College to Career Vision

ht_microsoft_cc_120823_wgMiller was one of my all time favorite students.  I learned from his mother that he just accepted a job at Microsoft.  Miller stands out in part because he said one of my all time favorite lines when I met him as 16 year old at Daniel Hand High School in Madison, CT.  “I want to work for IBM.” I laughed because I had never heard such a precise desire for a specific old world company before. Working for Apple or Google seemed like a more age appropriate desire if one would say such things as a junior in a Connecticut high school.

Miller’s college counseling work was straight-forward. He wanted schools with top notch technology programs.  He landed at Carnegie-Mellon.  As expected, he did as well in college as he did at Daniel Hand and then had multiple job offers, including a coveted one at Microsoft.

Miller’s success certainly stems from his work ethic, brain power, and great character.  But he also had a career vision at a younger age than most.  Part of the reason is that his parents are both wise people who helped Miller cultivate his vision.  When I work with families on college counseling, career guidance has increasingly become part of the picture as families ponder the outcomes of their “investment” in college.

My hope is that I’ll have more stories like Miller’s to convey.