Study: Nearly half with college degrees are overqualified for their jobs

Parents Forum
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<p>Lake, your statement “I think most of us here in the States work really hard” is truly in the eye of the beholder. I have managed many people/businesses and I can tell you there are plenty of folks out there without any initiative (see HImom’s note about her former boyfriend). Throw in the XX% (I wont use the 47% for fear of being crucified) who are on the government dole and that makes a pretty good case against your statement. Sounds like you and your spouse do work quite hard and hopefully you’ve managed your money well (that, of course is the other component of enjoying a “nice” life in the country with the most freedoms in the world).</p>

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<p>Actually, before people make assumptions about people who don’t get/finish their college degrees, I think there needs to be a BIG pause. My HS BF was forced by circumstances to support his family of 4–his parents, himself and his sister when he was only 17 and his dad quit his job in a fit of pique. He got a job at McDonald’s and worked 60-80 hours/week, getting rapidly promoted to asst. mgr. He tried to go to college after HS, but with working so many hours, it didn’t work, so he ended up going from straight As the 1st semester to straight Fs the 2nd semester. He was very unsettled & then ended up expecting a baby & marrying a co-worker at 19 or 20. It has been a lot of hard luck ever since and he’s not alone.</p>

<p>I have another friend who has gotten her BA but needs more credentialling to get promoted and better compensated. She works about 60 hours/week and helps care for and support her folks. Hard for her to carve out extra time and money to get more credentials for that raise and promotion, especially as she’s now around her 50s.</p>

<p>Yes, I know that some folks have been able to claw their way up and out of tough situations, but perhaps they are the exception which prove the rule?</p>

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<p>My dad owned (with 3 other partners) the largest franchise of another burger chain (250+ restaurants plus other businesses like movie theaters, etc.,) I worked for the company for a few years so know a lot of the inner workings. There were definitely those who made it up the food chain with out a college degree - first to rest. manager, then district, then regional. </p>

<p>The other thing about companies such as these is that there are jobs which exist that most people don’t think about when thinking of companies like these. IT people, accountants, HR, real estate, legal, marketing, purchasing, and the list goes on and on. People think fast food companies and think all the jobs are slinging burgers or managing restaurants.</p>

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Strike one.

Strike two.</p>

<p>Care to swing and miss at any more speculation about my profession and career goals?</p>

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I can and will speak my mind to anybody at the appropriate places and times. This is a discussion board - hence, it is the appropriate place and time. Why would I have anything to fear “getting away with” making an observation about politics?</p>

<p>I long ago determined that anyone who would fire me for expressing a personal political opinion on personal time is not someone I’d want to work for, anyway. My profile is public, my ideas are worn on my sleeve and I’m not scared of anyone’s implied threats of retribution.</p>

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<p>There is some family income level below which it is very difficult for someone to break out of a cycle of not achieving professional or financial success. Perhaps that is about 2x the poverty level. </p>

<p>Once a person is above lower-middle class, my opinion is that forward progress in each generation is largely dictated by each person’s ability and drive. As someone who went to a state school for my undergrad, I saw many people who simply didn’t work very hard (my assigned freshman year roommate was a drug dealer), including many that were quite talented. Most of them weren’t allowed to return for the sophomore year.</p>

<p>The same is true in the real world. Aside from jobs that are physically demanding, 40/hours a week is barely breaking a sweat (especially before having a family). Yet many slide by for 40/hours a week, and forget about them working more.</p>

<p>Now, I do appreciate that the state of the economy makes a difference, but only in a relative sense. During good times, the people with drive end up very successful and the ones without have decent jobs. During bad times, the people with drive have decent jobs and the ones without are unemployed.</p>

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<p>Yes, I also know some very bright and talented young people who were not allowed to go to college or post HS ed because their families needed them to work full-time and didn’t have money to spare for tuition (or at least that was what I have been told). Part of it is the exhaustion of working at a mind-numbing job AND trying to keep up with other education and find a job that is a better fit for your skills and talents and can pay you enough so you can work fewer hours. </p>

<p>There are many who don’t climb up out of that, even if their parents are professionals (MDs, RNs, attorneys, etc., but even moreso when their parents are struggling to make ends meet). In a perfect work, a big mistake (or two) should not derail a person’s future, in this world, it depends.</p>

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<p>Polar, so you find your statement to “Move to Somalia if you want an Ayn Rand anarchocapitalist paradise, Beliavsky,” reasonable? Hmm… liberal logic again. OK, since I struck out on attempting to guess your “career goals”, perhaps you can enlighten me. Have you ever actually held a professional position in a private enterprise, since you certainly seem to have great disdain for them?</p>

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<p>HImom, sorry for making assumptions. However, if your statement about your former BF, “then ended up expecting a baby & marrying a co-worker at 19 or 20” is true, then it seems he, like so many other young folks, made his own bed and then had to sleep in it.</p>

