I just received two copies of Grads: Take Charge of Your First Year After College by Kathryn Marion. One’s a keepsake for me, since I wrote a small “bonus” chapter in the Money section of the book. But the other copy is a gift for you.
You: For me?
Maybe.
You: How do I find out if it’s for me?
Simple. Include a question in the comments field below for Kathryn. She’ll pick her favorite questions and answer them for you in a future post. In addition, she’ll randomly pick one questioner as the “winner” of the book. She’s already autographed it for you.
Grads: Take Charge covers three main sections:
- Your Career
- Your Money
- Your Life
As such, nearly any topic related to starting in the real world is fair game for Kathryn. Again, Kathryn will write her guest post in a week or so to respond to your questions. So, get them in now and have a chance to win her book.
Some Grads Take: Charge “Clips”
The book is written for people with short attention spans (seemingly everyone these days) and a desire for actionable tips. Nearly the entire book is comprised of bullet points. A couple of my favorites:
Don’t choose a dealership based on their convenient location. This isn’t grocery shopping – the goal is to buy the right car from a reputable dealer at the best price. If you have to drive to the edge of town to get a great deal, do it.”
Amen, Kathyrn. Several weeks ago, my wife and I drove more than an hour each way to pick up a car after negotiating the best price at that particular dealer. We passed at least five other Honda dealers along the way to the “winner.”
Another good tip, from the “Job” section:
Don’t announce to your coworkers (or anyone else at the company) that you’re planning to leave.”
Couldn’t agree more. When you’ve resigned, fine. Until then, keep quiet. Kind of obvious in the down-market we have today, yet shocking to too many when jobs are plentiful. I’ve personally seen this work out quite badly more than once. You want the job transition to occur on your timetable. Once it’s well known you’re heading out the door, you just might be pushed.
What questions do you have for Kathryn?
Tags: grads: take charge
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I know that saving money is important, but I also love traveling/vacationing which gets expensive. Some friends tell me to save all that I can and have fun later, while some other friends tell me to have fun now and that I’ll make money later in life. What’s a good balance of saving vs. spending when I’m just starting out and not making a lot?
My brother in law recently graduated with a degree in accounting and finance and, with the job market being what it is, he is thinking about staying in school to get an MBA.
From what I’ve heard recently, an MBA doesn’t necessarily open any more doors for people anymore because they are a-dime-a-dozen these days. His parents think he should get the MBA, because his father did and it really helped to spark his career, but that was a different time when not everyone had MBAs and also his father’s company paid for him to get it. My brother in law will be paying out of his own pocket.
He has a steady job (blue collar) that pays sufficiently that I recommend he stick with and keep applying for accounting jobs, and then when he does get one, see if they will pay for the MBA.
Any insights into this would be much appreciated.