College degree needed to get even low paying jobs today.

So why does it take a college degree to get a low paying entry level job?

Because the public schools are graduating kids from high school who do not have a proper education. The liberal mentality "we can't let little johnny fail, it might damage his tender self esteem" has produced a generation of kids who lack the skills to do anything but collect welfare.

reply to post by Gazrok


I don't buy that at all. In fact, I see the opposite. Employers are sick of looking at "overqualified" people. They want wise individuals with fresh outlooks to come in at lower wages then these uber qualified chumps.

Originally posted by FortAnthem
How long before this spreads down to even Wal-Mart and other low-paying retail jobs? If the jobs market gets tight enough, it won't be long before you need a degree just to push a broom.

I did not finish college and I have had a very high paying job for the past 20+ years. I have owned a few business and now work for a Fortune 500 company running their sales team for the state of New Jersey and this pays extremely well.

In my travels I have found that there is a need for skilled labor and some of the starting salaries in my area are in the $60-80 range. Trade school is a very viable option as opposed to a 4 year college.

reply to post by FortAnthem


Scarey times indeed. I mean, a engineering degree for a clerk job?

reply to post by FortAnthem


It is called degree inflation.

reply to post by TDawgRex


That's wonderful and great for you. No, really I am happy that some people can be so lucky. But what does any of that have to do with my last comment?

You don't know just how much my wife and I both would love to relocate. The problem is... a family of four struggling just to "get by" in life. How would one propose relocating when the people can't find a job that pays enough to allow them to save enough to be able to do so?

As I've said earlier, I wouldn't mind doing electrician work and I am great at repairing just about anything and love to do it. I don't think welding would be a problem for me either. I'm currently a computer science major in the local college and if trade school for electrician or welding would have been an option for me at the time I would have been all over that before college because it would be a lot less expensive in the long run, I wouldn't have student loan debt and I believe that my family could get by fine if we both had a job making around $14-$15 an hour.

Military was not an option for me They don't want "crazy people." Or I would have joined the Air force for some free training in the electronics technology fields. I was originally an engineering major, a degree that I felt would probably be much better than most others and it was something I enjoy. However, it turns out that my school's engineering program is crap compared to most other and I would be nothing ore than a CNC operator with a college degree... So I witched to computer science, the school's computer science department is ranked #2 in the state and that's also an area I am interested in. The current plan is to attempt to start my own web design/development business when I finish. BUT if someone came along and offered to train me in a good trade and could promise that I would be able to make over $20 an hour within 5 years then I would ditch school for that in a heart beat.

I just finished reading that article . . .

Did anyone else notice the FINE (9/10) HOTTIE in pink on the first page?
Is anyone surprised she is the standout that got the big promotion ahead of the others for her "organizational wizardry"?

One item these article rarely include in them is the regional nature of the job market. The area of the country I live in is still heavily depressed from the housing boom and job opportunities are rather poor unless you have the funds to relocate, which is rarely offered by employers.

I agree with many of those who talk about work ethic being the key to success. A problem I have seen with this attitude is that many employers don't seem to understand how to encourage this or the methods they use backfire and result in a lot of unjustified backtalk.


I am a manager of the premier nursery (plants) in the state and was hired on to turn around a dysfunctional failing gift shop which expanded into an assistant managerial position in our hard goods department following turning a $70k deficit into a $40k profit in 6 months (not bad for 207 sqr ft selling space of bird feeders, jewelry, and this ridiculousness known as the fairy garden hahaha) . I laugh looking back now at how for 5 months after I graduated nobody would hire me in my field and now I see them in papers under headlines crying falling sales and future bankruptcies.

I am currently working on an engineering degree and have begun the process of grooming a successor to my position which is turning into an absolute nightmare. All I hear is complaints about how the pay is not enough for the amount of work involved or some rant involving blaming everyone else for problems instead of just sucking it up and fixing them.

Of course I only make $13 an hour where I am at now but the costs of living here are far far lower than most elsewhere in the country.

If you prove you can succeed companies will fight for you. I recently turned down an $18 an hour as a department manger in exchange for significant scholastic assistance from my employer. The brother of the owner (a CS tech) even offered to help me code an aqua ponics system I am developing for an independent study.


Final point ----> MAKE YOURSELF VALUABLE

Yep, soon you will need to spend 4 years in college and get yourself into debt to flip a burger. And this is normal to people of course. Speak ill of it and you are a crazy person.

reply to post by Anundeniabletruth


I wish you the best of luck. Believe me, I can relate. I too, want to relocate, but I want to do so comfortably, not on a shoe string. There are a lot of us in that boat...(by the way, where are the lifeboats.) I too, want off this ship.

I'm lucky, I guess, as I have no wife nor children. But here is a idea. (I won't say that is a good one).

I have known plenty of people that have moved elsewhere without the family in order to get a start. (It's a gamble I will admit) and after a year they had the family come to them.

