So, when trying to decide which short-term job to take, choose the one that appears to offer the greatest identity capital. We can only expand this identity capital by exposing ourselves to new experiences and opportunities.Īlso, an unusual job – like comic-book translator or canoe instructor for troubled teens – often opens doors to better jobs, as employers today are more interested in your unique experience than your formal qualifications. But it also includes more personal things, like the way we speak and our problem-solving abilities. Of course, identity capital does include such conventional things as college degrees, jobs, test scores and so on. Experience in unusual jobs constitutes our identity capital – our collection of personal assets – and this matters a great deal to prospective employers. If you chose the comic-book translator job, you’re on the right track. Given that situation, imagine you were faced with the choice of, say, working in a coffee shop or taking a more unusual job, like translating comic books.

The Defining Decade is a smart, compassionate and constructive book about the years we cannot afford to miss.Even if you’ve been grinding away since you left school or college, it’s unlikely you’ll have the job of your dreams by the time you’re in your 20s. The result is a provocative listen that provides the tools necessary to make the most of your 20s, and shows us how work, relationships, personality, social networks, identity, and even the brain can change more during this decade than at any other time in adulthood - if we use the time wisely.

Meg Jay, a clinical psychologist, argues that 20-somethings have been caught in a swirl of hype and misinformation, much of which has trivialized what is actually the most defining decade of adulthood.ĭrawing from a decade of work with hundreds of 20-something clients and students, The Defining Decade weaves the latest science of the 20-something years with behind-closed-doors stories from 20-somethings themselves. Our '30-is-the-new-20' culture tells us the 20-something years don't matter.

Revised and reissued for a new generation, The Defining Decade has changed the way millions of twentysomethings think about their twenties - and themselves.

The defining decade 20 book