I Went to School That Long for This?!: The Real Career Story... And How to Change It

The entrance into work is broken. Youth unemployment throughout much of the Western world is at record breaking highs; forty six percent of newly hired employees will be deemed failures within the first eighteen months of starting their job (Leadership IQ study); and fifty six percent of workers end up struggling with their career choice (Adecco Group study). Yet, young graduates continue to enter work, follow a path that is working out for surprisingly few, and then become disheartened when work fails to live up to expectations. The game is up. Old, useless career advice needs to be exposed for what it is and a new approach to career entry needs to be championed. The pursuit is called Career Design; the doors it's opening are irresistible. The emerging workforce is waiting; they are becoming aware the path they are on is not leading where they hope. The timing for this message is now. I Went to School that Long for This? The Real Career Story... And How to Change It is the first to tell students, new graduates and young professionals what they absolutely need to know, providing essential knowledge for effectively transitioning from school to work in today's world. The book starts by pulling back the curtain and defining the problem young workers are facing. It then describes the five major issues that cause this problem to occur as well as the predictable and damaging fallout young workers experience, and concludes by teaching the Career Design pursuit to work. Starting eight years ago with one hundred letters sent to CEO's of Fortune 500 companies, Tyler Waye's introduction to this field was egocentric. "How could I find early career success?" That was the overarching question that eventually launched his pursuit to better understand, define and rewire the transition from school to work. Today, mixing in work in China, India, Qatar, Belize and Canada, a Masters degree in Organizational Leadership and talks with thousands of students and young workers on multiple continents, the body of knowledge that makes up this book is well grounded. The book speaks directly to 20-somethings in the late stages of their education or early stages of their careers. It invites this group to smash the traditional career mould they have been holding onto, save themselves unnecessary grief, gain career clarity, make good choices early on, and design a customized plan for individualized success.

Entering work in a dream job with the Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club that culminated in a Cinderella Stanley Cup playoff run, Tyler shook his head while voluntarily walking away after only two years on the job. Why leave? He simply knew it was not the right career path for him (something the 1700 people who applied to replace him were thankful for). Instead, he began a quest to answer the question plaguing him: ＂Why do so many people struggle with their entry into work?＂ Fast forward a decade; mix together interviews with dozens of fortune 500 CEOs, hundreds of students and workers; a Masters degree in organizational leadership; work in countries like India, Belize, Qatar and China; and you have the body of knowledge which has Tyler rewiring our approach to work and mobilizing the next generation of workers.