Managing Future Income Risk
Since now I'm a sophomore, I don't really have a specific idea about what kind of company I would work in and how much salary I would earn. But I know that I'm interested in working in companies and I enjoy working with different people. With a strong sense of responsibility, I found myself do well both in academy and organizations I've involved in.
The first thing I think is related the most to my income is the major. Currently I am double majored in Economics and Psychology. The reason I choose Econ is that I believe it can helps me to think critically and learn how to use limited resources to maximize the outcome. Though a lot of topics are related to the markets, firms, financial problems, I think it can provide me well both in econ topics and other knowledge that I need if I want to work in big companies related to international trade, etc. And also, it is closely related to daily life choices which lead us to efficiency. Actually this class really build up my holistic idea of economics. So for the Econ major, I would probably be capable of working in companies with positions related to marketing, HR, or stocks, etc. And in terms of Psychology major, I believe it is actually a really comprehensive subject that helps me thinking analytically. Consisted of many fields such as social psychology, cognitive psychology, clinical psychology, etc, psychology builds up my understanding of the whole world. And it is definitely helpful for positions such as HR, or managers, etc. For these two majors, I believe it is really important to make practical uses of them to reduce the future income risk. Furthermore, GPA might be another academic aspect that employers would pay attention to. My goal is to keep about 3.9 overall to ensure that my academy competence is recognized. Actually double major can be seen as a kind of self-insurance mentioned in the class. When I'm interested in both of them, and believe they both provide me resources that I can use for my future career in different aspects, they are sort of like insurance to lower my risk. In addition, as I am planning in go to graduate school for HR, Finance or Marketing, the higher education can act like another insurance in this case.
Also, the experience and internships during college are both important components. Companies essentially need people who have good working ability. So great activities that I engaged in, the leadership positions I obtained, and internships are crucial to reduce future income risk. For now I'm involved in three organizations and have acquired some leadership positions. The important thing is that I've really learned a lot about how to work in teams. The most exciting part for me is working with various people from different backgrounds. This experience helps me to realize totally different perspectives and concerns. By interacting with people in different cultures, I feel more comfortable to communicate with them and have a more comprehensive understanding of others, which could lead to more efficient communication outcome and reduce transaction costs. Things I believe most companies value the most are communication skills, executive skills, team working skills, leadership skills, etc. So what I try to accomplish in college is to gradually develop these skills and overcome my weaknesses. Diversification investment (for those are independent from each other) can help reduce risk. For me, developing different skills is a great way to reduce future income risk and prepare me to become more outstanding.
Since I haven't accumulated any debt, the future consumption risk is pretty low if I get a job that can cover my regular expenses. I'm the only child in my family (because of the one-child policy in China), my parents probably feel pretty relieved after I find a job and don't have to worry about other risks. I actually have several cousins who have already worked for some time. My oldest cousin is about 30 years old, who is majored in Computer Science in college. Now he works in China and earns pretty decent income every month. At the very first beginning, he started well because the economy in China is developing rapidly. But about two years later, when it was 2008, the financial crisis affected the market. He lost his job for several months. But actually during this period, he was trying hard to get interviewed by companies. At the same time, he did get some payment from making some video games for some companies. Becoming more experienced, he got a new job and got increasing salary from then on. What I really admire was that he never stops learning. During the time that he was unemployment, he read a lot of CS books and improved a lot. Though the market is competitive, the ones who are the expertise in specific fields would eventually get attention. For me, he is the example that inspires me to develop myself consistently. If I am rejected, the only reason is that I'm not outstanding enough. The thing I take away is that failure actually can motivate me to work harder to make improvements and always keep an incremental mindset.
Regarding your cousin, it is indeed admirable to keep learning, even when out of work, where getting demoralized is a possibility. One of the things that college should help teach students is learning to learn, so they can keep improving after they graduate. If students don't have that, their skills will depreciate in the market as new skills are required. To stay current and productive, one needs to keep learning.
ReplyDeleteWhile psychology used to be viewed as a fundamentally different subject from economics, with the emergence of behavioral economics there has been more interdisciplinary work and having both backgrounds is a good thing.
It is unclear from your post whether you expect to go back to China after your graduate, or not. If you want to stay in the U.S., some of the learning has to be cultural. I wonder how much of that is possible for Chinese students at the U of I. While you mentioned in your post like to work with people who are different from you, in my causal observation of what is going on, mainly from sitting in BIF after our class is over, is that language serves as a major barrier for cross cultural collaboration and there is a tendency for people to hang out with others from their own country. I'd be curious as to whether that has been your experience or not.
Actually for my future career I would like to work for several years in U.S. then go back to China or go back to Shanghai, China directly. Both options are great for me because in Shanghai there are a lot of international companies, thus multicultural works are available. And maybe English ability might become one of my strengths in that case. From my own experience, there are definitely some barriers between people who speak different languages. When I was a freshman, meeting someone from China is exciting for me and it feels like home. But later on I realized that this is what I want to do here. The reason I study abroad is to see another side of the world. For many domestic students, since they are the major culture, they might dismiss the importance of interacting with people from different cultures. Though It is a kind of human nature: People want to stay in their comfort zone and hang out with people like themselves are more natural. We should also be aware of the cosmopolitanization. Having this experience with other cultures can definitely promote people to seek for a more comprehensive understanding of what is going on in the places they don't know, issues they've never thought about and confusions and curiosity. Actually this is why I work with students from other countries in the organization ICDI. We all believe it is possible for people from different backgrounds to create valuable communications. For jobs in big companies, especially in international ones, people who have this experience working with people in different backgrounds would definitely have more opportunities.
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