Gap year after college graduation?

[Night Elf]

My niece is graduating in December with an International Business degree. I have no idea why she chose that major. She doesn't want to pursue a job in that area. Instead, she wants to move to Nashville where her brother and dad live and tend bar for a year. Then she said she'd look into a business job. What would that look like on a job application? To graduate college then tend bar for a year?

[Bluegoat]

I don't know that I would worry too much about what it would look like.  Lots of people do jobs like that for a while after university.  But also, if that is something that interests he, it could lead to something that she might find right up her alley.

[DawnM]

I know lots of people who are not doing what they went to school for or are doing jobs they didn't even  need a college degree for.  

 

My cousin graduated college in 1986 and waited tables and bartended for over 10 years afterwards.  She finally went to Vet school and is now a Vet.

[bettyandbob]

I know someone who moved to Colorado and taught skiing for four years then went to medical school.

 

And the truth is there are a of people getting out of school actively looking for jobs in fields they studied, but not getting them. So they are tending bar while continuing to look.

 

My niece isn't tending bar, but she's not doing what she planned. She graduated 12/15. She just landed an office job that doesn't require a lot of skill. She was working as a cashier in a grocery. She is hoping to work in communications related to film. She has camera equipment and is has one weekend gig set up so she can keep a foot in the field, while still looking.

[Guest]

It doesn't soumd like a gap year, but a way to put some money aside while living at home, gaining customer service experience, and maybe have the time to come up with a business plan.

[hopskipjump]

It doesn't soumd like a gap year, but a way to put some money aside while living at home, gaining customer service experience, and maybe have the time to come up with a business plan.

 

Sounds like a good plan to me! Some kids are burned out on school - intending a graduate degree, but not wanting to start right away. Bartenders can save up a lot of money to put toward grad school when the time comes.

 

(signed, Auntie to several "temporary" bartenders and one who decided to stay in the trade for good... :) )

[RootAnn]

(signed, Auntie to several "temporary" bartenders and one who decided to stay in the trade for good... :) )

 

Yep. One of my peers (whose mom is friends with mine) got a college degree in Spanish. She might also have had some sort of education degree with it - to teach Spanish at the high school level. She's been bartending since graduation, I believe. I think it is twenty years this year.

[katilac]

I'll dissent and say that I wouldn't encourage anyone to choose a bartending job over a job that will get them some experience. If she were saving up for grad school, sure, but that doesn't sound like it's the case. 

 

It's not going to doom her for life, but I used to look at tons of resumes in a former job, and a person with a year's business experience is almost always going to get the interview over a person with a year's bartending experience. If she has connections that will enable her to get to the interview stage, then she can sell herself, but sometimes it's mighty tough to get past the resume filtering. 

 

if she wants a business job, why not apply for a business job? She can bartend part-time if she wants that experience, or some extra cash. Or if she decides she hates the world of business. 

[JanetC]

I would worry employers will take a new grad over somebody with a less recent degree and no professional experience.

[Guest]

I'll dissent and say that I wouldn't encourage anyone to choose a bartending job over a job that will get them some experience. If she were saving up for grad school, sure, but that doesn't sound like it's the case. 

 

It's not going to doom her for life, but I used to look at tons of resumes in a former job, and a person with a year's business experience is almost always going to get the interview over a person with a year's bartending experience. If she has connections that will enable her to get to the interview stage, then she can sell herself, but sometimes it's mighty tough to get past the resume filtering. 

 

if she wants a business job, why not apply for a business job? She can bartend part-time if she wants that experience, or some extra cash. Or if she decides she hates the world of business. 

 

She probably doesn't have startup funds to afford an apt anywhere else.  If she bartends full time she can make those funds, then start interviewing in the spring.

[bettyandbob]

As far as experience is concerned, it really depends long term on what she's interested in. Perhaps she is interested in hospitality. Bar tending could be quite relevant. 

 

With every entry level job there's a difference between being the guy who shows up, does his shift and leaves and the guy who starts learns the skills for his job well, becomes a go to to cover for others when needed and begins to learn the skills for the job above his (in the case of bar tending stuff like managing inventory, how management creates theme nights or specials, etc). One person might be just a bar tender. Another person may be developing a lot more skills. 

[katilac]

She probably doesn't have startup funds to afford an apt anywhere else.  If she bartends full time she can make those funds, then start interviewing in the spring.

 

But why would she need to afford an apartment anywhere else? Nashville is a big city with several different industries, she can certainly apply for business jobs there. 

[katilac]

One person might be just a bar tender. Another person may be developing a lot more skills. 

 

I don't disagree with the idea that a bartender may be developing many skills, I just think it's going to be more difficult for that bartender to score a business-related interview when up against fifty people who have a year of business experience.  