Just a thought. Tenn, ain't that far from Cleveland after all. But I hear that North Dakota is booming. Good money up there for those willing to work hard in adverse conditions.

When I say that I wish you the best of luck...sometimes you have to make your own. I've always been a believer in, "Fortune favours the bold".

Originally posted by littled16
reply to post by FortAnthem

 

What a creative way to keep people in debt! First push everyone to go to college and get a degree, make sure that you outsource enough jobs to other countries so that there aren't enough jobs paying decent wages for the kids with their new degrees, and then watch the kids slave away at minimum wage jobs that insure they can never pay off their college loans. What do you get? Slaves for life who don't have time or are too tired to question anything the government does to further enslave them. Ingenious!

There will be recourse.

This I can guarantee you.

Originally posted by littled16
reply to post by FortAnthem

 

What a creative way to keep people in debt! First push everyone to go to college and get a degree, make sure that you outsource enough jobs to other countries so that there aren't enough jobs paying decent wages for the kids with their new degrees, and then watch the kids slave away at minimum wage jobs that insure they can never pay off their college loans. What do you get? Slaves for life who don't have time or are too tired to question anything the government does to further enslave them. Ingenious!

It isnt the goverments fault everyone wants to go to College. A College degree is required because so many applicants have one, not because those putting out a job demand it. If there would be a drastic decline in College enrollment those asking for a College degree today wont tomorrow, rather than to increase the offering to attract the dwindeling pool of Collegiate people.

I'm in the same boat of having a degree but unable to find work. I have 3 associates degrees (game design, web programming, computer graphics) a bachelors (computer science) and am 90% done with another bachelors (game design). I consider myself lucky that I found a job where I make $5/hour, 28 hours a week, it at least keeps me from being homeless. Right now I would happily settle for being a burger flipper at McDonalds, 40 hours a week at minimum wage sounds pretty good to me right now. Sadly, they say I'm overqualified for those jobs so I can't find "decent" employment. My degrees are worth so little when it comes to the job search that I literally use one of them as a coaster. My "career" options would be far better if I didn't have an education.

Like some others in this thread mentioned, moving to an area with opportunity where I could get something out of my education isn't an option. I'm stuck in Southeastern Ohio, and without a better paying job can't afford to move. Alternatively I have to get lucky sometime and find a job that's willing to pay moving expenses, that is quite difficult to do.

We all know the results of "No child shall fail" ego building programs in public schools and I conclude that the for profit university system will do the same in order to keep the money flowing through by advancing students deficient in basic skills right up and through graduate level programs.

I work as a tutor for a community college. The entire system is corrupt. I sit and BS with the instructors from time to time and I've heard some stories that are absolutely shocking. I know of two students currently enrolled in one of their technology programs that don't know how to read. They are illiterate, when they take exams someone has to read the questions to them because they can't read the test. They passed High School though because it would have impacted the schools funding to have not passed them. Another one is the quota system the school uses. Funding is based on the number of students each department has, each student is essentially worth $X amount. If a department has too few students it's shut down. In the interest of preserving their operating budgets, and in some cases their jobs the instructors have come up with a system where students in smaller majors never fail. If someone is failing their class they get a C, occasionally they get a D so they have to retake a class to fill numbers but that is done very rarely.

One student I'm currently tutoring in a coding class for example has been there for 5 years, he is no stranger to coding classes and I ask for him to write an if statement in a function that checks if the length of a variable is less than two and return false if so. This is what he wrote me: "if the length of the name variable is less than 2 then return false". He didn't understand why that's not correct. Anyone who understands code should find the humor in that, for those that don't understand code the reason is that code isn't written in plain English like that. The person is two classes away from graduating.

I think a large part of the problem is that employers are realizing just how many people have degrees without understanding the material, and as such don't consider the degree as being worth anything and that's why degrees don't get you good jobs anymore.

Hi all, maybe I was the lucky one but dont let the grim opinions in this thread get you down. If you are in college, stick it out. I was a bit immature in college and graduated with an average gpa and "things" on my background check. However I landed a job immediately after college and make over 50k a year. I just graduated a year ago.

Make sure to apply for internships and apply youselves in the classes pertaining to your field of interest. Do some research prior to the interviews so you can speak with confidence to your interviewer. Also express a willingness to learn- continuing education is a must in any field where you dont work with your hands.

TLDR: stick with school, it pays if you arent a lazy person.

reply to post by Aazadan


Have you tried looking into areas such as CAD I know for a fact that there is a great need for draft analysis in much of the engineering field and this is something you could do via the internet. Ask your school advisers about certifications you need for operating in your area.

Good luck amigo!

EDIT:
Also I hope you are not coding in C language I had one semester of that and wanted to throw up.