<p>On another note, as emilybee pointed out, apparently some Burger Kings didn’t have the rule of needing a degree to become a manager. If he was a great employee at McDonalds he should have checked out the other fast food joints and offered his services to them; that would truly have shown initiative. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m guessing the hard knocks in life were quite debilitating for him and that makes it twice as hard to get back up and keep on plugging. Hoping the best for your friend.</p>

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<p>It so happens that I was born and raised in the other side of the pond and hold dual citizenship. My daughters (also dual citizens) will likely follow the most excellent advise provided and return to live and work in Europe. </p>

<p>Those without the above option would do well to consider alternatives…</p>

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Yes. Several times, and currently. In fact, I spent three years as a consultant directly reporting to an investor and corporate executive with a high-eight-figure net worth.</p>

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I have disdain only for private enterprises that feel compelled to exploit, mistreat or damage their employees, their customers or the environment in the pursuit of profit over people.</p>

<p>There are many, many companies that, in general, act responsibly and ethically in the marketplace. Government regulations protect those companies as much as anything else - otherwise, irresponsible and unethical behavior might be temporarily rewarded in a shortsighted quest for immediate profits over sustainable economies.</p>

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<p>^turbo, do Europens work harder than Americans? Don’t they have a more relaxed life and thus live longer?</p>

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<p>'Turbo, per an official report, “Germany’s economy shrank at the end of 2012” and actually had a “growth” of only 0.7% for all of 2012. So, unless you are getting transferred by your company, good luck with that one…</p>

<p>That being said, it seems pretty obvious that Andrea Merkel’s reform agenda has catapulted the German economy and left the social welfare states to the other EU members. Hmm…interesting.</p>

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<p>Ah, the old “consultant”; we in the private sector know what that means…</p>

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<p>Really? What does that mean?</p>

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<p>ED, there are many of us “in the private sector” who don’t believe that being rude to others of differing opinions is a sign of either success or maturity or acumen. Many of us, some of us 1% ers, in fact, believe it is a sign of boorishness and failure.</p>

<p>In my experience, the more pugilistic the response, the less interesting the idea.</p>

<p>Polarscribe and I certainly don’t agree on everything, but I respect his/her right to say it in the intelligent and thought out way that he does so. Your disdain makes you seem weaker than necessary, even when some of your points might otherwise be valuable and persuasive.</p>

<p>Carry on.</p>

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<p>so, telling another poster to “Fly off to Somalia…” is “intelligent and thought out”, as you put it? Hmmm…</p>

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<p>Actually, intergenerational class mobility in the US lower than in many other reach countries.</p>

<p>[Meritocracy</a> in America: Ever higher society, ever harder to ascend | The Economist](<a href=“Ever higher society, ever harder to ascend”>Ever higher society, ever harder to ascend)
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/us/harder-for-americans-to-rise-from-lower-rungs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/us/harder-for-americans-to-rise-from-lower-rungs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0&lt;/a&gt;
[Economic</a> Mobility Across Generations - Pew Center on the States](<a href=“http://www.pewstates.org/research/reports/pursuing-the-american-dream-85899403228]Economic”>http://www.pewstates.org/research/reports/pursuing-the-american-dream-85899403228)
<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Intergenerational_mobility_graph-1.jpg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Intergenerational_mobility_graph-1.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/04/Hertz_MobilityAnalysis.pdf[/url]”>http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/04/Hertz_MobilityAnalysis.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/Documents/incomemobilitystudy03-08revise.pdf[/url]”>http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/Documents/incomemobilitystudy03-08revise.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>UCB, pretty difficult to be upwardly mobile when you don’t graduate from High School. Chicago’s drop out rate is higher than 40%. So, whose fault is it that those individuals aren’t “upwardly mobile”?</p>

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<p>[url=<a href=“http://cdn-5.motorsport.com/static/img/mgl/500000/530000/539000/539400/539455/s1_1.jpg]Do[/url”>http://cdn-5.motorsport.com/static/img/mgl/500000/530000/539000/539400/539455/s1_1.jpg]Do[/url</a>] you [url=<a href=“http://cdn-6.motorsport.com/static/img/mgl/500000/550000/559000/559700/559706/s1_1.jpg]really[/url”>http://cdn-6.motorsport.com/static/img/mgl/500000/550000/559000/559700/559706/s1_1.jpg]really[/url</a>]?</p>

<p>Enough said.</p>

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<p>ucbalumnus said:</p>

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<p>Thanks for the links ucbalumnus. I read the NY Times article and will try to read the others (Economist link is not working for some reason). I have read similar articles in the past, and many studies use percentiles to measure mobility. However this ignores the fact that percentiles are not directly comparable. The lowest quintile in the USA could very well make the same income as the lowest quintile abroad, but the highest quintile in the US typically makes much more. The NY Times article mentions this, although it is buried:</p>

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<p>Some may say that the lowest quintile in the US is worse off due to the lack of a safety net available in other countries. I will acknowledge this is true, but it is also true that the US has on average lower living costs than most of Europe. </p>

<p>But for those above the lowest quintile, I still think that drive and ability are the key determinants of success.</p>