 

Is it good experience for hospitality jobs? It could be, if she is interested in staying on the service side, but much less so if she is interested in the business side. 

 

I'm just going by what the person said themselves, which is that they are interested in a business job, but are just planning to wait a year to apply. 

[Guest]

But why would she need to afford an apartment anywhere else? Nashville is a big city with several different industries, she can certainly apply for business jobs there. 

 

My guess is she doesn't have sufficient start up funds to have business clothing or  transportation to those jobs.  additionally, living at home means she can share a landline, share utilities, and work nearby. That gives her the ability to have start up funds by the time April comes and more employers are looking for recent grads. 

 

I don't beleive it looks bad.  My son interviewed two and three months after grad this summer, and all the interviewers casually asked what he was doing with himself.  He had positive responses when he could answer that he was working, but not in his desired area.  No one wants to hear that a person is waiting for their ship to come in. They want to hear that they are swimming out to it, even if they have to start farther away than others.

Edited September 21, 2017 by Heigh Ho

[katilac]

My guess is she doesn't have sufficient start up funds to have business clothing or  transportation to those jobs.   

 

That's possible, but the OP didn't mention anything like that. If you're living at home and have at least two family members nearby, those don't seem like insurmountable obstacles to getting a business oriented job.

 

Nashville has plenty of thrift stores, and there are many "business" jobs that are more casual in tone and dress (not suit and tie). Asking dad and brother, Ubering, and taking the bus might suck, but it's doable to get started on the first job. 

 

Anyway, there may be obstacles like this that weren't mentioned, but I got the vibe that this is what she wants to do, not what she needs to do. I have occasionally been wrong before. 

[Guest]

That's possible, but the OP didn't mention anything like that. If you're living at home and have at least two family members nearby, those don't seem like insurmountable obstacles to getting a business oriented job.

 

Nashville has plenty of thrift stores, and there are many "business" jobs that are more casual in tone and dress (not suit and tie). Asking dad and brother, Ubering, and taking the bus might suck, but it's doable to get started on the first job. 

 

Anyway, there may be obstacles like this that weren't mentioned, but I got the vibe that this is what she wants to do, not what she needs to do. I have occasionally been wrong before. 

 

Maybe one day the OP will enlighten us. 

 

Thrift shops are great, but they still cost startup funds, as does the bus.  Lots of parents won't stake their dc to a dime, but will let them live at home.  No prob for guys who can scrape the jalopy and live in it rather than move back home, but the gals...rougher road.

Edited September 26, 2017 by Heigh Ho

[Night Elf]

Oops, I forgot I started this thread. I'm sorry! My niece has her own car and has worked her way through college waitressing. Her dad has also contributed so she's graduating with no debt. She simply does not want to work in her major. I haven't talked to her, only heard this through my mom who is worried about her. We live in GA right now and niece lives with her mom and stepdad while finishing up school. She's graduating in December. I suppose she just wants to be close to her dad and brother who have lived in Tennessee for years. Mom said niece didn't give any specific reason for wanting to work as a bartender other than niece said it sounded fun.

[elegantlion]

If she has no intention of working within her major, then a bartending job will pay well enough and allow her to meet a possibly diverse set of people. 

 

I know some of the people that have recently graduated from our university took gap years before moving onto the next step. What I have seen is

1. waiting a year for graduate school because of

a. expenses,

b. working somewhere to better their application

 

2. working in a non-related field because

a. they had a good job before graduation and continued there

b. felt staying near family was a priority over working in their field, so found a local to them job

c. like your niece, opted not to work in the degree field and wanted something completely different. 

d. complete and utter burn out, more so in people that worked close to full-time while in school

 

3. Their degree path was never meant to lead to a directly related to a degree-based career

a. different degrees provide different sets of skills - they wanted the skills and education

b. Crossing over of skills to different jobs is good for society, imo. I used to work for a classically educated (went to the Boston Latin school) veterinarian who flew jets in the Navy before becoming a veterinarian. He was a vastly interesting person. 

 

[bettyandbob]

There are fields where everyone starts at the bottom or almost bottom and then as one moves up having a degree can be the difference between being stuck at one level or getting into management beyond basic supervisory. Recreation is like that. It can help that you have degree specific to recreation , but if you've put in time in the lower levels any degree is good to move up.

 

So she doesn't want to be in her field. Besides bartending, does she like hospitality generally. Maybe she could explore that field through various jobs. Some larger hotels want you to work the various jobs before you move up to management anyway.

 

I think it's a great accomplishment to finish the degree debt free. The fact that she didn't s debt free gives her freedom to explore. Rather than just randomly floundering in a job, any job, it might be good for her to regularly review and think about what aspects she likes and dislikes and what path there is to advancement within the realm of the "pressure free" job she seems to be thinking about.