College degree needed to get even low paying jobs today.

The problem is that everyone wants their children to go to college and follow their dreams. So we have people getting useless degrees in theater, agriculture, philosophy, journalism, etc. I think the schools should be required to show employment numbers with each major.

Oddly enough a fake degree works just as well...And unless its a Government job there is no crime (yet) in using a fake degree.

...Just sayin.

Originally posted by luciddream

Originally posted by jimmiec
There are tons of jobs out there for trade skills. If you were to go straight from high school into trade school and obtain a skill you would be employed. Apparently getting your hands dirty equates to being stupid today. You can make 100k a year in a trade. The key to success is excellence. Get a trade skill, there are plenty of good paying jobs out there for skilled workers.

Trade is looked down upon, by the educated class, including my family, so i was "forced" to get my degree. Its a norm in my family for couple of generation now, higher education is priority.

The thing about trade is that, it would start you off high(55k), you can slightly improve(65-80k) but you will reach a cap(120k). Unlike Degrees, which starts you off in the middle(50k) you can keep climbing, and it will go for very high level..could reach 200k+ in 5-10yrs.

And the biggest off all, degree jobs are usually easy job... desk job or very minute physical job, unlike trades, which are very high demanding of a healthy body.

See I would rather get dirty and work , I could never sit behind a desk in an office seem so mundane and boring .

But then my family always looked down on people that contribute little to society while living off the working mans dollar .

Edit to add

a collage education gets many people low paying bottom feeder jobs . I know few people in that same position .

Saw this coming 36 years back,

I lived in a NE city where several universities and colleges existed when I was a teenager (over a dozen). Even that far back the job market in the local area was skewed towards bacholor degree holders getting menial non-union work like existed at fast-food and retail establishments. It was just as the OP described even that far back only difference is its now national in scope.

If you were a local without degree - fagedaboutit

I moved and never looked back at that State or city and bought first house at age 19 working heavy constuction and morphing into high-rise maintenance later on. Paid debt early and often and invested the rest.

My last years salary before early retirement was $95,000 + not rich but not bad either, of course I deployed all that money not on debt service but to build wealth and today I own all my homes and auto's free and clear and have no CC debt. I pay cash for everything. I am not a debt slave and feel for you folks who were hoodwinked into what you are caught up in.

Looking at the tea leaves, I think I'd do it same way again were I required to do so.

For many years I put up with superior nosebleed attitudes from lessor paid office workers and their ahole management but always smiled knowing just who had the last laugh in the end.

Never make fun of your plumber, A/C tech or other skilled tradesman is my advice, he's better off than you will ever be most likely and they actually have in their pocket needed skills not make-work skills like most out there.

Just want to throw this in here. I work on a drilling rig and a few times we have picked up someone with a "college degree". One of the guys, after a months training on equipment was totally lost, stayed on the phone, didn't pay attention to the equipment etc, etc. He finally got ran off one day after spilling 30 barrels of diesel fuel.

Anyway, there are jobs out in the oilfield paying good money. One might have to make a few sacrifices working in the oilfield, but you don't have to flip burgers.

Pladuim

Originally posted by Pladuim
Just want to throw this in here. I work on a drilling rig and a few times we have picked up someone with a "college degree". One of the guys, after a months training on equipment was totally lost, stayed on the phone, didn't pay attention to the equipment etc, etc. He finally got ran off one day after spilling 30 barrels of diesel fuel. .

Pladuim

Surprised lasted as long as a month, we had summer interns that lasted less than a day when they figured out they actually had to work. I guess somehow they were under the impression they'd be observers or something and collect a check for it - who ever would have gave them that idea I wonder.

Maybe learn a trade for two years find out what its like to pay ones way and then go on to school if thats your wish? I really don't think most of todays 18 YO's has a clue anyway and just do what they are told in lockstep fashion because thats what their friends are doing.

I know there is no way in heck I'd ever ever sign a document like student loans have where one becomes a virtual slave to the government and issuing institution - never ever!

This 'anomoly' or whatever,.. is more indicative of the quality of education today.

A masters today, is no better than a batchelors of yesterday. A batchelors of today, is about as good as a high school diploma of yesterday. And a high school diploma today, is no better than a ged of yesterday.


But I kid you not,... a good work ethic and a few years experience,... will sell you better than any paper.

I am sorry, but this just isn't true. I work for a very large health care company in San Francisco. I have hired at least six people in last 5 months. None of them had a college degree, they DID have really good work experience, a strong work ethic and a good attitude. A degree is nice, its a good indication that someone can (hopefully) construct a sentence, have a good working knowledge in a specific area but it can't take the place of experience and a good attitude. If you are a nurse, physical therapist, CPA, or an engineer, of course you need a degree and licensure but there are a lot of jobs out there that don't. Right now I wish I could find a good employee who knows Excel and Access inside and out to take some of the stress of of me.

