumes. Her roommate bought into the idea with her.
 
That's the thing. On the one hand, she is mature and can take care of herself (albeit to this point with the financial assistance from DH and I,) but on the other hand, I think she may be fearful about starting this next chapter. FT volunteering seems to be an option that, in her mind, will keep her current lifestyle going without having to make long-term decisions yet.

At first, I thought this was a way for her to keep hanging out with her roommate, BFF, but she said that they were not necessarily going to get to be placed in the same place if they both joined AmeriCorps. I thought it was her roommate's idea, but she said it was hers based on what her professor told them about it being good on their resumes. Her roommate bought into the idea with her.

I mean there is a third possibility - that she truly believes it will be good for her resume and it has nothing to do with her avoiding the next phase of life. Is there a small chance that you might be imposing your own fears for her on her and assuming motivations? (not meant to be disrespectful in anyway - as a parent I am already worried for my kids taking the leap to self-sufficiency and they're only in middle school!)
 
I mean there is a third possibility - that she truly believes it will be good for her resume and it has nothing to do with her avoiding the next phase of life. Is there a small chance that you might be imposing your own fears for her on her and assuming motivations? (not meant to be disrespectful in anyway - as a parent I am already worried for my kids taking the leap to self-sufficiency and they're only in middle school!)
I'm not worried for her to move into the next phase of life. I want her to be happy and able to support herself. My fear is that she won't be able to do that if she chooses the AmeriCorps route... while she could be happy, that doesn't mean that she'll be able to support herself and she'll just amass debt during that program.
 
I'm not worried for her to move into the next phase of life. I want her to be happy and able to support herself. My fear is that she won't be able to do that if she chooses the AmeriCorps route... while she could be happy, that doesn't mean that she'll be able to support herself and she'll just amass debt during that program.

It's definitely worth having a very real, very practical discussion about how finances would work if she were to go the volunteer route for an extended period of time. She can't make a decision if she doesn't have all the information. That said, I can't say that I agree it would indicate she's avoiding taking the next step. I know a handful of people who did a year of volunteer work between college and job, every one of them is very successful and to boot, they gained invaluable exposure to worldviews and big-picture thinking they wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I've had conversations with each of them partially because it's something I regret NOT taking the opportunity to do when I was younger and less rooted down, and partially because I have one kiddo for whom AmeriCorps or something similar would be a good fit when he gets older.
 
If you do steer her toward Disney, I would definitely recommend the professional internships vs. the college program. She could get an internship with Imagineering or one of their other art departments (Yellow Shoes, for example), as opposed to just working a low-wage role in the parks. The professional interns are generally paid well too.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top