“跳槽”有理
本期主題
作者：by Holly Robinson
My daughter called me last night to celebrate her news. “I got the job！”she said. “I’m going to be decorating cupcakes！”
I cheered. My daughter earned an honors degree in Natural Resources from a major university this past May. But this is the happiest I’ve heard her sound in months.
I bet you think you know where this blog post is going： oh， no， another parent 1）bemoaning the fact that our nation’s newly minted college graduates can’t find decent jobs！
But you would be wrong. This is a very different rant.
My daughter is the poster child for why college matters. She went to a decent suburban high school， finished in the top quarter of her class and played 2）varsity sports. Attending a state university allowed her to continue expanding her intellectual and social horizons. She worked closely with researchers in Natural Resources， learned Spanish， studied and worked abroad， and explored electives that enriched her perspective. She continually added to her resume， too， always building toward her post-graduation dream of working as a scientist.
She did everything right， and 3）lo and behold， the system worked. She landed a job with a West Coast environmental engineering company that paid her more money than she had ever dreamed of making right out of college. 4）Hurray！
Slowly， though， things 5）unraveled. My daughter loved living near San Francisco， but even on her hefty salary， she could only afford an apartment in a dire section of Oakland， which led to her being caught in the middle of a mini gang shootout. Meanwhile， her spiffy new job bored her， and her bosses were often negative， even 6）mean-spirited.
For months， she stuck it out. Her student loans were about to kick in and this job paid double what any of her friends were making， plus benefits. As time passed， though， my sunny girl grew more 7）despondent. Every day， she dragged herself into work. And， every day， things didn’t get better.
She started looking for work. In California， the unemployment rate is dire—11.3 percent. One of her job interviews for a coffee company required four different interviews， plus test taking. My daughter got the job and was thrilled， especially because the position includes health benefits. But the pay was 8）abysmal： minimum wage.
Did she really want to leave her posh job for minimum wage？ How could she—a driven student， a hard worker， a young woman who had always set goals and reached them—possibly justify making that leap？
There wasn’t any rational reason for her to quit. But there was every emotional reason to do so.
“Life is too short to be miserable for money，” I told her finally. “Just quit. Take the 9）barista job and figure out something else while you’re making lattes.”
I can hear the gasps of horror from most parents out there. How could I advise my daughter to join the ranks of the marginally employed， after our family invested so much into her college degree？
Easily. College， you see， is not really about preparing you for the job market. It’s about gaining the knowledge and skills you need to seize opportunities—and that includes knowing when to walk away from something that makes you unhappy.