Posted on 07/29/2016 8:05:55 AM PDT by pinochet
If you were to give career advice to a high school student of average intellectual ability (he is not going to medical or engineering school), what kind of advice would it be?
We have a shortage of well-trained car mechanics, plumbers, electricians, painters, roofers, and the like. But we have all these BA graduates walking around jobless.
I saw that guy protesting and afterwards spent 15 minutes cleaning the coffee from my monitor and keyboard. You can't make this stuff up.
I thought that was the cops hauling Bernie off to his first job. LOL.
If the US would cut the H1B visa program and stop letting foreigners with earned American Ph.D.s stay after graduating.
I admire your background, your story is typical of what made America unique and great. I only wish that model still applied. I suspect if one works for a small businessman with vision, it still could. However, anyone who works in Corporate America today unfortunately faces a vastly different environment. They word “Loyalty” is no longer spoken, either by workers or management. Workers spend their days proving their commitment to “diversity” and celebrating deviant sexual lifestyles. Everyone is an instantly disposable commodity. When our islamo-communist-fascist leaders finally achieve their dream of total global domination, this model will be officially extinct, as there will no longer be small businessmen, ambition, pride, work ethics. Only silent compliance, if one knows whats good for them.
Cheer you up yet?
It was never a full time gig with me; I was just an adjunct type who taught for the fun of it and I don’t do it anymore. But you’re right, its a money extraction machine that most businesses would envy. Every year the costs of college go up like clockwork and the schools grow larger and larger with more and more administrative staff. Lots of liberals teach so they love the system/complex that provides them with secure jobs, outsized salaries, and great benefits.
Meanwhile, the kids pass through through the system as if on a conveyor belt and most are sold the notion that any degree will ENTITLE them to a good job. Its a deceptive system but a very lucrative one for those who run it.
“If the US would cut the H1B visa program and stop letting foreigners with earned American Ph.D.s stay after graduating.”
Do you think the locals who are now convinced to become roofers and plumbers will somehow fill the vacancies? If so, that would solve the problem. If not, the STEM departments would disappear. Perhaps the funding can then be routed to local votechs where 10th graders can learn how to plug in wall sockets and carry shingles safely.
It is a question of supply and demand. Take away H-1B visas and salaries for Americans go up. The incentive to study for a STEM degree also goes up. Everything works out for the best. Not hard to figure out.
You get it.
A lot of employers require an undergrad degree.
This is so stupid. It’s just a piece of paper. It’s the high school diploma of yesteryear.
Little secret for people in many states: you don’t need a high school diploma at all. If your state allows you to go to community college at 16, unless you (or your child) are really involved in sports or other high school valuable pursuits, get out after your sophomore year. Go to a community college and get an AA degree. At that point, no one will ever ask you about your high school diploma ever. Greatest secret to avoid a bunch of time wasting for some kids. You can transfer to a university for the next two years or do whatever you want to follow a career.
especially with this generation that requires safety warnings on screw drivers to prevent them from jamming them into their eye sockets
When we bought our stroller it came with a permanent flap with the WARNINGS!!! On it. One warning was “REMOVE CHILD BEFORE FOLDING STROLLER!”
Yes, when I was in college and got a proofreading job at a law firm, they did give a proofreading test first.
“It is a question of supply and demand. Take away H-1B visas and salaries for Americans go up. The incentive to study for a STEM degree also goes up. Everything works out for the best. Not hard to figure out.”
You assume that the locals are not into STEM because of lower salaries, where they are the highest compared to all other fields.
Many are not aware of it and its role in our current situation. Search it up and you’ll see how they played a great role in the Marxist-socialist indoctrination of our schools, unions, media and D party.
Wages for software and engineering are flat for 20 years. I know from first hand experience.
The average salary of a senior software developer in relatively cheap places like Dallas start at around $110k. The average salary for an architect starts at around $120k. Of course, this assumes relevant skill set, which is hardly stagnant. New tech every 5 years. Keep up or die.
Meanwhile, the kids pass through through the system as if on a conveyor belt and most are sold the notion that any degree will ENTITLE them to a good job. Its a deceptive system but a very lucrative one for those who run it.
I have family members and friends who have taught at various colleges... your words ring with truth... Thanks for sharing.
I know very well what you are talking about.
A couple of things:
As you mention, corporate America has its own problems. The further you are from the work, and the further you are from the final customer, the more delusional and fantastical the work environment. That’s not where you want to be if you are the guerrilla fighting your way up the ladder.
Worse than that, even, are companies where the blue collar function is unionized, because the psychological barriers are greater and more vicious. Union guys can be really rough on the guy who is starting to break out from the pack.
There is and always will be a niche... more than a niche, a crying vacuum, for people with blue-collar skills and the ability to move in white collar circles. The wall between those two worlds is quite porous for people with the right skills and personal qualities. You aren’t going to get those, though, trying to advance from cubicle to cubicle. You have to do something that gets you out of that trap.
So, as you mentioned, you can work for a smaller shop where you get to see the whole process, and you get to deal directly with your client. Working your way up through a corporate bureaucracy is frustrating and ultimately pointless; they actually have an invisible ceiling. Getting past that, a guy who ran a small operation is more valuable than the guy who shuffled paper for 20 years in a corporate office.
Everyone’s story is different, and every industry is different, but I have seen it again and again. There is always a need for guys who know how things work, at a practical level, who have the ability to extrapolate from that how the bigger picture works, and who then can sit in a meeting with managers and look like he belongs there.
Its just that the guys who make that jump, after a certain point no one knows or cares what their educational background is.
The original thread was about BA degrees. The problem is that kids graduating with these often can’t find a job... but the actual problem is that they are looking for a certain kind of job which doesn’t exist. Get your degree in Medieval French Literature, and when you can’t find a job as a Corporate Manager, take yourself down to the Navy Recruiter. He’ll know what to do with you, and doors will open you would never dream of. Or take your degree in History and go to work on the assembly line and work your way up. You will, in the medium to long run, do better than the guy who started a couple of rungs above you on the ladder but does not have your understanding of the overall processes.
I fully acknowledge that God has opened doors for me over the years, but I also know that I was not unique. I also know that if I had understood better what it was that made me valuable I would have gone further than I did. You just have to be willing to get mud on your boots; be willing to get out from under the corporate hierarchy. Don’t worry what the corporate dweebs are doing, they are doomed anyway.
Cheers
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