Posted on 04/04/2006 9:58:28 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
Credentials do not guarantee a good job. Work ethic and the desire to be successful does in my opinion. The but I am above those people and should make more crowd may have not put the effort into their job that the seemingly lower blue collar worker did.
I believe that college can waste someones time and money if they are not focused on a worthwhile practical goal.
There is an education industry in this country that feeds itself. It is way too expensive, way too much nonsense taught having nothing to do with what someone needs to know for their career, and I dont even have to explain the political bias we all know.
I've been through similar; my whole life growing up everyone said go into science and you'll have a wonderful career... but the truth is that the US employment base is not focused on technology development or science for profit, it is focused on services... There aren't enough careers for all these scientists, the best bet is to look for the number one employers-- the federal government or academia... for those who detest socialism in all it's forms, this makes for tough choices. She could try to start her own business, but since her education didn't prepare her for that it may not be as easy as it sounds. I do wish our education system counselled students on the reality, rather than what they think is best for society. My best friend (PhD ten years, over a hundred scientific publications in molecular biology, brilliant man and EXTREMEMLY hard working) just turned forty two and has never made over $38,000 a year... reminds me of Germany before the war... the train conductors and factory workers made 4 to 5 times as much as PhD's, which led to a new kind of socialism for the educated class; the "betters" to oversee the "workers"-- you and I know it as National Socialism... my point being a disaffected professional class and/or middle class historically has led to ruinous forms of government.
On this one you're wrong. There is a large demand for Pharmacists and it's expected to get worse.
The key statement (IMO) in the article is:
" But often it seems as if the job market isn't able to absorb all the advanced-degree holders at the pace colleges and universities are churning them out"
The fact is that the US is cranking out way too many PhDs. The demand's just not there. A few departments know this and take students every other year, but most just rake in the $$ from the state/fed govt and save a TON of money getting teachers on the cheap.
You'd like this one A.Pole.
If nobody wants to pay you to do what you're trained for, you should probably look into doing something else.
Bingo! Diversification.
I have a degree in Medieval History and am academically qualified for only one possible career in the United States - teaching Medieval History.
But I retrained myself on my own for the real job market and I'm doing quite well.
This woman's whining is pathetic. If you have a working brain you can get a good job in the US. Unless you're lazy.
An overspecialized education is a guarantee of perpetual employment woes. Her problem is that she probably does not want to go to work for a petrochem co or a defense contractor where her chemistry degree would have wider application. I have worked with guys with a Phd in nuclear physics who had specialized in weapons making, but decided that there was more of a future in power plants. The same with guys who had graduate degrees in Chemical Engineering working in the power industry.
Either that or a matter of him not knowing what he wanted to be when he grew up. :)
Your has a lot of talent, what gets me is if someone cannot secure and hold a job as a chemist what makes them think they can be a plumber, carpenter or a mason?
"Holy smoke, where did all those roofers come from?"
We are discussing what she should have done in the first place, not what she should do now. If you can put up with living in New York or London for a while, the demand for big-brained people is considerable: Quantitative Analytics jobs
Yes, my son is fortunate to be talented in many areas, but I understand what you're saying. There needs to be a much higher regard for those careers without which this country would fall apart.
And there you go. I'm a freelance softare engineer, successfully and gainfully self-employed, working on custom software projects for a large corporation out of the comfort of my own home.
And all the "creds" I have are a high school diploma. With a little bit of talent, some luck, lots of self-training and a larger amount of personal initiative, there is plenty of opportunity out there.
I gather you don't believe in punctuation. Your comment was a bit difficult to follow -- but I got it -- after two or three reads.
Good, you get an A for effort.
This really makes me wonder about this person's decision to get a PhD, which shouldn't be a degree you just blindly pursue. With such an advanced degree in chemistry, you'd better be in parts of the country that value it--pharmaceuticals on the East Coast, the defense industry, West Coast R&D, etc.
There are places in this country where her degree is valued, but she can't just show up in Anytown, USA, wave her sheepskin, and expect to be hired.
Even still, I would expect that with a little resourcefulness, she could live just about anywhere, and write, or consult with other companies and projects.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.