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1 in 2 new graduates are jobless or underemployed
Associated Press ^ | April 24, 2012 | HOPE YEN

Posted on 04/27/2012 7:24:15 AM PDT by Academiadotorg

WASHINGTON (AP) — The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work.

A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don't fully use their skills and knowledge.

Young adults with bachelor's degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs — waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example — and that's confounding their hopes a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans.

An analysis of government data conducted for The Associated Press lays bare the highly uneven prospects for holders of bachelor's degrees.

Opportunities for college graduates vary widely.

While there's strong demand in science, education and health fields, arts and humanities flounder. Median wages for those with bachelor's degrees are down from 2000, hit by technological changes that are eliminating midlevel jobs such as bank tellers. Most future job openings are projected to be in lower-skilled positions such as home health aides, who can provide personalized attention as the U.S. population ages.

Taking underemployment into consideration, the job prospects for bachelor's degree holders fell last year to the lowest level in more than a decade.

"I don't even know what I'm looking for," says Michael Bledsoe, who described months of fruitless job searches as he served customers at a Seattle coffeehouse. The 23-year-old graduated in 2010 with a creative writing degree.

(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature; Business/Economy; Education; History
KEYWORDS: college; graduates; jobprospects
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1 posted on 04/27/2012 7:24:19 AM PDT by Academiadotorg
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To: Academiadotorg

43% of last years, 38% the year before. And about 63% live with their parents. THE GREAT SOCIETY!!! Way to many degrees in NOTHING!


2 posted on 04/27/2012 7:27:08 AM PDT by Why So Serious (There is no cure for stupidity!!!)
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To: Academiadotorg

Most owe tens of thousands of dollars in student loans from their nanny government, too. Lots of luck, grads. You are starting out way behind.


3 posted on 04/27/2012 7:28:16 AM PDT by txrefugee
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To: Academiadotorg

43% of last years, 38% the year before. And about 63% live with their parents. THE GREAT SOCIETY!!! Way to many degrees in NOTHING!


4 posted on 04/27/2012 7:29:46 AM PDT by Why So Serious (There is no cure for stupidity!!!)
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To: txrefugee
Most owe tens of thousands of dollars in student loans from their nanny government, too. Lots of luck, grads. You are starting out way behind.

Plus, potential employers are not impressed when they find out a candidate funded their education through loans, instead of working their way through college.

5 posted on 04/27/2012 7:31:03 AM PDT by dfwgator (Don't wake up in a roadside ditch. Get rid of Romney.)
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To: Academiadotorg
"I don't even know what I'm looking for," says Michael Bledsoe, who described months of fruitless job searches as he served customers at a Seattle coffeehouse. The 23-year-old graduated in 2010 with a creative writing degree.

You mean you didn't get an education suited towards the career you wanted? If you got a creative writing degree, you should be looking for a job...where you write creatively.

Apparently the critical thinking class has been cancelled at the local college. At the very least the barista should be offering a resume writing service to his customers...

6 posted on 04/27/2012 7:35:07 AM PDT by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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To: Academiadotorg

“The 23-year-old graduated in 2010 with a creative writing degree.”

There ya go..is this the new fancy diploma for capuccino maker?


7 posted on 04/27/2012 7:35:11 AM PDT by max americana
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To: Academiadotorg
Contrary to the article, healthcare jobs are becoming scarce too. This is excerpt from an email from a friend who is a dean of medicine at a prestigious eastern university:

“Saw this in our local newspaper as well. Frightening, as we are about to send our first to college. Have you heard about law school graduates suing their universities for misleading them about employment statistics? I've heard Wake Forest Law used to boast a 90% employment figure prior to graduation - it is now only about 10%. Last year our neighborhood swim team had a Wake law grad as our part-time coach. How's that for “underemployed”?

Get ready for huge healthcare layoffs as well. Medicare and Medicaid payments are supposed to be slashed by 27% over the next 3 years. Private insurance uses these payments as benchmarks, so consider it more of a 25% across the board cut for healthcare. Sounds great if you are the payor, not so great if you are a practice owner or manager.