I couldn't agree more, I FIIIINNNALLY make $15/hr which isn't much here in California, the living wage for my county is almost $13. Most people here make around $10 to $12, with some more and some less. Many people at my work (retail) have college degrees and yet make $10 an hour. Average rent in my county is $1800/month for 1bdrm apartment. It's no wonder why so many apartments have 4 or 5 people living in them, many houses are split into duplexes or rent out rooms. Crazy times we're living in, and the rich just keep getting richer!

Originally posted by FriedBabelBroccoli
reply to post by Aazadan

 

Have you tried looking into areas such as CAD I know for a fact that there is a great need for draft analysis in much of the engineering field and this is something you could do via the internet. Ask your school advisers about certifications you need for operating in your area.

Good luck amigo!

EDIT:
Also I hope you are not coding in C language I had one semester of that and wanted to throw up.

edit on 21-2-2013 by FriedBabelBroccoli because: 101

I do some C but it's not my strongest language. I much prefer web languages. As for CAD, I haven't looked into that. I hold Autodesk certifications in 3dsMax (can be used similar to CAD though that's not the main use) and Maya. I also happen to have a bit of experience with AutoCAD having used it or similar programs off and on since the time I was 7 years old, as well it being required for some classes, though I'm not actually certified in it.

The problem is, even if I were to have those certifications my area doesn't have the jobs. In the last 8 years the town I'm living in has made a grand total of two buildings. One Walmart and one hotel. This isn't an area where engineering pays off.

reply to post by Aazadan


I understand but you absolutely can NOT let it stand at that. Contact firms out of your state by email, telephone, anything to to get their attention and get the point across that you want a job and are willing to work for it. Hopefully you have a portfolio of your work and capabilities, if not than make one. Start projects that demonstrate what you can do for them and gear it toward their operations.

It is the extra mile that gets separates you from the pack. They will most likely work with you allowing you to commute via the internet or mail.

To got my first job with a lame big box retailer I had to talk my way into the GM's office and ask him what he was looking for in a potential employee and then used their office computer to fill out an application then and there. The job didn't go anywhere I was hired to work the floor and assumed an assistant floor manager position for my area which was nothing but a title as I still had to meet full sales quotas with the same crappy pay. The job went nowhere and paid poorly but it got me the experience I needed and paid my bills until I could find better employment.

In your case this could be saving up enough to relocate. The job doesn't even have to be in your field experience is experience and demonstrating you are willing and able to overcome obstacles is incredibly important to employers.

The first step is always the hardest my friend you can do it.

reply to post by ObjectZero


Did ya ever think that's because they can pay that new college grad 1/3 of what they were paying the guy with 20+ years experience?

It's interesting, all of this on the boards about needing a college degree and stuff to get a basic job. Although I do indeed have 3 seperate degrees, I have only worked in one of the fields of study I did. My husband however is high school educated only, with 38 years of experience in his field, and at the top of his game. I have yet to see him fill out an application or go through an interview process for a job. Generally, he is hired over the phone, sight unseen. What gets him hired? His good attitude and willingness to give 100% to whoever he is working for. He doesn't think he is "entitled" just because of his experience. His reputation preceeds him in a good way.

As for the job market, it sucks all over. The official unemployment rates do NOT include the figures of those who have been unemployed so long they no longer qualify. With the crappy job market, the ones with degrees of course will move down the ladder to claim jobs that were originally claimed by those with lesser education. It's kind of like walking out into the wilderness and realizing you are no longer the top of the food chain.

At present there is only ONE state in the USA with a decent unemployment rate- North Dakota, due to the oil boom. However, they are not just looking for oil field workers, but folks of all kinds, in many different areas. Expect the culture to be different up here, and bring warm winter clothes. It gets a bit frosty in the winter.

Cheers!
SK

I've made 60 to 80k with only a few college courses to my name. I've a lot of experience - that is what comes out in interviews, etc. A smart resume, a solid interview.. that will get you a job as soon as a college degree. I've worked with people in my field with degrees that are complete morons with the subject matter they were supposed to be experts in.

It's not required. When I was let go from my last job as part of a 25% reduction in overhead, I had a ton of interviews. Because my lack of a degree was an after note at the bottom of the second page of my resume. All the stuff that matters.. what I know and can do was the highlight. And it stands out.

Getting jobs is marketing. Concentrate on the marketing - you'll get employed.

Originally posted by SweetKarma
reply to post by ObjectZero

 

At present there is only ONE state in the USA with a decent unemployment rate- North Dakota, due to the oil boom. However, they are not just looking for oil field workers, but folks of all kinds, in many different areas.

Take notice though, that will be temporary.

The common practice is drill and cap and map the good ones. That is what happened in Wyoming, that is what will happen in North Dakota. They open them up only after they need them. Trust me, we dont bleed dry each and every well found in the US, quite a large number of them are kept for reserve for later use.

And all the peripheral jobs will dry up quickly when the drillers leave and move on.