College offers a multitude of opportunities for students to take part in and discover. Students bask in the comfort of their campus,
making friends and taking classes at their leisure. When graduation rolls around, students are excited and look forward to opening the next chapter in their lives. However, some students quickly realize that the “real world” is extremely hard to navigate and is nothing like college.
One recent book that all college graduates can benefit from is “The Quarterlifer’s Companion” by Abby Wilner and Catherine Stocker. This book works as a how-to manual for people in their 20s who could use guidance and advice to successfully traverse the rocky waters of life after college.
“The Quarterlifer’s Companion” is divided into four thick chapters: life, work, play and self. Each one has subchapters that further discuss topics relevant to 20-somethings, such as work issues, money problems, social networking and staying healthy. Some chapters offer fill-in-the-blank questionnaires for the reader to discover what his or her goals are for work or for an ideal partner. Each chapter ends with a list of relevant Web sites, enabling the reader to do further research.
Graphs sprinkled throughout the book give readers a picture of where they stand compared with other recent graduates by measuring the amount of debt they have or on how much they love or loathe their current job. Many chapters also feature short tips on how to succeed at climbing the corporate ladder and overcoming boredom at work.
Wilner and Stocker rely on their expertise and research to give 20-somethings a book they will hang on to long after graduation. They present readers with the “30-Day ‘Survivor’ Spending Challenge,” which encourages young men and women to try and spend as little money as possible for 30 days. The authors give readers tips and tricks for succeeding at the challenge, encouraging them to take the challenge with a friend and to set realistic goals for themselves.
There is a heavy emphasis on the “work” part of the book, focusing on maximizing one’s résumé, networking and decoding the intense interview process. Wilner and Stocker present a useful list of things to do before job hunters head off to an interview. The list includes exactly what to research about the company that is interviewing and what questions will most likely be asked.
Advice is offered in a straightforward way that will leave readers feeling confident before their interviews.
Toward the end of the book, readers are offered a selection of easy-to-make recipes and a list of staple ingredients every kitchen should be stocked with. Young men and women who have spent their college years going out to eat and not worrying about the high cost of living will be in for an awakening when they discover the price of eating out, Wilner and Stocker write. Suddenly, eating out three times a week becomes less appealing and recent grads must resort to their own kitchens. The recipes offered in the book are not only simple to prepare but also have basic and inexpensive ingredients.
Most of the chapters offer a toolbox of advice and pointers. However, there are some areas of “The Quarterlifer’s Companion” that leave readers wanting more. Wilner and Stocker discuss the problem with debt but do not go into enough detail about it. They suggest that 20-somethings should stick to a budget and offer an example of one, but there are no tips for how to keep on track.
One chapter that can be skipped is the chapter on relationships, “Building Lasting Relationships.” A “dating résumé” gives readers a chance to circle what hobbies interest them and how they would describe themselves. This exercise supposedly gives readers a clearer sense of what they are looking for, but it just seems cheesy. Wilner and Stocker attempt to add humor into this chapter with the “Relationship Thermometer,” but the effort falls flat.
While the book does have some areas that are lacking, most of the advice in “The Quarterlifer’s Companion,” is practical. This
book offers a clearer picture of what life will be like off of campus, which offers graduating students a chance to gain worthy perspective.
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