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Home › Politics

Liz Smith | 05/25/2009 11:00 pm

Liz Smith Advises Graduates on Careers, Shelter and Attitude

By Liz Smith RSS
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In response to: Given our current economic/career environment, what advice would you give to a 2009 graduate?
Liz Smith

Keep your head down and your chin up. Really, how presumptuous that we old crocks should give these bedeviled young people any advice when nobody knows what they are doing these days!

First, I’d be sure I was a tech expert; up on all the latest gadgetry and ready to go. This could be crucial even if you have to go back to classes to learn it all.

(And seriously I might do something like that myself; I am so tired of not understanding this brave new world.) Second, try to find some inexpensive place to live – at home, with pals, share-the-wealth kind of thing. It won’t kill you, but high rents are a killer.

If you don’t get what you want, don’t give up before taking more menial jobs to eke out an existence while you look and wait. Be brave! Continue to educate yourself. Read everything. Be aware.

I once worked in three menial jobs at the same time. It finally all paid off. I arrived in New York in 1949 with $50 and no return-to -Texas ticket. And look at me years later, still hustling!

Read more about: Advice, Career, Financial, Graduation, Lifestyle

8 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

S G
I would add to that in this electronic age don’t be so trusting of everyone. Using your real name on open sites and your location is dangerous. The rest of the advice you gave I concur with. Never give up. Keep trying:)
By S G on 05/26/2009 7:16 am
Maggie W
Don’t stay in a job you hate.  At the same time, expect work to be just that… work!  Intrinsic motivation will bring the greatest rewards in life.
By Maggie W on 05/26/2009 8:12 am
Richard Bassett
Great advice Liz. I guess I would have to say that in this day and age, it is not unusual to have two or three major careers throughout ones life. So even if you find a career that you love but cannot see yourself doing it for forty years, it is perfectly alright to change careers mid-life and go in a completely different direction.
By Richard Bassett on 05/26/2009 11:20 am
beth willis

I would recommend that posters here read Liz Smith’s autobiography, ‘Natural Blonde’, and listen to Sheila Nevins’ presentation and QandA to, I believe, Women in Broadcasting….should be in the wOw archives.  These distiguished women share their journey to the top.  Each with intelligence, humor and an emphasis on perseverance, patience when approriate and impatience to kick-start the next opportunity to absorb the knowledge of their trade, learn a lot here; learn even more there.  Consistent in the voices of Liz Smith and Sheila Nevins is their love for humor and their humility that ‘anyone could do what they do.’  Which, of course, is a lot of nonsense, but  don’t you just love that they are funny and humble rather than sober and obnoxious? I sure do.

Peace and grace

By beth willis on 05/26/2009 11:37 am
Laura Ward
Still hustling, Liz? Yeah, maybe right now it’s not so great. But you had so many fantastic years where you were in the middle of everything. You need to write another book! Now you can say anything you want about those who are no longer here. I have two of your books (I assume that’s all you’ve written?), where you could have said more.
By Laura Ward on 05/26/2009 1:06 pm
Amanda C

remind yourself that if you hate what you do, you will hate your life. don’t do something that you truly hate - even in a depression, this is a LIFE KILLER.

read everything that inspires or intrigues you.

take classes you enjoy, trust your instinct.

live for yourself, love yourself, work for yourself.

always make sure you have an emergency fund for yourself. no one else is looking out for you except for YOU.

By Amanda C on 05/26/2009 2:10 pm
Pamela Munro
Learn as much as you can & keep on learning. Graduating doesn’t mean the END of acquiring knowledge - just the BEGINNING. The old saw "knowledge is power" is true more often than NOT.
By Pamela Munro on 05/26/2009 5:37 pm
Pamela Kripke

1. Humility 2. Open mindedness 3. Enthusiasm

I spent an entire summer in a reel-to-reel tape morgue at WINS News Radio in New York. I did not come out for two months, and my hand incurred repetitive use injuries from squeezing the label-making machine for eight hours a day. It was a fabulous experience.

 

Pamela Gwyn Kripke, http://likeasinglemom.wordpress.com

 

By Pamela Kripke on 06/23/2009 9:32 am