What are the best movies to watch to learn about the work force?

Olivia,

I understand your concern and reaching towards a medium that you may identify with (movies). However, like you stated one movie will not magically put the answer in front of you. Secondly, you should take everything in the Entertainment Industry with a grain of salt. That industry has the advantage of controlling how the message is conveyed or sent. In other words, they can create a story and either remove the truth, stretch the truth, change the truth. Remember, it is not the movie business, music business; it is Entertainment Industry. Their sole purpose is to entertain. For instance take a day in your life, probably one of the worst days in your life; and now retell that day and change it to be the best day of your life where all the bad scenarios had good outcomes. That is what the entertainment industry does.

You are on the right track though. From what I understood from college, its main purpose is to teach you how to research and create your own idea. Going to a movie shows you have the skill to prepare for researching. You will soon find out that every class you take will be similar in terms of assignments and accomplishment. There might not be a worksheet with multiple questions; instead it will be a one line question asking you to provide pages and pages of your response with supporting data. Keep that in mind, if you are struggling in college - remember that is the focus of every class: Can you provide an answer with stated references and display an understanding through proof of concept, experience, or proven data.

As for what to expect after college, know that throughout college your interests will change. What you do/have done throughout high school will honestly determine how life will be after college. For instance, if you are looking into going the Physical therapy route, how have you set yourself up for that industry in high school? Did you take an Anatomy class? Did you take Chemistry? Did you excel in Sciences? Did you do any research, ask Physical Therapists what route they took? Did you shadow a Physical Therapist? Did you have a job that had transferable skills into the Physical Therapy Industry? For instance: if you worked in McDonalds how can those skills translate to Physical Therapy? Well you know basic customer service, you know how appearance plays a vital role in customer service, being a consummate professional by coming to work on time and notifying ahead of time when your schedule changes; those are the types of transferable/relate able skills that you can put on a resume. So given my example: you graduate from school, go onto college for physical therapy and now you have a resume that includes: The classes you took in high school that align with physical therapy, your work experience from McDonalds, internships that you would need for college credit, and a degree. You could probably go past entry level and pursue a technician position that would require less supervision, more responsibility, better pay, and faster promotion.

Honestly, there are people that are successful that have not attended college. Their success stems from passion. Take an honest assessment of what you are passionate about. Is there anything you can see yourself doing everyday? Is there anything that you can say: I dont mind doing this without getting paid for it? That is what passion is (IMO). Once you found that, show people why you are passionate about it, what makes it so intriguing to you. If you can display those messages, you should be rewarded not just monetarily but more of a sense of fulfillment. If you can motivate someone to follow you based on your passion, you have succeeded. You have something that is yours and you can control it. You can create when you want to do it, how you go about doing it, and so forth. Working for someone else, only makes them more successful, and leave them with less to do. College is only a credential, dont let it be a barrier to who you really are. Its like buying a ticket for a movie. You seen the previews and it looked like something you would be interested in watching. As you watch the movie you start to make judgement (it seemed like the best parts were shown in the preview). You also have to plan for snacks on top of the entrance ticket. When the movie is over and you are stuck holding an overpriced popcorn and oversized drink; you have to make a decision to keep it or throw it away, and the movie didn't seem that good now that it is over leaving you feeling you should have never paid and went in the first place. You could have saved the money and disappointment by watching Netflix! However, if this is a movie you done research on, you're passionate about, the results really shouldn't matter.

I hoped this helps and I apologize for the lengthy answer.

There are no movies Hollywood would put out that would help you here. Movies are for entertainment, escapes from reality, or presenting loose facts. If you really want to know and learn the "work force" then become a part of the work force. If you have a career path in mind then work at the lower levels of the field and learn what it takes to become successful in that career. If you cannot find a job in that field, then volunteer or seek an internship. As Jason stated above, seek your passion and if possible mold it onto your career!

Bottom line...turn off the TV and get out into real life. There is no replacement or substitute for real life/world experience.

P.S. I do not have a degree but an extremely successful, but have passion about what I do.

To be honest, movies are BS. Get real live experience is the best way.