Does anyone else have an adult, post-college, child having a difficult time finding a job they can support themselves on? My 24 year old son finished college with a fairly general degree. He works full time but isn’t making enough to move out on his own in California. He would need a graduate degree to earn a decent living in the field his degree is in. He is daunted by another three years of school while living with his parents. He’s considered changing gears, possibly going into law enforcement, but truthfully he doesn’t have a passion for it. When I graduated from college there were entry level jobs one could get with any degree where you could get your foot in the door and learn. My son is smart and personable, but not terribly academic. His undergrad grades were mediocre. His younger sister, 22, is doing very well in her field, which I think is disheartening for him. Thoughts?
Life in California is expensive. There are kids with the same degrees/GPA/jobs living in St. Louis or Des Moines or Tulsa who live on their own (or with a roommate) and are on a path to financial independence. So that is definitely a factor.
What does he want to do with his life? There are still entry level jobs where you can get your foot in the door- he can look at the hospitality industry (hotel, airline, rental car, cruise ship, theme park) where any degree qualifies you for jobs leading to management. Ditto retail, credit card, insurance.
I don’t think the issue is finding the job with the living wage- it’s figuring out what he wants to do with his life. The rest will follow!
Being open to relocating is huge for new grads btw… the perfect job might be in Charlotte or Salt Lake or San Antonio… and understanding how that dynamic works is important for all of you…
And what is a general degree??? And is he working with the career services folks at his university???
Thank you for your thoughtful reply! His degree is in kinesiology. If he were going to go down the graduate school path, he’d be interested in pursuing possibly physical therapy. His undergrad grades would be an impediment to graduate school, plus he would need to complete a host of prerequisites. He became an emt with the plan to possibly pursue law enforcement, but his heart really isn’t in it. He works as an emt and part time as a personal trainer, but he doesn’t make enough to support himself in Southern California. He’s having an existential crisis. Which I think is ok when you’re 24, but I’d love to give him some suggestions.
What are his hobbies? Can he somehow do something connected with them?
He’s obsessed with weightlifting and strength training and competes in those types of sports.
Bucket one- Allied health. Radiology tech, OT, PT assistant. He should look at your local community colleges to see which certificate programs look interesting. Cheaper than grad school and he’ll be ready for a job when he leaves.
Bucket two- Hospitality. Working part time as a trainer is a nice segue into Hotel/theme park/cruise . He’s already demonstrating customer service and people skills. The big chains hire and train.
Bucket three- anything he can do on an accelerated track. Coding academy (a job paying $80K after a 17 week or so investment?), certificate in big data analysis, a social media bootcamp… there are lots of these programs around.
He’s certainly entitled to an existential crisis at age 24, as long as he’s got a solid plan to emerge from it at age 26 or so with a roadmap!!!
Another option: go for a teaching credential to become a physical education teacher in schools.
That’s not a bad idea either. I’ll have him look into that.
If OT mean occupational therapy, that profession’s entry level degree is now a master’s degree.
We are resigned to our kids never being able to live here in NorCal because it’s too expensive. The contrast between some of S’s friends who continue to need parental support to live in LA and D’s friends who stayed in Salt Lake City and are making it on their own (even with a lower salary) is pretty notable. Some of his LA friends are relocating to cheaper places in the Mountain West for precisely that reason.
So can your son apply for EMT jobs in a less costly location that he might find interesting? And if he doesn’t want to stay in that field then branch out once he’s got used to living on his own.
Neighbor of mine is working as an OT aide in an assisted living facility with just a BA in kinesiology…she’s trying to decide if it’s worth investing in a Master’s… not earning a lot but it’s a real job with benefits…health insurance, paid vacation, etc. Seems better than multiple part time jobs, no?
That’s a possibility. It’s daunting to move alone to a new area, especially without a strong career path. Emts make $19 an hour. Not a living wage in Southern California, but maybe it is elsewhere. Obviously he’d still need to have a long term plan where he could advance in a career.
I believe to be an OT aide he’d need to go back and get an associates degree. I’m not sure it makes sense to spend two years getting an associates degree when you already have a bachelors degree to still not make a living wage. I could be looking at it wrong. Becoming a certified emt was kind of the same thing, but he was thinking it was a stepping stone into a public service career, but he’s having a change of heart.
You said he was considering law enforcement but does not seem to be that interested in it. But, along those lines, what about firefighter?
I live in an urban part of the Northeast- and know lots of EMT’s. None of them do it full time…real estate agents, school teachers, guy who owns a small appliance repair business… basically people with scheduling flexibility in their fulltime jobs who want to “give back”.
I don’t know if you can support yourself as an EMT in less expensive places, but for sure not around where I live! They do it for the love of the community, not the money (but it’s a nice moonlighting type of job).
He’s explored that and done some ride alongs. He’s not sure it’s for him. It’s also extremely competitive and could take years to get on a fire department. He would likely need to become a paramedic to get a fire job and he’s not sure he wants to go down that path.
OP-- I’m happy to spitball ideas all day- but the key to all of this is your son. What does he want to do? I could send you links to coding academies or google certificate programs where he could be earning $80K with benefits by Xmas… but if he’d hate a desk job, that’s a bad idea.
Has he looked at the building trades?
Yes agree it’s hard to relocate without support. Does he have college friends or relatives in a cheaper part of the country? Is there a place that you’ve gone for vacation regularly that he really likes?
I think that for a job that is not strongly location based then it’s better to target the location first (and perhaps be open to a wider range of related jobs) rather than take a scattershot approach and see where you end up.
We live in Wisconsin and this summer my D is doing an internship in the Bay Area. The cost of living difference is shocking. She’ll be a senior this year so she might be looking for work if she decides not to go straight on to grad school. We have been talking to her a LOT about location because she’s learned from going to school in the south and now being in California that she feels happier somewhere without such serious winters. We’ve talked about the trade off in lifestyle vs. what you can get for your dollar. Just this weekend she was trying to find something at a grocery store that was out of stock. I located it online at Whole Foods in her town. When I switched the location to our local Whole Foods the price dropped 20%. So yes, location makes a big difference!
I’d love some links if you’d like to message me. He really doesn’t know what he wants to do, which is kind of the problem. He’d like to move out of his parents house, but that’s not really a career objective, lol.