Posted on 12/29/2007 4:25:58 PM PST by SeekAndFind
.S. News & World Report, which has made a name for itself by ranking and announcing the best colleges every year, is now ranking and listing the best careers for young people. A comparison of the latest lists shows a shocking disconnect and makes for dispiriting holiday reading.
While the price of a college education has skyrocketed far faster than inflation, many careers for which colleges prepare their graduates are disappearing. U.S. News' Best Careers guide concludes, "college grads might want to consider blue-collar careers" because bachelor's degree holders "are having trouble finding jobs that require college-graduate skills."
Incredibly, U.S. News is telling college graduates to look for jobs that do not require a college diploma. Among the 31 best opportunities for 2008 are the careers of firefighter, hairstylist, cosmetologist, locksmith and security-system technician.
Where did the higher-skill jobs go? Both large and small companies are "quietly increasing off-shoring efforts."
Ten years ago, we were told we really didn't need manufacturing because it can be done more cheaply elsewhere, that auto workers and others should move to information-age jobs. But now the information jobs are moving offshore, too, as well as marketing research and even many varieties of innovation.
The flight overseas includes professional as well as low-wage jobs, with engineering jobs offshored to India and China. Thousands of bright Asian engineers are willing to work for a fraction of U.S. wages, which is why Boeing just signed a 10-year, $1 billion-a-year deal with a government-run company in India.
Society has been telling high school students that college is the ticket to get a life, and politicians are pandering to parents' desire for their children to be better educated and so have a higher standard of living.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
Place I worked at hired only 4 year grads. They said it didn't matter what their major was, only that the applicant had demonstrated the ability to complete a major project.
bmflr
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According to Intrade, the winner of the December 12th GOP debate was... Duncan Hunter.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1938773/posts
Why the smart money is on Duncan Hunter
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1926032/posts
In this poll Hunter is up 3% and even with Paul and Thompson.
http://www.wxyz.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=3481ef60-8195-46a9-af04-b87b907bcfdd
GT must be an outstanding school. You turned out to be a conservative, didn’t you?
You're right.
They're actually bureaucracy certifications.
They filed because they have diversity officers and quotas (oh can you use that word?)
Olin only has 75 freshmen. It, too, is tuition free. I'll mention Cooper. I think he will also be applying to Harvey Mudd. He's looking for the best financial aid package.
You are absolutely correct. I've been an employer and I can tell you that the quality that is far more important than education is attitude. Give me a high school drop out with the right attitude over a college grad with a bad attitude anytime.
Interesting.
Thanks. I do appreciate intelligent Freeper opinions.
Excellent point.
I have nothing but disgust for any company that bases it promotional practices strictly on one's educational level............
The best people I have worked for or observed in the manufacturing environment came from the ranks, not from the classrooms..........And for the record, those who came from the classrooms were just plain idiots and ultimately moved on to some other company searching for educated idiots and willing to pay them more than what my company was paying. Thank God..........
NO More Calls, Please.
We have a winner!
Cheers!
...oh, and Merry Christmas.
10-15 years down the line that blue collar 80-150 an hour underwater welder/ or skyscraper welder will star to get severe back problems, maybe hypoxia one too many times and the guy going for his contractors license had a great physique until he fell off a roof for the one jerkwad that didn't cover insurance. Meanwhile all the money or assets they saved is going to injuries, a ruined marriage or whatever else happens when the money isn't flowing and that degree he/she could have worked for 10-15 years ago seems like a distant flame...time to start all over if you can
Maybe the person with the masters doesn't like their job after 10-15 years, the resume still looks good and going back to school for another year or two can not only reinforce the persons first degree but maybe gain a crossover job, and the only injury that person is going to get is carpal tunnel syndrome and stress meds for working with idiots you dream about...eh, just my imagination ha.
I suppose I was fortunate because I had blue collar work, and was a martial arts teacher but also had a white collar job and studied enough that when my body did go, my pension may not have been great but now after retirement I can go back to school for a few years at my leisure and get another degree all on the gov't bill. hands on blue collar work is great money but if it's physical at all you have a time limit to either get behind a desk or suffer the aches and pains when the body goes or there just isn't any place to go in the business without some college skills. My white collar job in Arch /engineering( structural engineer) was back burner for awhile but after retiring, I'm now returning to the engineering( bored of retirement) and I'll be in demand once i brush up on my math, finish a bundle of computer aided classes and I'll have a second degree, plus a second pension in a few years time. These guys are lying to folks if they are telling people to not go to college...t may be a PIA and maybe you won't make a return for a few years but it's well worth it in the long run, just have to choose your career wisely, and one you are happy in makes all the difference in the world when you know it'll take awhile to climb the ladder.
I wouldn’t mind doing work for a t-shirt factory, BTW. We can’t all be diplomats and managers for long.
Thank you for all of your advice. Have a very Happy New Year!
GLB, here’s my wish for a Happy Gainfully-Employed-In-Career-Of-Choice New Year to you!
My son is a Biomedical Engineering student at Vanderbilt. The starting salaries for BME’s are in the range of $55-60k/yr. Here is what the VU website says about placement:
“* Of the graduates who sought employment, 95 percent had jobs within six months of graduation.
* After graduation, 20 percent of graduates go to on to graduate school and 15 percent go to professional schools.”
His BME friends at NC State and UVa say the results are very similar at their schools.
BME is more difficult to offshore due to FDA issues. But, my son researched the placement data BEFORE he applied to college since I said he was on his own on Graduation Day +1.
Thanks :) !!
Happy New Year and hang in there.
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