ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2008 > November > 10 > Entry
Does firstborn always get the better job?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Do you think your birth order has made a difference in your career? Some experts think birth order impacts everything from workplace personality to career advancement and compensation.
Experts say firstborn (and only) children tend to be more assertive and confident, while the youngest children in the family tend to be more creative and manipulative. What about the middle kid syndrome? Experts say middle children tend to be more rebellious and adventurous. When these children grow up, the firstborn tend to be more successful in completing higher education goals and be more ambitious in their careers. Middle children tend to excel at negotiating and people skills. Youngest children tend to gravitate towards creative careers that allow them to remain in the limelight that they probably grew accustomed to being in as a child.
Do you think your birth order has had an impact on your career? What about your siblings?
Comments
By atlgal
November 10, 2008 3:06 PM | Link to this
not always, whatever the first doesnt do the younger one does.
By hawk
November 10, 2008 3:20 PM | Link to this
“Experts” might want to rethink and study through this several more times cause this is not always true. Most of the time is just opposite, firstborn are more laid back while younger are more assertive.
By Ari
November 10, 2008 4:01 PM | Link to this
Take a look at the brothers Emanuel (Rahm being the Chief of Staff-to-be:
First born, Ezekiel, went to Amherst and Harvard Med, and is now a medical ethicist.
Second born, Rahm, went to Sarah Lawrence and is now a politician (a people person)
Third born, Ari, went to Macalester and is now a talent agent (creativity)
Not a bad case study.
By Mattie
November 10, 2008 4:48 PM | Link to this
I have three boys. The first born has graduated college, and is now applying to med school. The second born is a high school senior, and lives for football and parties. The youngest is the most naturally talented student of the three, although they all do well. I don’t find them to be in competition with each other at all. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. We just try to encourage them to use those strengths to find a career that will excite and challenge them.