<p>Poetgirl, +100!</p>
<p>I wonder if the kids who graduate with a degree in the humanities have an easier time accepting the fact that their first jobs will most likely be something for which they are “over educated” for and didn’t study for in college, but understand from the get go that they have to take these jobs to get started. Maybe the ones whose degrees are in something more “professional,” think anything not in their specific field is beneath them.</p>
<p>Did people matter to us more back then than money? I just don’t remember money mattering this way to us back then.</p>
<p>I mean, some of us ended up with a lot of it. But I don’t think any of us were trying to get “rich.” </p>
<p>We had a couple of friends who were wealthy, and their parents got them these places to live. But, they always ended up coming to us, because we lived in the urban warrior areas, and it was a PITA to try to get to their places in the upscale part of town. </p>
<p>Most of us made it to the upscale part of town in our thirties or so, but none of us felt like we “should” have been there at 22. It was a part of the fun of it, cheap boxes of bad wine, bar b ques. Going out to the bars on the nights when the drinks were on special, and only drinking the cheap drinks, the bad american tap beer. We didn’t drink the martinis, or the liquor. </p>
<p>We played cards and bought half price theater tickets and sat in the bleacher seats at the games. I’m sorry for our kids. I don’t know who gave them the idea that they had to be settled by graduation, or that college had made the starting scut job obsolete, but they were wrong.</p>
<p>^ My parents made me live in a doorman building in midtown. :(</p>
<p>exactly. LOL. Made you.</p>
<p>And it wasn’t even near my job; I worked in Brooklyn!</p>
<p>Overeducation is in the eye of the beholder. My job does not require multiple graduate degrees, and I certainly do not use a lot of what I learned in grad school, but the few times I use such knowledge it comes in very handy.</p>
<p>The trend seems to be away from the specialist positions and more into ‘deep skilled generalists’ that can perform multiple roles. </p>
<p>Also, overqualification by multiple degrees helps open more doors than it closes (in engineering at least). Brand name schools seem to be very helpful in getting jobs and building networks. </p>
<p>Oftentimes, too, overqualification is nothing more than seeking that extra bit of answers due to one’s curiosity. A lot of employers don’t care that I can calculate concrete beams as well as I can do corporate level IT or embedded device software or design the actual interface, Photoshop & Altia and all that. But I got to believe it tells something about me as an engineer and helps me stand out. </p>
<p>Money is not the issue in my case.</p>
<p>My D one friend graduated early in Dec of 2011 to take advantage of permanent sub in NJ, in the hopes she would get a permanent teaching position so she worked from 12/11 to only be let go at the end of the school year, to be replaced by a family member of a full time teacher. The two teachers both applied to Teach for America program, with 2 other girls, 2 got spots 2 didn’t. They are interviewing for any teaching spot, they know most of the hiring occurs in the summer, but are continually looking for anything they can find.</p>
<p>I think my message is getting lost, these kids are not above taking $10 an hour jobs, they just can’t get their feet in ANY door to make $10 an hour. So to say all these unemployed/underemployed college graduates are sitting in their basements waiting for the 50K a year job to come down the stairs to them is insulting them they are better than that, and I feel very sorry for them,
My own D can’t find work as an Engineer. She is on 10 local HS sub lists to do Math/Science teacher as a sub, my neighbor is a District Superintendent, he has called up and got her on some of the lists. She has been ready to go since November for any fill in spot. Hasn;t gotten one call. She volunteers at the HS helping with the INTEL science research program to keep busy.
Prior to Sandy she did temp permit filing for a local engineering firm, yes, secretarial work, but it ended.
Two to three phone interviews a month for OOS positions, two or three regional interviews per month when she asks what stands out as potential flags, they all say they want someone with 4 or more years experience.</p>
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<p>I ended up a respectable professional. But I will always cherish the time I spent as a cocktail waitress.</p>
<p>I’m a 24 year old student returning to school to complete a degree in Engineering. I already have my “foot in the door” job – been working in a grocery store for 5 years making 10 dollars/hour, with no hopes of moving up.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s totally unreasonable for a skilled, new college graduate to be wary of working at a dead end job like this. When I graduate at 28, should I expect to continue working for a subsistence wage to “get my foot in the door” at a real job?</p>
<p>Poetgrl’s posts frankly come off as insulting, as if every recent college graduate is unqualified and unprepared to do anything besides waiting tables and filing papers. Especially in a time when employers are offering only low-wage, temporary positions.</p>
<p>So sorry Dreburdem… must be a regional thing. Our experience is quite different.Great pay, great jobs. But not many people want to experience MN winters! 