Our neighbor, a family practice physician, just resigned after working 15-17 hour days for the past 4 months with no relief in sight. Reimbursements for primary caregivers are too low to operate a practice, so they are told to “see more”. However, how can you provide quality care in under 10 minutes per patient? Don't forget that you must document every thought, feeling, and action so you don't get sued for “missing something”.

Have you seen how much the electronic medical record, so touted in the last election, has improved healthcare??
Are you wallowing in the savings yet??”

8 posted on 04/27/2012 7:35:20 AM PDT by ROLF of the HILL COUNTRY
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To: kingu

Seems to me people of any major should be able to write well, why do they need a degree solely for writing? Write what?


9 posted on 04/27/2012 7:36:19 AM PDT by dfwgator (Don't wake up in a roadside ditch. Get rid of Romney.)
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To: Academiadotorg

What the hell is a Creative Writing Degree?


10 posted on 04/27/2012 7:36:38 AM PDT by spookie
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To: Academiadotorg

11 posted on 04/27/2012 7:40:07 AM PDT by pabianice (ame with)
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To: spookie

It is a degree for people who want to be novelists, playwrights, or scriptwriters, but who lack the talent.


12 posted on 04/27/2012 7:40:46 AM PDT by achilles2000 ("I'll agree to save the whales as long as we can deport the liberals")
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To: Academiadotorg

But they never report what all these degrees are in. Are they in some technical field or Creative Writing (professional resume writers)?? I saw on BBC where one employer was wanting all the computer design or software people he could find. History or Classical Studies don’t cut it.


13 posted on 04/27/2012 7:41:07 AM PDT by SkyDancer ("Talent Without Ambition Is Sad - Ambition Without Talent Is Worse")
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To: Academiadotorg

I love how the title says “1 out of 2”

It throws people off that aren’t good in math :)

I dare them to write “Half of...” LOL


14 posted on 04/27/2012 7:42:26 AM PDT by libertarian27 (Check my profile page for the FReeper Online Cookbook 2011)
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To: Academiadotorg

Good.

Let’s see if they can figure out why...


15 posted on 04/27/2012 7:44:42 AM PDT by chris37 (Heartless.)
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To: spookie

16 posted on 04/27/2012 7:44:50 AM PDT by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)
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To: Academiadotorg
Become a Doctor of Social Justice! Go to riots, protest Whitey, attend sit-ins, read screeds from history's greatest communists and America-haters, demand Israel be destroyed, demand slavery reparations, assault campus conservatives! All this can be yours, probably tuition-free if you are of an Officially Oppressed Minority. Once a doctor, you will be in high demand by NBC and CBS to appear on their networks and condemn America for not giving you a $200K/year job. Apply today!!
17 posted on 04/27/2012 7:45:58 AM PDT by pabianice (ame with)
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To: dfwgator
Plus, potential employers are not impressed when they find out a candidate funded their education through loans, instead of working their way through college.

I see so many businesses requiring degrees. I'm not sure how else they expect their potential candidates to pay for the OUTRAGEOUS prices charged by these overpaid insitutions. I could see 30k or 40k over 4-6 years being worked off, but 100k? It's ridiculous. These insitutions of higher learning should be forced to pay it back.

At the same time, I can't blame anyone who's not impressed with someone's six figure school loan debt, I know I'm not. A few members in my family are in this exact situation and they continue to borrow more. It's insane.

18 posted on 04/27/2012 7:46:44 AM PDT by CommieCutter
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To: Academiadotorg

Well maybe if our colleges stopped acting as leftist indoctrination factories, companies would be more willing to hire. Companies want to MAKE money, not give it to the freakin’ government. Putting “Marxism” as an interest on your resume doesn’t quite cut it.


19 posted on 04/27/2012 7:49:06 AM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (From the dough tree we get donuts.)
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To: libertarian27

If it were Bush: 50% of graduates can’t find jobs, 4 Times the national unemployment rate.


20 posted on 04/27/2012 7:49:06 AM PDT by CommieCutter
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