<p>Tom, of course you have to look for your oppurtunities, if you put in the effort and network with other people, you should be fine(im only a freshman but i believe this is true), but this article and the OP is implying that he couldn’t find a job becuase of his major.</p>
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He had a top 10-15% GPA in his major, so unless his major has 85-90% unemployment, it wasn’t his major. If this story is true then there were some significant other issues that affected his ability to find employment. My money would still be on his own demonstrated apathy coming across in interviews. I know some of the HR and engineering management people that hire engineers for my company and they are really looking for people who WANT to be engineers and who are excited about engineering… not someone who liked the job market and just did the minimum necessary to graduate.</p>
<p>I know, the article sounds made-up, I was just pointing out that behind every genuine “STEM major without a job” story is a person with personal problems keeping them from fulfilling their potential. Maybe they just smell or have an annoying voice and so they die during the interview, who knows?</p>
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Both of you are assuming he got one or more interviews. What if he didn’t get any?</p>
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He was a slacker in high school and college, but he clearly tried and worked hard to get a job afterwards. How else would you explain:
“I sent out hundreds of resumes and was desperate for any job - flipping burgers, waiting tables, or even doing the dirty work at a slaughterhouse.”</p>
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Because a burger joint would rather higher a non-college grad than a college grad because they know that the college grad is going to be looking to leave asap.</p>
<p>It’s the same reason why I couldn’t get a summer job without a history at some place- there is no need where I live for an influx in workers who are just going to leave to go back to school 2 months later. (I live in New Orleans, everything is driven by tourism, and 98% of our tourism is in the fall and spring, when I’m away at school).</p>
<p>You clearly don’t get why none of us believe this crap story when you’re saying it was all his degree in civil engineering’s fault.
It’s only his degrees fault in that he was overqualified for jobs he supposedly was applying for.</p>
<p>It happens. People get degrees in Chemistry, Physics, Chemical Engineering, EE, Applied Math, etc. and end up janitors. Some even have PhDs in those areas and still end up janitors. I accept that. Hell at my school there’s ads for “Get your computer fixed by a PhD in Electrical Engineering! Only 15 USD per hour!”.</p>
<p>You also must accept then that people who majored in things like Biology, History, Philosophy, Literature, etc. are much more likely to become janitors than people who majored in physical sciences and engineering at all levels, from B.A. to PhD.</p>
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<p>Yes, but the point here that Waterguy is not grasping is that if indeed there is any truth to this article, which is unlikely, then it most certainly indicates that there is something with the individual that is limiting job opportunities not the major. Same with a PhD in EE who is fixing computers for 15 dollars an hour. It is the individual and no matter what profession they choose, chances are they will not be successful. The fact is that PhDs in engineering have extremely low unemployment and engineers in general have far better opportunities than most other professions. If you are a good engineer, you should have no trouble getting a job even in a slow economy. With a high gpa and good resume, if you are ambitious enough, you will get interviews. I find it extremely unlikely that anyone would send out hundreds of resumes and not get an interview. Even if this was true, then send out more resumes. There are literally thousands of companies that hire civil engineers. If you look hard enough you will be able to find something other than being a janitor. </p>
<p>Not only does the article seem not believable, it is not even rational to generalize about a civil engineering based on the circumstances of one person that we know nothing about. The entire article is not really relevant.</p>
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<p>Some people just get unlucky. Combine that with entering the job market in times of high unemployment (with lots of experienced people competing for the same jobs, including entry level jobs), and it is easy to see that at least a few people find looking for a job an exercise in futility. Once the futility lasts longer than six months or a year, such a person will have a built-in disadvantage as employers will summarily reject him/her because “if s/he were any good, someone else would have hired him/her” or “s/he has not been working for a while, so his/her skills must be decaying”.</p>
<p>Also, note that it is far easier to send hundreds of resumes now than before (electronic mail and on-line job applications). But that means that employers are likely flooded with far greater numbers of resumes than before.</p>
<p>This is not to say that the person in question could not have done a better job search (the described background of laziness points to that possibility). However, while doing a better job search may have improved the chances of finding a job, it would have been no guarantee of finding one.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I agree with various others that choosing civil engineering is not to blame. Many other college majors have far worse employment prospects even in good times; of course, things are even worse for them during times of high unemployment.</p>
<p>^^exactly. Saying you “sent out” hundreds of resumes means absolutely nothing. A very, very small percentage of college grads get jobs that way. The majority get jobs through on-campus interviews or networking. In these days, it is important to target specific companies in specific fields that you want to work in. HR people have a lot of training in communication and behavior and they can sense if you are truly enthused to work for them or if you are just looking to land any type of job. There is also no way to know the quality of his resume or what was reflected in his cover letters.</p>
<p>Good for him. A job as a janitor is quite appropriate for someone who does the minimum. I don’t see any issues here.</p>
<p>If the guy truly attended a top university and graduated from their school of engineering with a 3.6 there is no way in hell he would go jobless upon graduation unless he was a cracked out meth-head. Total BS.</p>
<p>Bingo. Case closed.</p>
<p>theres just 1 thing i’m wondering about this thread. </p>
<p>So this guy had a 3.6gpa from a top school and couldn’t find a job afterwards.</p>
<p>WHY DIDN’T HE GO TO GRAD SCHOOL???</p>
<p>He was too lazy (or lacked the motivation) to go to grad school.</p>
<p>This is in no way an indictment of Civil Engineering.</p>
<p>You have your answer in that a person who at their core has no ambition or motivation will end up where he did no matter the major or the state of the economy.</p>
<p>GShine_1989 and others have it exactly right.</p>
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I’ll take a guess and say that it might be because he couldn’t afford it. Tuition isn’t your only cost, you also have to pay for housing, food, and other living expenses.</p>
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What is the unemployment rate for 22-25 year old civil engineers anyway? It might not be 85-90%, but even a 50% unemployment rate is pretty alarming.</p>
<p>50% ?!? how about you look it up instead of posting this garbage</p>
<p>for college graduates it’s less than 5%. somehow I doubt it’s 10x that for an engineering major.</p>
<p>[Table</a> A-4. Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm]Table”>http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm)
“Bachelor’s degree or higher, December 2010: 4.8%”</p>
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That’s for 25 years and older. I’m talking about people who just graduated. What are the odds that a class of 2011 civil engineering graduate will find a job before December 31, 2011?</p>
<p>The 50% rate I stated might not be that far off. According to NACE, only a quarter of class of 2010 graduates found a job before graduation:
<a href=“https://nace.naceweb.org/Publications/Spotlight_Online/2010/0512/Nearly_One-Quarter_of_Class_of_2010_Have_Jobs.aspx[/url]”>https://nace.naceweb.org/Publications/Spotlight_Online/2010/0512/Nearly_One-Quarter_of_Class_of_2010_Have_Jobs.aspx</a></p>
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<p>Yeah right. I’m a mechanical engineer, not civil, but I know many companies currently hiring new engineering graduates. This 50% number is not even close to reality. Bottom line, there is something about this person in this article that is limiting job opportunities, not the civil engineering major (even if there is any truth to this article). Waterguy, even in a bad economy, there is still a demand for engineers, especially ones with impressive grades, etc. Frankly, I think the entire article is made up based on the wording and tone. He had to accept his fate of being a janitor? Please. Give me a break. If this kid is as bright as the article indicates, then why is he accepting that fate? Something doesn’t add up.</p>
<p>Waterguy, this is taken from the article you cited.</p>
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<p>The quarter of graduates with jobs is among all graduates, NOT engineers. This article does not support your claim at all. The fact is that engineers still do far better than almost all other majors in terms of job prospects and compensation.</p>