Seems like an English degree would open more doors for her.
A BS/BA degree means that you are trainable for future position of increasing authority/responsibility.
Also, the degree which one attains directly relates to one's initial salary level.
If you get a BA in basket-weaving, don't expet to get a salary like someone who majored in Finance and gets a Job as a Jr. investment banker with Salomon Bros.
The short-sightedness here is surprising. What one starts out with in a career doesn't necessarily predict what you will be doing in 5 years. As I see it, a degree is something that just cuts past another people.
--the market triumphs again---
If she'd spent her time studying real science instead of "social science," she could have had a good job.
Putting social in front of any word negates its meaning -- Social Science, Social Work...
The difference between science and the fuzzy subjects is that science requires reasoning, while those other subjects merely require scholarship.
ROBERT HEINLEIN
The second half of this editorial explains the general problem. It is lack of self-motivation/discipline as is the problem. No college degree or other formal education can overcome lack of motivation/discipline.
The second half of this editorial should have been the headline instead of the fluff title.
"reminded me that she "really didn't do this" for a living."
Strippers say the same things.
Oh, I'm putting myself through college.
4 years full time at Bucknell: $100,000
degree: liberal arts
two years later: teaching high school (law degree for a few)
4 years full time at Penn State: $10,000
degree: accounting
two years later: passing CPA exam and practicing accounting
Entry level salaries suck... It's true you can make more money doing other things, like working at UPS..
But five to ten years later, it swings the other way.
And if you make it to directorship, it swings big time..
College grads need to have realistic expectations that they will have to put in time to get more money.. If they are too focused on "now" money, then college may not be required..
(But college is a good insurance plan, many white collar jobs require a degree -- any degree.)
Spending $150k on a degree, however, is excessive unless one has definitive plans to excel in school and after. If one just wants a job, then community/state college is fine.
Gives a new (nonsensical) meaning to the phrase "College Degree Required", doesn't it.
I attended an ROP (regional occupational program) in high school for electronics lab tech assistant. I performed well and was able to get work experience at a large electronics company, then later hired at 6.35 an hour in 1984, pretty good money then for an 18 year old. I am still in the industry doing well financially. College is NOT the only way. In fact for *some* people in may be wasting valuable time. For others it is the best choice. Everyone is different.
""I can make, like, twice what I'd make as a social worker waiting tables," she confided, "so I'm probably going to just stay here.""
Ding ding ding. Its great that she can't look past the next 6 months a realize that she'll never progress past a waitress or shift leader.
Having ANY BS degree in college virtually guarantees a $25k a year job in SOMETHING. My brother started an engineering job for 30k in 1996 when he graduated college and now makes over $300k a year as VP. Heck, I know people that start at 25k-30k with business degrees from ho hum state colleges that make over $50k after 4 years and now they're on the cusp to make upper management jumps in a few more years. That's a good wage for 20 somethings in south (obviously northern or western states require more income).
People need to get the idea out of their heads that they'll live like Paris hilton the day they graduate from college. There's a lot of time to build a very successful career in 5-15 years out of college. The six figure incomes just take time.
Hey this guy writes for my favorite motorcycle mag, "Iron Works". Always enjoy his columns there, have to check this out...
Apprenticeship at a trade union would cover employability. A liberal arts college degree puts one in the herd of unskilled laborers.
Like, really?
Social Worker = good bucks?
She must have skipped that appointment with her high school guidance counselor.