College graduates serve me and my crew in restaurants and bars.
I don’t know. I certainly agree that a lot of what’s offered in liberal arts today is b.s. And I agree that college loan debt is a trap that should be avoided. But as a job-hunter the way I see it, is that too many jobs that were done by high school grads 30 or 40 years ago are now demanding college degrees. I’m thinking of things like in the social work field, but not limited to that. I call it “education inflation”. Starting your own business may be an antidote, but just as not everybody is cut out for college(or home ownership, as we found out during the mortgage crisis), not everybody is cut out for running his or her own business.
Rush Limbaugh has talked about “education inflation” on his show though he doesn’t call it that. He believes that it’s just an arbitrary thing that HR depts use to screen people out when they receive so many responses to an opening— they could just as easily screen them out by the firstletter of their name, whether they lived on the odd or even number side of the street, etc. But if the listing asks for applicants to have a degree, are there that many people who ignore the minimum requirements of what they’re applying for? A friend has a theory that they would really like to use IQ tests in the hiring process, but can’t so require college instead. I have a hard time believing that they’d really want to use IQ tests or scores, but I’d rather take one of those than the damn personality tests which I always flunk. I have never once been called for an interview after Ive done a personality test because my personality sucks.
I’ve heard Michael Medved say that some college is worse than none too because it makes you look like a quitter. OK, I dropped out, but I learned a lot from the classes I did take and am a more well-rounded person, etc. so what Medved said bothered me. My advice and what I wish I had done, is the Tommy Boy plan. Chris Farleys character in the movie Tommy Boy took 9 years to get a 4 year degree but he kept at it. So if its health, money issues, having to stop to work, have babies, change majors, change schools, just keep at it with no apologies. It worked for Sarah Palin.
260,000 college graduates work minimum wage jobs
Emily Jane Fox (CNNMoney)
Monday, March 31, 2014 - 10:24am
NEW YORK (CNNMONEY) — If you thought paying tens of thousands of dollars for a college education guaranteed a high-paying job, think again.
About 260,000 people who had a college or professional degree made at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Things may be looking up a little, though — it’s the smallest number since 2008. The worst year was 2010, when the number skyrocketed to 327,000.
http://www.fox44.com/news/260000-college-graduates-work-minimum-wage-jobs
I retired from the army in 1986, went to college and earned my BA. After over a year of job hunting I realized there was no demand for a man in his 40s with over 20 years of service and a brand new degree. I gave up and delivered pizza. Several drivers also had degrees, one had a PHD.
I have several friends and acquaintances who own their own businesses and are doing very well. None have a degree. Trade schools and apprenticeships seem the way to go.