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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And then the crash of ’08 came. Down came the financial giants of Merryl Lynch, Citigroup, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns. Down went the stock market, the big banks, and corporate America. Away went the big bonuses and the clients with endless budgets. Law firms were the first to suffer, and with it came the layoffs.

Now there are probably hundreds of formerly high salaried lawyers who are out of a job. And when the economy does turn around, their old firms won’t take them back. Why should they, when they can hire a young lawyer straight out of college for a fraction of the salary? The yellow brick road didn’t take them to the place they were told it would.

We should take to heart the lesson Hashem is teaching us. If you leave Him out of the picture, its not going to have a happy ending. There is no such thing as a guarantee. No law degree, medical school, or MBA are a replacement for Siyata D’Shmaya. When it is His will that you do well, you will, and nothing will change that.

Running your own business is a constant reminder of Hashem’s presence. When you are in the captain’s seat, manning the controls, you see clearly how you are so NOT in control.

So I leave you off with this thought: If you are anyways not in control, why not had it over entirely to him? Why work for others, enslaving yourself to 16+ hour days, when you can be your own boss? Cut out the middleman, and rely solely on Hashem for your income. Teach yourself, its not your boss – or your shver – who give you your money. Ultimately, it all comes from Him.

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