Poor Sally. She has spent tens of thousands of dollars and four long years to get her college degree and has $26,000 in student loans to pay off, yet she can’t find a job that puts her degree to good use. Sally and her parents may be asking whether college was “worth it.”
<p>The article list three potential reasons why recent college graduates (and women in particular, who now "earn about 60 percent of the roughly 1 million bachelor’s degrees granted each year") can’t find good jobs. These reasons include, too much education, not the right level of education and finally, the wrong type of degree.</p>
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[quote]
Wharton School professor Peter Capelli tried to figure out whether the problem in the labor market is because the jobs don’t require the skills that candidates are offering or because workers don’t have the proper skills that employers are seeking.</p>
<p>Here’s what he found. The main problem with the U.S. job market isn’t a gap in basic skills or a shortage of employees with particular skills, but a mismatch between the supply and the demand for certain skills. There’s a greater supply of college graduates than a demand for college graduates in the labor market.</p>
<p>This mismatch, according to Capelli, exists because most jobs in today’s economy don’t require a college degree.
<p>While many students go to college so they’ll get a better job than with a high school diploma, they’re also not ready to choose the trade and vocational programs that will give them a job. The trade and technical jobs can benefit from college graduates doing an 18-month apprenticeship; and nothing says that you need to graduate from college before training to be (say) a plumber. If at age 20 you realize that’s a good job for you, nothing bars you from trying to train.
In addition, sure, there are lots of jobs that don’t require a college-degree - lots poorly-paid, no-benefits jobs that is, but which 18 year olds with the grades to get into college and hope for better will willingly forfeit college for a job they could get with just high school skills (or lack thereof), to lead a life of poverty and overwork?</p>
<p>Sally can’t get a job because businesses are staying lean and not hiring many people in jobs that require her speciality. The sheer number of graduates these last few years is more than the workforce can handle.</p>
<p>They are hiring plenty of retail and low wage earners part time as this is how the stock holders make more money.</p>
<p>A lot of people’s expectations of what a 4 year degree will do in terms of getting a good job are way, way to high and unreasonable. I did not earn a whole lot more in my first “real” job out of college than my part time stints paid, and actually a number of the, like waitressing netted more per hour. It takes time for many degrees to make an impact and it’s often in conjunction with experience, training, wisdom, opportunity, and again time.</p>
<p>Degrees may not make a difference in the first job out of college but I believe degrees make a difference in subsequent jobs. A living wage is not out of reach for college grads…what people think that ‘living wage’ should be is a different discussion. There are career paths in every industry if kids open their eyes and ears.</p>
<p>Sally can’t get a job because she won’t show up on time, wants to start at 50K, thinks clerical duties are beneath her, surfs the internet and never turns her phone off. Sally asked about vacation time , tuition reimbursement, and tweeted during her first interview. Sally dresses inappropriately, can’t engage in conversation, slouches, and does the minimum. Sally only applied at companies on her Mom’s list, and doesn’t want to move to the east/west/center of the country. Sally eats out, sends all her clothes to the drycleaner, has giant car payments, and is going to Cancun since she doesn’t have a job and is finding herself instead.</p>
<p>Too funny, but I’m sure there are kids that fit that to a T. More troubling are the kids that think the progression from there K-16 academic lives move gracefully and as easily to a job and don’t realize they are at the bottom of the chutes and ladders again. I told the kids that they had to work as many hours looking for a job as they put into their studies each and every week. It took them a month or so to get with the program, but as soon as that idea ‘clicked’ they found jobs. </p>
<p>@greenbutton: Bravo, perhaps Sally’s likely ill-advised use of consumer credit might also fit your paradigm (acknowledging that her “giant car payment” clearly applies)? Does a pervasive sense of entitlement and indulgence begin with well-intentioned “medals for every soccer player” and “helicopter parental over-protection” mentalities? </p>
<p>It’s hard for everyone these days. Our oldest landed a on campus job this fall as a office assistant at the on campus bank. He has 15 months til he graduates. Probably 80 percent of his friend group has zero prospects minus “grad school”-which to him, they havent taken the GMAT or the GRE-or even signed up. For business, he needs at least 4 years of work experience-professionally. The B school will reject people solely because of this-it is better to struggle at 22,23,24 and work at the bottom of the ladder than spend another two years in school finding yourself and come out at 24 with the experience of a 22 year old. My guess most of them will be going back home after uni-but most do anyway for a bit. Probably 70 percent I’d wager-and even he may if he cant get a job OOS. The cities near us are way to expensive for any recent grad to live w/o help from their parents.</p>
<p>^ ^ ^ ^
FYI, there are one-year, non-MBA, management Master’s (some at extremely prestigious and reputed universities) that do not require several years professional experience (nor are they as comprehensive and beneficial as MBAs offered by the same institution). There is also uniformed service as a commissioned officer, if one can qualify for and graduate from OCS/OTS – not at all easy – and if one can successfully deal with the significant, rigorous demands of junior officer self-discipline, self-sacrifice, and leadership. </p>
<p>That’s a pretty sad statement. If a kid is willing to live somewhere where the cost of living isn’t ballooned - and that covers a ton of territory in the US, they can find an apartment with a roommate and live on $10 - $11 an hour working a 40 hour week while they search for a better job or a promotion. The biggest expense (medical insurance) can be covered by the parents until they are 26. For $15 an hour they can live quite comfortably working for that promotion. For $20 an hour, they can buy their less fortunate friends beer. A family of 4 can’t do it, but a 21 or 22 year old kid certainly can. The easy route is for a kid to come home and live with mom and dad. Many kids, mine included, manage if you tell them they can’t come home. Many kids don’t want to come home and will adjust their lifestyles accordingly. Got an electric bill due? Don’t buy beer for a couple weeks. Life’s tough. 70%…I’m not so convinced of that. </p>
