<p>I probably shouldn’t be surprised that the kids of parents here and their friends are doing well in the job market but the labor numbers that have come out weekly and the numbers that came out at 8:30 this morning paint a completely different picture. My guess is that a majority of 2012 and many 2011 graduates are struggling. The employment reports peaked early this year and we are now falling on the number of new jobs. If we continue on our current trajectory, we may get to breakeven in a month or two.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s why I prefer real data over anecdotes from parents of mega-achievers. Yes Harvard history majors might have a choice of good jobs if they fit the profile for IB or consulting. History majors from Washington State or Seattle U–not so much.</p>
<p>Someone told me that her graduate of last year got a job. I said, “great! what was his major?” “Communications, but that wasn’t important. It was his internship”. Guess what? Son’s internship and job were with Daddy’s firm.</p>
<p>Someone else told me that her daughter got a job with Bain a few years ago as an English major. This made me feel a lot better about Bain. English majors with 6 months on-the-job training are going in and laying off people at factories.</p>
<p>Heard this the other day:
</p>
<p>[Seattle</a> Area Lacks Computer Science Majors : NPR](<a href=“Seattle Area Lacks Computer Science Majors : NPR”>Seattle Area Lacks Computer Science Majors : NPR)</p>
<p>(I thought everyone on CC listened to NPR … 
)</p>
<p>They ration CS slots? Interest in CS dropped sharply after the Internet Bubble popped and has been slowly rising back to where it used to be in the 1990s. Why can’t employers recruit from other cities or open up satellites in other cities?</p>
<p>Blossom…can I send my D’s resume your way? 
she is one of those phi beta kappa, International Relations& Spanish majors who thought she was going to go to law school.
After realizing the cost and job market for lawyers she is going for option 2… Or 3 or 4!</p>
<p>She is freaking out a bit right now that she does not know exactly what she “wants to do when she grows up”. She has many interests and I tell her that is an advantage! Also, my advice, be willing to think outside the box! I feel for her though…I remember graduating and having no job in a bad job market. she thinks if she takes “just any job” it will impact her ability to get the right job. I remind her that top executives start at the bottom. It is finding which bottom she should start at that seems to be her problem.</p>
<p>Tough times for sure…even for the smart kids. I also tell her she has about 65 years to figure it all out, breathe.</p>
<p>barrons, </p>
<p>Any company that says there are “talent shortages” for entry level positions, especially if it is for a business degree such as finance/accounting, is full of it/only wanting absolute top students at the absolute top schools/and or wanting super qualified students to work for low pay/benefits. </p>
<p>If your a recruiter looking for a smart entry level business student and cant find anyone, you’re not looking hard enough! </p>
<p>With that said, business majors > liberal arts majors in the job market at most universities in the country.</p>
<p>Also I don’t think study abroad experiences are important for finding a job.</p>
<p>I know a Spanish major that was offered a job teaching Spanish to inner-city kids in Baltimore. I forget what the program was called. Most programs want math or science but a few will take Spanish.</p>
<p>She’s right to not go to law school.</p>
<p>The insurance industry still tends to be a good place for Liberal Arts grads to find work. Not just to be brokers and agents, although many of them do quite well, but also entry level management jobs, underwriting, and administrative positions. A lot of students don’t even consider insurance because they don’t know much about it or have preconceived notions that it’s boring and uninteresting. On the contrary, it’s a huge vibrant industry where lots of people enjoy rewarding careers and make an exceptionally good living. Plus, barriers to entry are not quite as formidable as certain other industries for Liberal Arts students.</p>
<p>I tell the kids to figure out what industry they want to be in and then go look for jobs, network, read industry job boards, understand how the organizations are structured, understand how to fit your job experience and resume and coursework to the industry etc. otherwise it’s just a crapshoot rocketing off resumes randomly to anything that “sounds” applicable. I think kids often overlook real estate, insurance, and a few other industries. But I’m a huge believer in a liberal arts background, especially for a student with strong verbal and writing skills, for many industries and their entry level jobs.</p>
<p>What good does it do to get a job in finance or as an accountant if you will probably die of boredom within a month or two? In fact in accounting and finance I do not see how you could survive the first semester.</p>
<p>Why are there not more students majoring in things that are really interesting like Physics, Geology and Astronomy that also have good employment prospects? Oil companies can not find enough Geology graduates and most employers will think that anyone smart enough and with the quantitative skills needed to get a degree in Physics or Astronomy will be a valuable addition to the company.</p>
