Many parents think that sending their kids to college will help their children be successful. Society pressures people to go to college by saying that without a degree, you will become a failure. There are many options for college. Does everyone need to go to college?

Does Everyone Need To Go To College?

There are many options for young people other than college. Young people are told they cannot have a career if they do not attend college. The problem with this is, what exactly is a job?

Society defines a career as a nine-to-five desk job. Some perks of the desk job include a retirement plan, health insurance, and sick days. In the olden days, that was what a career was. Today, the gig economy and the rise of contract work are eliminating careers.

No. Not everyone needs to go to college. Not everyone needs a liberal arts education. The very fact that society has told young people they must go to college has created degree inflation.
It is the fundamental economic law of supply and demand. There is now an oversupply of people with college degrees. College degrees have lost their value for Millennials and Gen Z.

False Safety Of College

The message is that going to college will make a person successful in life. Nothing could be farther from reality. Many things could get between you and getting a job that could lead to a career.

Some issues that people may encounter are poor social skills, poor interview performance, and insufficient connections. The part colleges will not tell students is that the second part of success in the traditional work sphere is that a person must have strong verbal and non-verbal skills, get along with people, and use their connections to move up or find another job.

College has little effect on your achievements after graduation. It may just appear that it helped get you in the door. That may or may not be true. Connections often matter more. If you have learned the skills outside of the higher education system and can convince an employer that you know your stuff without a degree, you can still get hired.

What To Do Instead Of Going To College

Go to a technical school, attend a community college, learn a trade, watch videos online, get certification in something of interest, ask to shadow someone who does something you may be interested in doing, start your own business, or learn to utilize the power of the Internet and start an online business.

Invest In Yourself

The best thing to do is to continually invest in yourself. Learn your strengths, weaknesses, and what you enjoy doing, and discover a way to monetize them. Getting paid for what you enjoy doing is the best thing ever. That may mean working a job you like, even if you do not always get along with co-workers. The other option is to start your own business.

Learn Hard Skills

Hard skills are vital to success. Soft skills are the icing that makes your personal brand look good to other people. Without hard skills, it is just fluff. There is a wide range of complex skills. Here is a list of hard skills to help you get started:
• Data analytics
• Project management
• Carpentry
• Cybersecurity
• Copywriting
• Graphic design
• Video editing
• Search engine optimization
• Accounting
• Encryption

Figure out the broad umbrella of a hard skill that interests you. Then, learn the related skills that fall under that general category. By investing time and learning independently, you will become an expert before you know it.

No expensive college degree is needed!

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Summary

There is no reason for young people to attend college. The Internet provides access to information to learn new skills. It depends on whether a person wants to put in the hard work. Investing in oneself and constantly working to improve skills is the path to success. They are not receiving an overpriced college degree from an institution that thinks too highly of itself.

Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Bollen is the Founder and President of Secure Single. He is an entrepreneur and a content creator with the goal of helping all different types of singles to learn to thrive as a single person.
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