Path to the Exit – Part 3
November 29, 2011 | Comments 3
What to do when you will leave kollel? Discover what you will do by eliminating what you will not be doing.
This question needs to be answered, of course. It sounds like a weighty problem, but it can be made easier by process of elimination. First exclude categories of career paths that you will not be embarking on – which will help focus on the areas that hold promise.
- Chinuch – Face it, you will not be getting the ‘sheteleh’ of your dreams. Not you, and not any of your friends. (Unless you are the son/son-in-law of the rosh yeshiva.) So that leaves you settling for a “teaching job” that you don’t really want just to be able to say you are in chinuch. Do you really want to live your life this way?
- Doctor – This needs 7-9 years of medical school + residency and costs anywhere between $150,00-200,000 to accomplish, besides living expenses during this time period. If your family wants to foot the bill and you think you have the brainpower, go for it. Otherwise, its a pipe dream. (And please don’t take out that much in student loans!)
- Lawyer – Maybe not 7-9 years, but definitely a long haul. Plus, there are lots of experienced lawyers that are out of a job who will gladly advise you against the law profession as a career path in 2011.
- Low paying careers – Notice, I didn’t say low paying jobs, but low paying careers. Examples of these are (but not limited to) – clerical jobs, city or other low-level government jobs, manual/physical labor, or any career where there is lots of competition and no clear path of advancement opportunity.
Choosing a career path to follow is a tough decision. By breaking it down into manageable pieces, you can make it easier and more likely to actually decide on something.
Next, we’ll start exploring possible career paths for a kollel graduate.
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Filed Under: How to Leave
Could you write more oftenly? I am very courious of your advice for kolel guys who wants parnasa
How do you get a government job, even a low paying one?They charge you $25 for the privilege of sending in an application but in the end hire their cronies anyhow.My husband worked in Trenton near the state house. Every single government worker he dealt with told him that the only way in is with connections.And a white male with a Yarmakah?Are you joking when you mention the government as a possibility?If you have a way in please let us know as I know many people who take a low level clerical government job with both hands.
On another note I’m surprised you didn’t mention the PCS accounting course.It has the downside that you will probably be commuting to Brooklyn/Manhattan/Northern New Jersey but it is worth a mention.
Kollel Guy,
You also need to discuss having a reasonable expectation towards a salary. As I have had discussions with PCS accounting graduates. Just because you got your masters and have 5-10 years of learning under your belt does not mean you are worth more than the 21 year old college graduate. While I understand that you may feel the $50k-$60k starting salary may be an effective decrease in your income since you are losing government benefits etc. you are not worth more as you haven’t proven yourself. If you are that much better than everyone else as you think, prove it in your first year and you will be rewarded and put on a faster track. Get this notion out of your head that you are owed something because you dedicated your life to Torah for a bunch of years.