Wednesday, February 06, 2019

Questionable Career Advice

three women sitting beside table


It started in high school. I began to hear bits of advice ("If you want to be a doctor, you should study German") that turned out to be so far off the mark that I wish I'd jotted them down. Some others that proved equally worthless:

  • "You have to be fluent in a foreign language in order to earn a Ph.D."
  • "You have to be fluent in two foreign languages in order to earn a Ph.D."
  • "The CIA doesn't hire people with military backgrounds."
  • "The CIA only recruits from Ivy League universities."
  • "You must have a doctorate in order to be a college professor."
  • "Political science is the best major for pre-law students."
  • "It is always wise to go straight on to graduate school after earning your bachelor's degree."
  • "If an employer asks for six years of experience, then that is strictly required in order to be seriously considered."
  • "Supervising in the military is easy because all you have to do is issue orders."

Are there any memorable ones that you've encountered?

[Photo by Tim Gouw at Unsplash]

2 comments:

Richard (Rick) Georges said...

If you want to be a lawyer, major in:
a. English Literature
b. Political Science
c. History
Take your pick. All useless pieces of advice.

Michael Wade said...

Rick,

You nailed it.

Michael