D2 has worked for a national architectural and engineering firm since she was a sophomore and got her foot in the door while in college. I think a big key to employment in the early years is the willingness to relocate. Flexibility is key.</p>
<p>^^
Wow, it sounds as if you’ve already paid your dues. I’m sure you’ll get a great job right away with an engineering degree. </p>
<p>Poetgrl was talking about how the working culture used to be different. As young college grads we cared about supporting ourselves and having fun, not starting our careers. Many of us took time off to travel, finding work along the way. Clearly that has changed. </p>
<p>As tough as times are now, I still see great opportunities. My graduating son’s friends (from both h.s. and college, mostly liberal arts majors) have jobs lined up at Google, Microsoft, Amex, Nike, WME, Chiat Day, plus many start-ups. Most of them hustled and found good internships as juniors, and that paid off.</p>
<p>“Poetgrl was talking about how the working culture used to be different. As young college grads we cared about supporting ourselves and having fun, not starting our careers. Many of us took time off to travel, finding work along the way. Clearly that has changed.”</p>
<p>I never saw that life, and I’m the same generation. I guess I missed out. Me and my friends became military officers at 21, and aircraft commanders at 23. Even during college, it was go, go, go. We had a lot of responsibility, but we still managed to have fun.</p>
<p>My oldest son is graduating soon and has a very good job lined up. But it didn’t fall into his lap. He has busted his butt to get internships in his field every summer, even in high school. He’s had so many interviews, I don’t know how he could keep it all straight. But his philosophy was that the more interviews you do, the more practice you get. I think that self confidence, willingness to do and learn WHATEVER is required to get the job, plus be willing to relocate anywhere, is essential.</p>
<p>I graduated from the University of Idaho in summer 2010 with a degree in journalism. Great time to be looking for a job as a sportswriter - NOT. Struck out on 39 applications, got one interview and lost that to an internal hire.</p>
<p>So I took a six-month SCA/AmeriCorps internship, working at the Forest Service Alaska Regional Office in Juneau from September 2010 through March 2011. Moved to an isolated city of 30,000 people accessible only by air or sea. Lived for six months with my fellow intern in a shared apartment at the Juneau Ranger Station, living on a $600/month stipend plus $250/month in food stamps. Went to my boss’ kid’s ice hockey games and went halibut fishing for fun.</p>
<p>That was my post-college introduction to full-time work. I never cared that I wasn’t making investment-banker wages, nor that I had to swipe an EBT card to buy groceries. So what if I couldn’t afford to buy a television, much less a car? It was the cheap life, and I lived it well.</p>
<p>The internship turned into graduate school, and graduate school into a student-to-career position with the FS. I worked the last two summers as a GS-5 park ranger at the princely salary of $16.39 per hour - and to me, after living the intern life, that felt like a million bucks.</p>
<p>Perspective.</p>
<p>Reminds me of when I was living on paupers wages as a graduate teaching asst. When I got my first real job, I was so pumped up, “Wow! I’m earning five figures!”</p>
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<p>I’m sorry if what I’m saying feels personal to you.</p>
<p>I’m not saying every recent college grad is unqualified to do “anything.” I’m saying that you have to be willing to go where the work is, do the work in front of you, and work hard.</p>
<p>I also know it is difficult in different parts of the country. The question is: “what are you going to DO about it?”</p>
<p>My kid, graduating this year with a career “dream” job, has been working practically full time since the end of her unpaid summer internship at the end of her first year in college. The work environment has changed. She knew this and kept the job year round while still doing school full time. I’m not saying it isn’t more challenging for those graduating today, but I am saying, it’s always been challenging one way or the other, for somebody.</p>
<p>Good luck to all the job seekers. I think you really have to be willing to relocate if you want a specific job, and I think that has actually always been the case in many fields.</p>
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<p>No. but you shouldn’t ‘expect’ anything, actually. Expecting a job based on an education is the problem in my opinion. There either is a job or there is not. You can’t “expect” anything. Employers aren’t your parents. Nobody “owes” you anything just because you got a degree. Do I wish you the best? Absolutely. But, you may have to be willing to move. </p>
<p>Really, good luck to all future grads in the job hunt.</p>
<p>I will vouch that opportunities are out there if you are willing to move to the job. I am on my 3rd time zone in 8 years.</p>
<p>Here are [Unemployment</a> Rates for States](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm]Unemployment”>http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm) , ranging from 3.2% for North Dakota to 10.2% for Rhode Island. Unemployment rates by educational attainment are [url=<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea05.htm]here[/url”>http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea05.htm]here[/url</a>] .
Where can one find unemployment statistics by state and age, which could identify the parts of the country with more jobs for young people?</p>
<p>Look further afield than just the “amber waves of grain and purple mtns majesty…”
[Australia</a> still has a shortage of skilled engineers](<a href=“Travel questions | Australia Forum”>Australia still has a shortage of skilled engineers | Australia Forum)</p>
<p>I am sure throughout history most kids coming out of college and into their first job were ‘overqualified’ for that job. I think employers know that but I also think they are looking past that first job and looking toward their future with the company. How many people really stay at their first job for more than a couple years or so?</p>
<p>On a side note, 2 kids we know, Dec grads, one interviewed on campus shortly before Christmas, had second interview last week, got offered a job, starts in a couple weeks–one and done. Another Dec grad, interviewed last week Monday, offered job Thursday, started job Monday this week…small sample but both pretty quick hires after graduation, especially with Christmas, New Years, etc. in there. Both employed in their fields (Biology and Business).</p>