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Company
helps in transition
Susquehanna Univ Crusader
by Christy Ellsperman, Assistant to the Editor
April 5, 2002
With
graduation just weeks away, ask yourself, do you feel that college prepares
students to live in the real world?
Jesse Vickey, co-founder of Cap & Compass said he felt that the typical
college graduate was not prepared for the real world after finishing college.
This led him to found Cap & Compass, a company that aims to help ease the
transition between college and the real world for students, with Nicole Vickey
in 1999.
If the meaning of a 401K, a mutual fund or a health insurance provider eludes
students, then they are not alone, according to Vickey.
Vickey said that after graduating and working for a few months, he was amazed at
everything he had never thought about before but had to quickly learn.
“I had to pick an HMO, set up a 401K and buy a mutual fund,” Vickey said in
an e-mail interview. “Few recent college graduates know how to do this. All of
my friends complained of the same problem.”
“No one ever explains the practical skills needed for life after college. It
seemed like every new graduate had to reinvent the wheel,” Vickey continued in
an e-mail interview.
After working on Wall Street for a few years, Vickey said that he quit the
corporate world to begin a new endeavor: starting a company that serves as a
one-source center for all the life after school information that he felt
colleges neglected.
Cap & Compass now travels to campuses to perform humorous yet informative
seminars on the ins and outs of the real world, ranging from titles such as “Avoid
Looking Stupid at Dinner” to “The Least You Need to Know About Taxes,”
according to Vickey.
The company also recently released a book, “Life After School. Explained,”
which covers everything in the seminars in greater detail and discusses
additional topics that explain life skills with a sense of humor.
Vickey said that the book is a great tool because it supplements the information
that graduating students might not get elsewhere, adding that “college is
designed to teach students about academic pursuits.”
“Although these topics are important, they are not very helpful when you need
to find an apartment, fill out a W4 form or buy business clothes,” Vickey
said.
“Our survey of college students yielded a response of 73 percent indicating
that they did not feel that college prepared them for practical life after
school stuff,” he continued.
Senior Christy Shulick said that although Susquehanna has given her a good
education, it has not prepared her for the more practical aspects of life.
“Things like insurance scare me to death. I wish that they had given me more
information on those things before I get out there,” Shulick said. “I think
it would be helpful to have a senior course to help with the real world stuff as
long as it was taken seriously.”
Even if students are not able to read the book or attend the seminars by Cap and
Compass, Vickey said that students should begin to ask questions now.
For example, Vickey said, “If you wait until you get sick to discover how your
HMO works, it will be too late to make any changes.”
Vickey suggested that graduating students should use the resources around them
by doing the research now and by asking people who have been in similar
situations such as the student’s parents.
Andy Ferguson, a guide at Cap & Compass, said: “The best thing students
can do is to get exposure to these topics. There is information on the Web that
is accurate and accessible for anyone who is willing to do a little hunting.”
Reflecting on his own struggles in the transition between college and the
corporate world, Ferguson said: “Don’t be afraid to ask questions. People
enjoy being helpful and they are much more receptive than you might think.”
“Everyone has had their own struggles making this transition and, on some
level, they know exactly what you’re going through,” Ferguson continued.
If students are interested in the book, “Life After School. Explained” or
would like further information, they can go to the Web site
www.CapandCompass.com.
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