Posted on 11/15/2012 9:00:48 PM PST by Lorianne
video 5:04
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I would not have my job today without my Bachelor’s Degree. However, I didn’t need my Master’s Degree to have the job I have today. But you never know what you may need another job with a requirement for a Master’s Degree so to have it is just security or insurance. I don’t think you can ever have too much education. Experience helps a lot too. Problem with college kids today is that they do not want to start at the bottom of the ladder and work up. They want to start mid-level as a first job and that is just not going to happen. Having a degree (no matter the major) is a step ahead. It will AT LEAST get you a look by the hiring agency or HR Department.
“Hustle, determination, research and guts count for a lot more than most people are willing to give credit.”
In the “before-times” that was certainly true; nowadays with gloabalization anyone earning high 5-figure salaries have forces working furiously behind the scenes to either 1) move that job elsewhere or 2) import Asian coolies to do it for less. While I was in college (early 1990s) business professors told us we wouldn’t have the standard of living our parents did, and that the Wal-Mart operating model would dominate in the future; nowadays one has to be very careful about how they invest in education.
While I was in school the big accounting firms would send recruiters to meet with “NABA” (National Association of Black Accountants) to discuss careers; the much larger (and whiter) Accounting Society was ignored...
“Problem with college kids today is that they do not want to start at the bottom of the ladder and work up. They want to start mid-level as a first job and that is just not going to happen.”
Young white males aren’t even offered the jobs at the bottom of the ladder; those that can get them have little chance of advancing (regardless of the quality & quantity of their work). Instead, an affirmative action token (ethnic minority or female) with vaguely-defined responsibilities (and even more vague job skills) will be their supervisor and be credited for their work...
“Change to Finance.”
I understand what you’re saying, but the financial industry is also being handed to Asians. The external audit firm I work with sends foreigners to do auditing & consulting work that many Americans are qualified to do; besides 2 American females, they sent a Filipino, and Indian, and a Canadian. None of the foreigners were CPAs, and they didn’t cost much less than Americans - but they can be forced to work 80 hours per week.
Hubby and I both have degrees, he has 2 masters and I am working on mine.
We still, however, can’t seem to break above the mid 100K’s. It takes owning your own business, I feel, to really make decent money — or to be politically connected somehow, or to be in the hard sciences — engineering, medical, etc.
I feel if one learned a skill, worked in it for a while, then opened up a business — say a plumbing or electrical of some kind, you could do much better in life, remain in one location (because moving costs money and buying/selling homes constantly now can put one in the poor house) and have a better quality of life, be more involved in one’s community, etc.
I enjoyed college for the time it allowed me to mature and grow intellectually ... but I’m not sure those who didn’t go aren’t doing as well as we are. My husband’s sister, who was always the biggest GOOF in college, dropped out even once or twice, now owns a carpet laying biz with her equally goofy husband, and they live in a palace compared to us. They are the business owners ... of course, they could go belly up in this economy and be moving in with us at some point ...
My son is a senior in the EE program at Western Carolina University....currently Cum Laude.... not bad for a Football player....
I’m a EE....
I told him when he went to college choose a degree that is also a career.....
Unemployment for EE’s is about 2.8% out of college...
Good luck on your degree, you will never be unemployed unless you choose to be....
I admire the achievers, be they educated or not. Obviously not all have the entrepreneurial spirit, so college supposedly plants them in a “good” job just for going. As many here have said, that’s bunk now with globalization.
If you strip away “wants”’ we really have very few “needs”’ and uneducated, average, scmoes in the millions have decent lives without six figure incomes. Factor in faith in a Living God and you can walk into a coliseum of lions, penniless, looking like the refuse of Earth and surprisingly be proved to be one of THE most “successful” people of all time...at the real Graduation Day.
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,—1Cor. 1:27
I have an M.D., a degree where the earnings are expected to go down, not up. Obamacare is adding millions of people to the rolls but actually discourages new Medical Doctorate degrees, while encouraging those who are near the end of their career anyway, to go ahead and retire.
It’ll never work folks, government will eventually be making the decisions about who is worthy of medical care and who isn’t but I believe just about everybody here already knows that.
“It depends. I go to University of Florida, and tuition is cheap. I also get to use my GI Bill. Lastly, I’m going for Electrical Engineering...so I’d say yes for me.”
Funny, my oldest kid did something similar. No GI Bill (thank you for your service), but 2 years in Community College, then finished up with an engineering degree at a local state college. No debt, employers knocking, affordable tuition.
Bottom line - parents may not realize this (and most parents that I know don’t), but if they’re paying ANYTHING for junior’s college (or, God-forbid, co-signing loans), they hold veto power and absolute control over what junior does there - even though their kids are adults by then. Of course parents can go AWOL and just give the kids 10s of thousands of dollars and let them do what they want - but parents DO NOT have to. College, to me, is simply a glorified vocational school. The days of learning life’s deeper secrets were gone the minute liberals took them over.
Only a few Engineers make it without college.
“I have an M.D., a degree where the earnings are expected to go down, not up.”
Now they are. I’m sure when you got the degree, it was very prestigious, or at least certainly when you started med school (if you’re young).
I told my kids that the doctor/lawyer route was off the table as far as getting bucks from dad. Doctor-route, for what you mentioned - the government takeover - it was obvious, even 15 years ago, that the Dems were simply buying time, waiting for the stars to line up. They got their alignment. For lawyers, it’s simply a crappy job with way too much supply, versus demand - causing at least half of law school graduates to make less than starting truck drivers.
I’m in my last year. I want to work in the power industry, not the tech fields. I also have a TS/SCI and I’m lucky enough to have some good connections. I appreciate the advice.
Go Gators.
Engineering is quite a bit more difficult, but worth it. (I hope) I’d like to go to the management side of the house ASAP.
When I decided I wanted to be a military officer and pilot, a 4 year college degree was/is mandatory. So I got the easiest degree I could to fill that square. No, the degree itself has made no difference in my life. The pilot training and experience has allowed a great career. The key to a good future is gaining a good technical skill that can’t be outsourced. Whether that is elevator repair, welding, pilot, or hazardous chemical trucking doesn’t matter. All are needed and pay well and won’t be outsourced.
Did those NABA accountants wind up running Arthur Andersen?
Thank you. I wish your son the best of luck.
We “un-degreed” employees in the office spent a lot of time doing two things: (1) Laughing at the idiots who had degrees but couldn’t perform simple tasks, and (2) fixing their horrendous mistakes. Their degrees were in fluff subjects.
I’m not saying that all degrees are worthless, as DH has a PhD in Physics, is successful and highly respected in his profession, and makes a very good living.
There’s a huge difference in having a degree in the hard sciences and a degree in fluff.
I started off in Community College. Stayed there until I earned my AA, then transferred. Wound up saving some money, and got plenty of individual attention.
I read many of the classical literature books on my own...I don’t need to pay some dirty lib for his opinion. If you have a Kindle, you can go to Amazon.com, and they have hundreds of free books. Most of them are the classics.
There will always be stories like that, but I’d say if you take a large enough sampling the college guy wins. It all depends on personality and work ethic. I’d love to be my own boss someday.
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