Originally posted by Phoenix
My last years salary before early retirement was $95,000 + not rich but not bad either, of course I deployed all that money not on debt service but to build wealth and today I own all my homes and auto's free and clear and have no CC debt. I pay cash for everything. I am not a debt slave and feel for you folks who were hoodwinked into what you are caught up in.

.....

Never make fun of your plumber, A/C tech or other skilled tradesman is my advice, he's better off than you will ever be most likely and they actually have in their pocket needed skills not make-work skills like most out there.

Now that is advice you just cant pay for anywhere.
You young wipper-snappers.... take note. It is true.

I got a 4 year degree in 1989 in nursing. I cost me 12,000 total back then. Today you can't touch it for less than 30,000.

However, be prepared in this day and age to lose your license in this profession if you do not plan well.

If you do hands on nursing care, which pays "ok" but most jobs are low staffed and you take care of too many patients to be safe.
Many nurses will tell you, they do a job but risk losing their license due to greed of the employers.

So, this is an ok looking job on the outside, but once you attain the degree and the license , you will need to be careful WHO you work for or you might risk losing your livelihood.

You can also go work for the insurance industry as a nurse in an office environment , but most of these jobs are dead end jobs that treat the employee as a low class worker; believe it or not.

Good luck out there with this economy.

I see it going down the tubes and maybe this is a good thing.

College is so much fun. People saying not to go are just jealous they couldn't go.
Stay in college as long as you can. Just make sure the college you go to has a good reputation, and isn't overpriced.
Complaining about student loan debt is a white person's problem. It's not a real problem. It's funny how some people who aren't college grads are using it as a reason to not go to college.

Yes, a degree doesn't guarantee anything, but the fact remains the number of successful people who have a degree far outweighs the number of successful people without a degree.

Now even low paying jobs need a degree! How are people trying to say a degree isn't needed?

Go to college, there's no discussion. /thread

An old rancher once told me,...

Run the farm like you are losing money, even when you are not.

Originally posted by rickymouse
The people who went to college at great expense and wound up as managers of Subway or other jobs where a degree is not needed feel that if they went through this expense to get a lousy job than everyone needs to. How would it look if someone without any college worked their way to the top of Subway.

Subway is just an example, the same thing is going on all over the country. People of a kind think alike and take care of their own. This trait of humanity has been around for a long time. It has gotten out of hand in our society as it has in other parts of the world. Societies have gone astray, now they want to raise the minimum wage so these college grads working at Subway can pay back their loans. Our education system has major flaws, most jobs available here in America do not need a college education. On the job training would be better, being that I was an employer I know this as fact. People with degrees do not work in the trades as well as the person with a high school education most times, the people with degrees feel they are entitled to more money because of their expenditures. Quality of work and productivity should govern wage, not education.

After seeing the stats regarding unemployed college grads, average college grad debt and the oversaturation of college grads (it's no longer unique - which makes it harder to get that job!)... it makes sense to raise the minimum wage.

But you know what's just hilarious? (even though it's well overdue).... school tuition at most institutions goes up every year!! not to mention cost of living!!

In the end, raising minimum wage will do very little to help. It's the equivalent of a wet bandaid.

The average American is so retarded that 15 years of college still would mean they could barely read or write their own name even.

i have been telling people for years college is just a business and that is the new high school diploma. It's all about who you know.

Supply and demand. Huge supply of workers and very low demand means the ones hiring can be very selective.

Probably has more to do with people getting degrees that are of no use, so employers figure they may as well pull from a so called intelligent worker base.

But intelligent people should realize that it's better to start at the bottom and prove you're worthy of responsibility. From my experience those with a degree but no work experience are as useless as a chocolate heat shield on a space shuttle.

But I still can't believe it's becoming standard in America. Who wants a smartassed burger flipper at McDonalds.

college is for morons

The answer is simple. Go do what college was originally built for...making businesses and corporations. (Not saying you need to go to college to start one.) Modern day scholars always think about working for someone instead of owing something. You got to start taking risks in this economy because everyone else is going to rely on welfare and government checks. This is what I like to call the make it or break it factor, which is when you focus on something until you either make it or break it. But I can understand why some businesses fail to start up because of of our capitalist and monetary ruled America. America's biggest corporations destroy small potential businesses so they can stay on top but enough of the blabbering off topic by me hahaha. College degree is a good thing to have in life, but experience is greater.