<p>I was thinking as I read the article that things may not have changed that much in terms of job prospects for people in their early 20’s – it’s just that nowadays, many more of the people in that demographic have college debt, and they need a high-paying job to pay it off. </p>
<p>However, there’s definitely one field that used to be a great entry-level opportunity for young women that is no longer there – being a secretary. I had a summer job at a small law firm during college, first as a receptionist and then the next summer as a secretary. With that experience I was able to get lots of temp legal secretary jobs right out of college. I could very easily have turned that into a decent-paying career – at least for the next few years, since even then the PC revolution was happening, and by the mid-90’s I probably would have had to find a new career. College students aren’t needed as receptionists anymore, since we now have voice mail and email. Legal secretaries are a vanishing breed since all lawyers now do everything on their own computers – back in the day, they scribbled their briefs on legal pads and the secretaries typed them up (on typewriters, then beginning in the mid-80’s on word processors). I’m sure the same thing is true of non-law fields as well. We hear a lot about how manufacturing jobs have vanished in this country, but I wonder if the same is true of the traditional “pink collar” jobs. (Maybe not – maybe everyone who would have been a secretary back in the day is now an HR assistant or a project associate or something.)</p>
<p>I agree with ucbalumnus – “secretary” is now called “administrative assistant” – and just about any business that maintains offices will need people with that title.</p>
<p>My d’s 2nd job out of college had the title “administrative assistant”. She still has the same job but has now been promoted to “office manager.”</p>
<p>My d. lives and works in NYC. I just searched Indeed listings for NY for “administrative assistant” and there were 6000+ listings, about 3800 of which are considered “new”. </p>
<p>And yes, it is a “pink collar” job – my d. does feel she would have had a leg up in the employment field if she had been male. That being said, she has a huge amount of responsibility in her position and definitely is working in an interesting place. </p>
<p>I’d add that just because a job doesn’t “require” a degree doesn’t mean that the degree isn’t desired or valued. My d’s predecessor in her job and current supervisor has a master’s degree. My d is also currently working on a master’s – she will have a degree in management in 2 years. </p>
<p>My son just earned his master’s and is looking for work. He recently was called back for a 2nd interview with an agency where he had interned, for a position that he is clearly over-qualified for. The interviewers-- who would be his supervisors if he were hired – said that he had the strongest application of anyone they were considering, but they were worried that he was overqualified and were questioning why he was applying for that position. He looked at them and asked, “what position did you start out with here?” One of the interviewers had started as an intern, and another had started with a job driving a truck. My son pointed out that if there was an opening for a job that did match his qualifications – it would probably be filled by promoting someone who already worked for the agency. In the work world, you have to start by getting your foot in the door.</p>
<p>As to the article about “Sally” – it’s hard to know how extensive the problem is because of the use of the metric of whether a job “requires” a degree. (“Almost half of all recent college graduates are working at jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree”) I have a law degree but haven’t used it in 20 years. I earn my livelihood doing things that don’t technically require a degree or a credential – but I sure think it helps to be smart and well-educated. I am sure the same is true for all of those administrative assistants. </p>
<p>S1 send me this yesterday and I think it pertains to both Sally and Joe.: It’s STEM related and directed to the interviewer but it shows what you should expect when looking for a job today.</p>
<p>Sally can’t find a job because Sally has been told over time that she is a princess and can be a ballerina or study ancient histories and that when she goes to college, she can be anything she wants to be. She hasn’t been told about the real world and hasn’t been asked: How much does that pay? Where can you find a job in that? Will you be able to repay your loans with that salary? </p>
<p>My kids hated every time I asked them those questions. The eldest and middle child accused me of being so materialistic and only thinking about the money. I always responded: Okay, how long, after graduation, do you plan on living with us? Should we repaint the '99 car for you when you come back home? How will your future husband and kids fit in this house? That quickly put things in perspective since they have cousins in those exact situations. Now that the eldest is a paid engineer, she appreciates the fact that she has a job, but her liberal arts cousins, unfortunately, don’t. </p>
<p>Additionally, Sally hasn’t been actively looking at jobs during her 4 years at the university because she has been advised by parents to focus on her grades and that she can wait until senior year to look for internships. My friend has a neighbor whose son has been “riding the couch” for 4 years because he majored in Egyptology and can’t find a job. I wonder why? Parents begged him to change majors but child said he wasn’t interested in anything else, apparently neither were the job prospects.</p>
<p>Forgot to add the “MRS” degree for some Sallys. (Hopefully this doesn’t exist anymore).
That’s the term we used in college in 1978! to denote the girls who were afflicted with the “find a husband” disease. I had a classmate who told me that neither she nor her parents cared about her grades because her purpose, at our private university, was to find a husband.
I actually have a sister who told her girls that they “could major in anything they wanted to major in” because their “husbands would be the breadwinners”!<br>
Sally needs to “man up” and be responsible for her own wages.</p>
<p>There are two dozen entry level jobs that a kid with a degree in Egyptology can get- the couch surfing is an excuse. I’ve hired hundreds of Classics majors, Art History majors, History and Literature majors, etc. for entry level jobs. </p>
<p>Yes, some of these jobs are low paying (if you’re comparing them to an entry level job at a hedge fund, for example). But they are the first step on the career ladder. The Media Relations Assistant at the History Channel, or the Education Associate at a museum, or the Archival assistant at a historical site, or the social media/website editor for the Antiques Dealers Association, or the Recruiting Assistant in the HR department at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts all have two things in common- they love “old stuff”, and they understand that being in a professional job with other people who love “old stuff” is a better career strategy than watching Law and Order re-runs.</p>