<p>engineering is still strong- math and science in US schools is still weak however, prompting some companies to hire or relocate abroad.
<a href="http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_5920770%5B/url%5D">http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_5920770</a>
My 24 yr old nephew for instance- who attended U Boulder, and received a degree in aeronautical engineering, found a job last year right out of school making $60,000. The company is so interested in finding more workers in teh US, that they have been flying him around to recruit on campus.</p>
<p>Our district has hired coaches, to teach teachers how to teach science and math, but hasn't gotten to the point where they will allow those coaches to work directly with the students- and the coaches, many of whom have advanced degrees, aren't interested in spending time and money to go back and take "education", courses in order to do so, particulary when they feel those courses are part of the problem.</p>
<p>My daughter has been fortunate in high school, to have several science teachers who have had quite a bit of real life employment in their fields, which has made them better teachers.( but math is still a sore spot in the district)</p>
<p>Some fields always need people, teaching, nursing, police officers, auto mechanics, fairly good benefits although the work isn't fun if you aren't suited.</p>
<p>While D didn't do any internships in college ( which I would recommend), all her friends are either employed or in grad school. Most of them are also employed in their fields. For instance her college roommate who majored in biochem, is working at the health sciences university doing chem research.</p>
<p>I think rather than start requiring college degrees for fields that don't really need them ( as this cuts out individuals who aren't suited or can't afford to attend college), perhaps we need to encourage more people to take a year or two off before college, to work or participate in a program that would enable them to get a better sense of how the world works.</p>
<p>Rather than aiming for a degree in English * because they like to read* and then not having any idea what they can do with it. Its fine to get a degree in English or psychology or any degree that you don't think of being directly job applicable, but students should also realize that not everyone is going to be a college professor, and they should be exploring other ideas.</p>
<p>I also think that the sense of entitlement that leads some students to believe they * deserve* admittance to prestigious colleges, influences their perspective toward jobs that don't give them a corner office and a salary to match right out of college.They may not have a lot of patience with jobs that aren't so fullfilling.</p>
<p>A good company has many opportunties for employment, and while you may start even in the mail room or answering phones, if they looked at it as a path towards showing what they can do, and why someone should pay them for it, they might have more luck.</p>
<p>What they also may keep in mind, is something that another poster on the boards has brought to mind. Just because you make a great salary doesn't mean your job is going to meet all your needs. If their entry level job, isn't intellectually all they expected, they may want to pursue volunteer work or a hobby that they find rewarding that they might have had to put off while they were in college.</p>