Quarterlife Solutions

 First Job: 

A conversation with T. Jason Smith. After 14 years of experience in human resources Smith noticed a trend.  Recent college graduates going through their first year of work had the same questions and concerns plus they sabotaged their career with similar behaviors. 

Join us as Jason C. Steinle interviews T. Jason Smith on how to avoid these behaviors and navigate your first year of work. 

Smith is the author of Leaving Campus and Going to Work. You may also visit his website www.leavingcampus.com for more resources.

Like what you hear? Check out our blog www.quarterlifesolutions.com/blog for more podcasts.

You may also like our resources…including a more in depth interview with T. Jason Smith located at www.uploadexperience.com and www.quarterlifesolutions.com

Thank you!

College: 

Jason C. Steinle interviews college admissions expert Michele Hernandez 

Learn what you and your teenager need to know about the college admissions process. This interview is full of practical suggestions. Michele definately knows her subject!

Michele Hernandez- She is known as the admissions guru through her work as a consultant helping both high school students and their parents navigate their way through the college admissions process. Join us as Michele discusses how to make your college application stand-out among the thousands of others.  She is the author of A is for Admission, Acing the College Application and her latest book Don’t Worry, You’ll Get In: 100 Winning Tips for Stress-Free College Admissions.  You may also visit her website www.hernandezcollegeconsulting.com  for more resources. 

Here is an article by Jocelyn Jones that appeared in The Scroll at Brigham Young Univeristy Jocelyn Jones Scroll Staff April 5, 2005

Students in their late teens, twenties or early thirties are bombarded with questions and decisions like: What should I pick as a major?

Jason Steinle’s book, UPLOAD EXPERIENCE: Quarterlife Solutions for Teens and Twentysomethings, offers decision advice for “quarterlifers”

The term “upload experience” means, “to transfer the life skills of another person into your own life,” Steinle said.

Steinle hosts a radio and television show in

Colorado geared towards “quarterlifers.” He has taken special interest in asking older generations what they know now that they wish they had known earlier in life.

“People would tell me things they didn’t learn in school, but that they learned in the school of hard knocks,” Steinle said.

He has spent the past three and a half years compiling this counsel and guidance into his new book.

Steinle shared the key ingredient successful people in all walks of life have in common.

“They have a motivational source, whether it is a book, a movie, a song, etc. They have something they can refer to,” he said.

One dilemma that Steinle addresses in his book is procrastination.

“The key to quit procrastination is to link activities in your life to what you think your purpose is,” he said.

“The one thing that I got out of this whole process is that right now we have a lot of uncertainty and worry.

“The questions that we’re facing right now are questions that we’re going to face for the rest of our lives,” he said. “The difference in older people asking those questions is that they have learned to live with uncertainty.

“The majority of people I talk to say that one of the most exciting times in life is the quarterlife … and you don’t need to stress. They wish they would have enjoyed it and appreciated it more and not worried so much. Everything works out,” Steinle said.

UPLOAD EXPERIENCE: Quarterlife Solutions for Teens and Twentysomethings will be officially released May 5, but is currently available through www.amazon.com or www.uploadexperience.com.

The book contains about 100 profiles and “you see what other people are worried about. The book is very interactive but it is also something you could just pick up and read for 5 minutes,” Steinle said.

For more information about the book or about Jason Steinle visit www.uploadexperience.com.

The

Average

College Student

The student body is diverse, but trends show similarities.
students will drop out of
school by their second year.
• 26 percent of people age 25
and over have completed four
years or more of college in
the

United States.
• More than 1,100 college
students commit suicide each
year.
• 30 percent of college
students identified themselves
as suffering from an anxiety
disorder or depression.

Sources:

U.S. Census Beureau,
2003

American College Health
Association survey

Like what you hear? Check out our blog www.quarterlifesolutions.com/blog for more podcasts.You may also like our resources…including a more in depth interview with T. Jason Smith located at www.uploadexperience.com and www.quarterlifesolutions.com

Here is an article by Tristan Vawters that appeared in The Shorthorn at the University of Texas.

UNIVERSITY OF

TEXAS AT

ARLINGTONApril 1, 2005

Uncertain Times
Enlightenment doesn’t come easily to students

By Tristan Vawters
The Shorthorn Assistant News Editor

Angelela Roberts is a little anxious.

The biology sophomore is stressed because she’s not sure if she wants to continue pursuing her major.

“My major is biology right now, but really I don’t want to do it,” she said. “I want to change it, but I don’t know what I want to change it to.”

Roberts has put some pressure on herself because of her role in her family.

“I don’t get pressure from my parents or anyone, but I’m the oldest, and I have to set an example,” she said. “It’s a heavy burden.”

According to Colorado-based author Jason Steinle, who recently wrote Uploading Experience, Roberts is not alone. Steinle has spent the past four years researching how students can cope with pressure and eventually find their niche in life. The book states how students of all ages deal with life during and after college.

