Be Street-Smart, not just Degree-Smart

As global youth unemployment continues to escalate at a speed faster than you can say “BOOM”, I can’t help but seethe in anger at inefficient political decisions that continue to cripple one of the most vulnerable and highly invest-able group in the working world – the youths. Scores of young people who are stuck in the crevices created by the credit crunch quake continue to question and blame what is wrong with themselves despite their supposedly top-notch wilting papers called “degrees”.

Why hasn’t anyone given me a chance? Am I not qualified enough? Maybe I’m still too expensive even after I have slashed my wages? Is there any more meaning to this life? And so on.

Degrees are not completely useless, and in certain industries, they are very important. But our society has led us to believe for years that this expensive paper will open multiple doors of opportunities fluttered with high-paying cheques. We studied and fought hard to get those papers, and when we fail to see those promises crystalise, we are accused of being lazy and demanding! Have we not heard these many times now?

I cannot stop being angry that this cycle of blame keeps coming back to the youth, who have been shielded most of their lives from hardships by the baby boomers who swore in their time that the next generation would be better off than them. Well, guess what mums and dads, the Industrial Age is over. We are now in the Information Age that has churned out too many degree-holders that have crowded the labour supply, and let’s not forget the advancements in technology and globalisation that has produced readily available cheaper foreign outsource just an email away. How are we going to compete??

I can imagine what a typical employer must be thinking under his or her smirk these days: Too many qualified graduates to choose from? I can hire a MA grad for a penny. Want to be paid the minimum wage? Well, there are others who can do it for free. Graduated from the Royal College of Art? Sorry mate, start from the bottom and go serve us coffee. Only graphic design? The other interviewee can do graphic design AND web coding AND video, plus I still pay the same wage.

No wonder youths these days are having their ambitions deflated each day. Com’on people (yes, I am referring to you, baby boomers), these are the young who will one day be paying your pensions, who will one day be paying the taxes to maintain the mechanics of society, who will one day be firing you once you get too old, and yes, who will one day lead you in the next generation government. If you don’t invest in them and motivate them now, how will society ever forward to a brighter future as we hope? We are facing a generation of lost talents, and the grave is no different.

Best selling author Robert T. Kiyosaki of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Business of the 21st Century, quotes:

“We go to school to learn to work hard for money. I write books and create products that teach people how to have money work hard for them.”

“Financial intelligence has little or nothing to do with academic intelligence. You can be a genius when it comes to academic intelligence, but a moron when it comes to financial intelligence.”

I can’t agree any better. Kiyosaki is well known for taking his mind outside the traditional mould of working hard to embracing working smart. That’s why he is a rich man today. Street-smartness is something that cannot be found even in the best schools. It only can be found through taking risks in the real world. It is no surprise that many of the richest people of the world are school-dropouts – Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg (why, he’s my age!), Jim Carrey etc. You name it. School has been lying to us (Yes, I have taken this too far)!

Let’s check out some of the most common myths:

Myth 1: Degree will open doors of opportunity and great salaries
Really? The last time someone asked for my educational background was yonks ago. Now most people ask if I can work fast, deliver on time, and on budget. If I am a nice person who offers value-added services, fantastic!

Myth 2: Work hard, and you will get a good job.
I scored top grades, couldn’t get a job straight after graduation, and was retrenched. I was expensive too. The cheaper, less-experienced designer replaced me instead, not to mention those mean office politics. Many people prefer to work with people whom they know and like. It’s called NETWORK.

Myth 3: Branded schools can help land you a good job.
I wished that was true, so I would not have to suffer in my first few years of working life.

Myth 4: If you want to be paid higher and get promoted, you will have to work even harder.
Yes, to a certain extent. But if you are more expensive than the junior and getting older too, expect to be replaced one day. It’s easier to hire and fire a freelancer or temporary worker than to get a full-timer on board these days.

Myth 5: You must be lazy if you are not getting any chance.
Tell that to Vicky Harrison and to those who cannot afford the disgustingly high tuition fees. Not to mention, the new hell called crowd-sourcing where price-undercutting is the norm, plus the relaxing of immigration rules that allowed cheap foreign influx into many First World nations. I wonder how “lazy” spells it in situations like these.

Sigh…so how does one be street smart? The answer: Take risks!

Yes, I mean it, that was how it started for me and ever since, I have never looked back. I stopped working for free. I started telling the mean boss, enough is enough. I never said never, because I would never have made it this far. Taking risks means getting out of your comfort zone, and stop being scared of failures. It means painfully taking in the most nasty of experiences without losing your cool, or even surviving an unsuccessful marketing pitch. It requires taking the initiative to learn, research and discover, even when those around you think you are wasting time. Taking risks challenges you to take the extra mile when no one wants to, and not follow the crowd all the time. It demands a lot of sacrifices, sleepless hours to search for more opportunities, even having to do away with relaxing Saturdays altogether. Taking risks will mean dreaming big, planning out how you are going to achieve those dreams and setting it out with a right attitude that never dies. It also involves hanging out with the right people who can and will build you up, while cutting out those who plan to tear you down. As the saying goes, if you want to soar like an eagle, you can’t hang around with turkeys!

Those are the basics many successful entrepreneurs have adopted. Yes, basics, because success is a long, long journey. You can read up more tips on how you can build yourself up during this time of financial meltdown in previous posts of this blog. Opportunities do not knock on your doors; hunt them down and grab them.

One of the most influential entrepreneurs who is successful is Hermione Way, sister of millionaire Ben Way. I had the opportunity to meet her in person once and had a great chat with her. She is the founder of Newspepper, a social media enterprise devoted to created vlogs and online videos, and reporting on the tech world while devoted to training fresh graduates. Being the same age as me (and I am proud of her), she took the risk to start her own company in the second year of her degree in journalism. Today, the company boasts helping hundreds of interns getting their feet in the door, as well as expanding to new markets and working with huge clients. She is one example of a graduate who took the risks to make it because she refused to bow to the norm of working for free. She embraced street-smartness.

Be street-smart, and exchange your worries for a better tomorrow. Have a Merry Christmas & a great 2012.

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