Posted on 10/15/2010 9:40:56 AM PDT by TigerClaws
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Getting a degree used to be a stepping stone to limitless career opportunities. Now it's more of a hiatus from living under your parents' roof.
Stubbornly high unemployment -- nearly 15% for those ages 20-24 -- has made finding a job nearly impossible. And without a job, there's nowhere for these young adults to go but back to their old bedrooms, curfews and chore charts. Meet the boomerangers.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Don’t you know that TexasFreeper2009 is all-knowing? Bow to knowledge and wisdom, man.
Just wow.
I would have lived in a box first.
I hope you don’t mind my bragging, but I recently sealed a commodities deal and I have other clients backed up. At the moment, I am going to simply pay my way and enjoy the monthly income that comes from these deals. Then get some certifications and THEN my degree.
“This may come as a surprise to you, sir, but those “liberal arts” degrees do have value. I think that a substantial number of people on Wall Street have such degrees. Mine was in political science (I had hoped to go to law school but when the time came I couldn’t afford it) and I got a job as a surety bond underwriter trainee (the firm didn’t hire anyone who didn’t have a college degee).”
I would suggest that today’s job market is very different from when you went to school.
Today, many schools grant degrees where the student has learned next to nothing useful; and many employers are starting to figure this out.
For example, I am familiar with fixed income traders. In 2010, it is hard enough to find an entry level job in finance, and to the extent that a rookie is hired, it is because that candidate had factors that made him stand out. I know that young graduates with degrees such as a BS in Finance (with extensive math) have gone through many applications until finding a job. The chances of a pure liberal arts major (say, history) landing a finance job in this market is just about zero. A Poli-Sci major may need to get a MBA to be competitive.
And another thing: in today’s market, the wide majority (I would estimate at about 90 percent) in this field above the entry level, except for those of older generations (say, over 55) has a graduate degree.
I seriously doubt that you even know what the seven liberal arts are (although I think you will look it up now).
I got one degeee in 1966 and the other in 1975. I am 69 years old.
You are just part of the FR chorus that sings out against those are "educated" in college as opposed to those who are "trained." There is a difference, you know.
That’s not bragging. That’s using your head! Best of luck to you now and in the future.
Ours lived at home and commuted to college. By doing this he was able to save money so that when he did graduate he could move out.
He also kept an “insane” schedule while in graduate school...worked for the college as a TA 2 days a week to earn his tuition, worked the other 3 days at a job in his field, and went to school 3 hours a night, 3 nights a week. It was an awful schedule, but because of that he is able to live on his own now.
It’s kinda tough out in the US right now.
To me, this is no huge surprise, whether children or roommates or what have you, doubling up pools costs and stretches funds.
Which is sort of why I chuckle a bit at Rush when he goes on and on about this happening out here in the rest of America everyday is a kind of economic trench warfare.
Rush is clueless about what most people go through. But at least he is honest.
Well done. It’s not bragging, IMHO. Earning income because of value you provided to a market is completely honorable. My advise (just in case you care) is what I learned from the Bible: one, never fall in love with earning wealth; two, never depend on having a lot of wealth; three, always save some of it; and four, consider it a blessing to be able to give some if it away.
My problem is with the whole concept of college as a training facility, as opposed to providing a country with an educated citizenry. And you touch upon this with this quote:
Today, many schools grant degrees where the student has learned next to nothing useful; and many employers are starting to figure this out.
Don't you see that you have bought into this idea? That "learning next to nothing useful" states succinctly how you see the role of higher education. What a small and limited role that you perceived advanced education to be.
I was simply pointing out that a political science degree was a negotiable commodity, at least once upon a time.
And yes, you could rebut me by my noting that I had intended to use the degree as a stepping stone to law school, which would have given me a profession from which I would benefited economically.
I do like to think, though, that I learned a lot about the society in which I live while in undergraduate school. That was augmented, BTW, by my second degree (in economics).
Gotta run now. That's all I have to say.
Our daughter moved back with us for a few months when she gave up her job in LA. $60K + job was not enough to put up with all the liberal pests. She is now working in Katy TX, and we like having her being within 200 miles of us vs 2,000 miles.
Send your daughter to check out Reno. Reno is desperate for nurses.
Today you can shake any tree in a big city and a dozen unemployed kids with liberal arts degrees will fall out.
I don’t know about NYC, but I do know that when I needed a job, I did the “follow the pay check” plan. Worked for me. Granted when I got out of college, I had a job waiting, paid pretty well too, $112 per day once a month food, minimal housing, clothing and work utensils provided.
85% of college kids did not vote for Obama?
In your immediate social circle perhaps. The fact is:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27525497/
What’s more, young voters may prove to have been the key to Barack Obama’s victory. Young voters preferred Obama over John McCain by 68 percent to 30 percent — the highest share of the youth vote obtained by any candidate since exit polls began reporting results by age in 1976, according to CIRCLE, a non-partisan organization that promotes research on the political engagement of Americans between ages 15 and 25.
I understand your points completely. I often work for a senior executive, extremely sharp, who had a history degree (many years ago), and can cut through mathematical analysis like a knife though butter.
Some degrees are a prerequisite for a license to practice in a particular area (engineering, law, medicine, etc). All degrees, to some extent, help employers solve an information problem—hence the marketability factor of a degree.
Look, it’s not my fault that liberal arts faculty are overrun by left wing loons who no longer teach critical thought and logical discourse. One does not need math to have a logical mind or make a sophisticated argument, take for example Ronald Coase, however, it is the case that to the extent logic is taught at universities today, one is more likely to find it in fields with a concentration of math.
[Please accept my apology if I sound obnoxious, condescending or rude. It’s really not my intent. I have enjoyed the chat very much.]
Generally speaking, it can be a good thing. Family solidarity is a good thing. Depending on each other instead of on taxpayers you never meet personally (in other words on the govt). It can also be a fair tradeoff: you keep me out of credit abyss and bankruptcy court, and I keep you out of Shady Pines.
Not always practical, but I suspect it’s more often practical for all concerned, than any other arrangement.
And you would know that a liberal arts degree is useless because ___I say so____ (fill in the blank).
I didn't say it's "useless." But I do say that it's far less likely to land you a good job in your first years out of college, which was the general gist of the story.
My regrets to hard working FReepers who may be offended. Obviously not every liberal arts major is a Communist, nor is every hard science major a God fearing freedom loving American. But for the sake of the direction of this story, the shoe generally fits. A degree in physics, aerospace or nursing will take you further in your first year after college than something in (for example) black studies or music appreciation.
Edit to my post with the obvious screwup.....
I didn’t say it’s “useless” = I take back the “useless” part,
Fact is, as I penned the reply I didn’t think I’d have said it was useless, but I obviously said it, and it stung a couple of people. Let’s say it’s “less useful” in landing a good job out of college. :)
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