“The truth is, as I’ve interviewed people in their 40s, 50s and 60s plus, they are facing the same questions as students are, such as, ‘Who am I?’ ‘What is my purpose?’ ‘Where do I find Mr. or Ms. Right?’ ” he said. “The difference is that older generations are more comfortable with the uncertainty of not knowing what the next step will be.”

Steinle believes that students ages 18 through 25, or “quarterlifers,” have many choices that cause them to be distressed.

“As quarterlifers, we are faced with so many decisions that we get overwhelmed,” he said. “We don’t have a firm foundation established, and the chaos creates fear and anxiety. We want reassurance and something that stays constant in the midst of all change.”

Shirley Binder, special assistant to the graduate affairs dean, said that it may be difficult for students to get a job, but there are more options available for young people now.

“When I was that age, the only careers open to women were being a secretary, teacher or marriage,” she said.

Binder thinks that being in college and getting ready to graduate can be the most exciting part of your life, but it can be the scariest.

“It’s scary, but I’ve been through a lot of scary times in my life, but that’s living,” she said. “My advice for students is to be willing to take on something challenging when you’re not sure you’re ready for it. Try to learn and do things as fast as you can.”

Like what you hear? Check out our blog www.quarterlifesolutions.com/blog for more podcasts.You may also like our resources…including a more in depth interview with T. Jason Smith located at www.uploadexperience.com and www.quarterlifesolutions.com

 

Here is an article by David Barkdull that appeared in the University of Idaho Argonaut.

Life after graduation 

By David Barkdull
Argonaut Staff
April 01, 2005
Students must be prepared for the real world

With each passing day, the harsh reality of graduation and taking the next step draws nearer for University of Idaho seniors.

The reality of what’s to come after graduation, with no preparation, is also setting in, something that may contribute to drop out rates for younger college students.

According to the American College Testing Report, out of 2,654 colleges and universities surveyed nationwide, one out of every four students will dropout of school by their second year.

Dan Blanco, former director of Career Services, said the classic dropout is Bill Gates.

 “For every Bill Gates there are thousands who get a degree that others didn’t get a shot at,” Blanco said.

But dropping out can be unnecessary, said Blanco and author Jason Steinle.

Steinle, author of “Upload Experience: Quarterlife solutions for Teens and Twentysomethings,” said when he graduated he worried about life after school.

“When I graduated I had all these questions and I thought I was all alone, but began to find out my friends were in the same situations,” he said.

Steinle said that after four years of research he has come to realize that as quarterlifers – people in the early to mid-20s – know far more than they give themselves credit for.

“Our major hurdle is that we have not yet learned to trust ourselves or the process of making our way into the real world,” he said.

Anne Wimer, a senior marketing and Spanish major, said this is a time when students are trying to figure out what they want to do for the rest of their lives.

“It’s scary, that’s for sure,” Wimer said. “It’s also exciting.”

One issue recent college graduates are faced with is settling into a job.

According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, 10.9 percent of 20-24-year-olds were unemployed in September 2003, as opposed to 6.7 percent in September 2000. The jobless rate for 25-34-year-olds rose to 6.3 percent from 3.7 percent during this same period.

Steinle said one of the reasons recent college graduates move from job to job is that they are not used to the lack of changes with which college students are faced, such as transitions from summer and winter break.

“Oftentimes the problem is not that the job is a poor fit. Instead it’s because, as quarterlifers, we’re so used to change every few months that we feel like something’s not right,” Steinle said. “People get really antsy.”

Steinle said students should find out about as many things as possible at college through clubs and organizations so they have a better sense of what they are interested in.

Blanco said sometimes people are faced with a fork in the road, and what they are working with on a day-to-day basis is not what their actual degree was intended for.

“It’s important to start early,” Blanco said. “Searching for a job should start as early as your freshman year.”

Blanco said there are three pillars students should rely on when making the journey through their college careers.

“Do as well as they can academically, because some majors are more (grade point average) sensitive than others, develop professionally relevant job experience, and develop what I like to call walking-around smarts,” Blanco said.

Blanco said “walking-around smarts” include communicating well orally and in writing, because sooner or later in life students must make use of persuasion techniques to make a case for their ideas.

Staying motivated might be another problem UI students deal with while making the journey through their college careers.

Steinle said what he found among successful people in the workforce is that they have systems to keep them going. He suggested creating a list of five motivational songs, five motivational movies and five people who “pump you up,” which will make things easier when times get tough.

“When you’re getting overwhelmed come graduation time, you can go to that list,” Steinle said. “It changes your state and allows you to get back to what you’re working on.”

After interviewing 300 quarterlifers, Steinle said, “We should take the experiences of these quarterlifers so we don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel. I wrote ‘Quarterlife Solutions’ because I want to share with you what others have generously shared with me.”

Like what you hear? Check out our blog www.quarterlifesolutions.com/blog for more podcasts.

You may also like our resources…including a more in depth interview with T. Jason Smith located at www.uploadexperience.com and www.quarterlifesolutions.com