<p>^ I have been an accountant for years and haven’t died of boredom yet!</p>
<p>There are plenty of kids majoring in Geology, Environmental Studies or environmental science getting a great education and they do find jobs. But those colleges that do a good job aren’t typically in the middle of urban areas and aren’t typically on the top of the USNWR list. There are colleges that turn out marketing and hospitality majors that find jobs. It’s not easy to find an entry level job for any college grad, but it’s easy to find kids that graduate and have no idea how to use their major to even find a job. The traditional liberal arts grads just need to figure our how their skills fit in the real world but hopefully they were thinking about that when they picked those majors. Everyone has hard skills and soft skills.</p>
<p>I disagree that you need to major in something you don’t like just because t is marketable. How about majoring in something you do like that is also marketable. There are a wide range of marketable degrees - kids should pick something they like that also has decent job prospects. Everyone can’t and shouldn’t be an accountant just because there are jobs… By the way my friend who works at a big accounting firm said the people who are completing their tax returns are working in India - so who knows what the best careers of the future will be.</p>
<p>I would say that right now there are very, very few areas with decent job prospects. And it’s getting worse and worse. Just a couple of years ago you could get a job teaching math, science, special ed and maybe foreign language. Now teaching is very difficult period. Just an example.</p>
<p>D had a dinner with all her old HS buddies, all new graduates 20 of them. Range of schools from Dartmouth Duke U Michigan UConn Richmond, Binghamton, etc. every conceivable major, business, finance, engineering, teaching, psychology.</p>
<p>Guess what they all had in common?</p>
<p>No jobs, and very very few interviews. All really fed up and disillusioned. Most if not all have been interviewing since last September. They know if they don’t find work, the next group of graduates of 2013 are on their heels and will soon be looking/interviewing, what then?</p>
<p>They were talking about a few kids they knew who chose not to attend college, received training/apprenticeships, they are all working for 4 years, some even own their own business at this point. Not one penny in debt.</p>
<p>I do a lot of day-to-day accounting, Lemaitrie, and while it can sometimes be tedious and boring, its a great field for total quality of life.</p>
<p>“They ration CS slots? Interest in CS dropped sharply after the Internet Bubble popped and has been slowly rising back to where it used to be in the 1990s. Why can’t employers recruit from other cities or open up satellites in other cities?”</p>
<p>Why yes, the University of Washington rations CS slots like crazy. Their own website states, “In recent years, the number of applicants has far exceeded the number of openings for the program. More than 1,100 applications are received annually for 30-35 openings in the program.”</p>
<p>Which begs the question, why, at a large university like that in a tech heavy city like Seattle, would they have so few slots? Now, you can listen to the BS about cost and blah, blah…but I think it purely comes down to trying to make the program as elite as possible. Every year there is more demand, but they are keeping the supply the same.</p>
<p>And recruiters do recruit from other cities, but in a hot field like CS, people are trying to get on with the big tech firms. If you are an unknown or offer low pay, it can be hard to attract people who are already highly in demand.</p>
<p>It’s odd that people just assume that certain fields are really boring, and that people go into them just for the money. For me, getting a major in English or History, trying to get a writing heavy sort of job would be pure misery and boredom. An accounting or finance major would be far more interesting. I think momtotwins has some great advice, " There are a wide range of marketable degrees - kids should pick something they like that also has decent job prospects." Sure, with the right connections or the right sort of personality, one can get a great job with any major. But since most people don’t have that option, why not get something you like that will also get you a job? What a luxury to decide that your parents can spend 200K plus on a major that will generally only get you low paying options. Why not have both an enjoyable major/career and the paycheck?</p>
<p>^^^ Because most jobs that are loads of fun and pay good money generally have their own issues as well; a good friend of mine spent 25 years in corporate IT and finally gave up and became an executive in a mobile phone game company :). Not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination, and for all we know, the company may be gone in 2 years…</p>
<p>Or, my own job, designing software for mobile entertainment devices. Lots of fun, truly lots of fun, rubbing elbows with the right names and companies involved in new media, but guess what, the hours are long, the pay is not that great, and the skills required are usually graduate EE or CS.</p>
<p>As the joke goes, a job involves security, compensation, and fun. You can pick up two of the three. Finding a job that has all three is not very easy…</p>