The risk of financial security,
being independent, and being able to provide a living for oneself is definitely
an area of great importance for many college students. As an economics major, I
am still faced with the constant pressures of handling this type of future
graduation risk because of the way that I’ve seen my friends deal with the
current job market right now. Many of my friends that have graduated have
managed this risk quite well and are doing very well for themselves financial.
In addition, I have also seen some of my friends unable to find a job after
they have graduated because of the dynamics of the labor market in their
particular field of study. Personal experience has taught me that I need to
develop the skills in order to make myself marketable in the labor force. For
these reasons, I’ve taken the necessary actions in order to minimize the risk
of financial security such as being smart with my money and actively seeking
the work experience that I need to find a job after graduation. This is
something that I value greatly because I am currently in debt with my student
loans and I know that I have to be responsible for this money by being able to
provide an income for myself.
I am currently unemployed so being
frugal with my money has always been a topic of great concern. I track my
personal finances every day and make sure that I do not spend excess amounts of
money on things that I don’t need. Furthermore, I would consider myself to be a
fairly competent shopper. Essentially, I don’t spend any money where I don’t
need to. One example of how I am frugal with my money is the fact that I rarely
eat out. I typically buy my groceries in bulk and look for specials.
I have been developing my
marketability in the labor market by working this past summer. I was involved
in a start-up company. This experience gave me a tremendous amount of insight
on the daily operations of a business. I believe that working and gaining
necessary work experience is very important to managing financial security
after I graduate. I have personal seen my neighbor go through the college
experience and be unable to find a job once he graduated. This was primarily
due to his lack of work experience. Even though he had a degree, many companies
are unwilling to hire people if they do not have any prior work experience. My
friend essentially had to work as an intern without pay before he was able to
find a position with a salary. This experience has taught me to actively seek
either employment or an internship before I graduate college. This way I will
have the necessary work experience prior to graduating and will make job
finding a lot smoother.
It was good that you talked about your experience as a consumer. Being able to live on a modest income is certainly a way to self-insure against income risk. In the middle of the last decade, when the average saving rate for the entire economy was negative, it meant that many of the population were quite exposed to income risk and it explains why the recession was so sever. If you can maintain a modest spending profile even after you land a decent job, then you can accumulate savings in way that will help you buffer future income shocks.
ReplyDeleteThe job market has been tough on a recent college grads. Getting a toehold can be very hopeful. I hope your prior experience with the startup does that for you.