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Another Article about Recent Grads and the bad Economy
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sallymonster



Joined: 06 Feb 2010
Location: Seattle area

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:34 am    Post subject: Another Article about Recent Grads and the bad Economy Reply with quote

Came across this today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/fashion/recent-college-graduates-wait-for-their-real-careers-to-begin.html?pagewanted=all%3Fsrc%3Dtp&smid=fb-share

So, what do you all think?
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silkhighway



Joined: 24 Oct 2010
Location: Canada

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Students who graduate in times of bad economies have been shown to earn less and have fewer career advancements as their counterparts who graduate in good times. The silver lining on the dark cloud is that they will be forced to be more creative and take more risks. Some of the students who may have ended up on automatic pilot on a career treadmill may instead find themselves in a more rewarding career than they otherwise would have because of that, at least once they get off the starting block. If the economy is managed well at a macro level (right now it is not), there's only so long that you'll have underemployed Ivy League grads bartending and waiting tables.
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recessiontime



Joined: 21 Jun 2010
Location: Got avatar privileges nyahahaha

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I consider myself part of the lost generation that's went to college, got a masters in biochem then after all that I couldn't even get horrible jobs like dishwashing for min. wage. Now I'm 28 and about to finish pharmacy school with a long term job waiting for me when I'm done in 2 more months. In my entire 20's the only real job I've ever had was teaching English overseas.
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silkhighway



Joined: 24 Oct 2010
Location: Canada

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

recessiontime wrote:
I consider myself part of the lost generation that's went to college, got a masters in biochem then after all that I couldn't even get horrible jobs like dishwashing for min. wage. Now I'm 28 and about to finish pharmacy school with a long term job waiting for me when I'm done in 2 more months. In my entire 20's the only real job I've ever had was teaching English overseas.


How about looking at the glass half-full here? You're *only* 28, you have a masters in biochem and a degree from pharmacy school, you have overseas teaching experience, and you have a new career lined up already! Wink

A few years after college working temporary jobs, feeling out what you want to do with your life isn't so bad. Patience is a virtue. On the other hand, I probably come from an area where people are more used to being under-employed, and where I currently live, there are university-educated people who have spent 20 years working in the front-line service industry just making ends meet. For people like that bartending or waitressing, which was only supposed to be a temporary job, had become their career, and that's a horrible waste of people who are capable of doing more.
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recessiontime



Joined: 21 Jun 2010
Location: Got avatar privileges nyahahaha

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 2:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

silkhighway wrote:
recessiontime wrote:
I consider myself part of the lost generation that's went to college, got a masters in biochem then after all that I couldn't even get horrible jobs like dishwashing for min. wage. Now I'm 28 and about to finish pharmacy school with a long term job waiting for me when I'm done in 2 more months. In my entire 20's the only real job I've ever had was teaching English overseas.


How about looking at the glass half-full here? You're *only* 28, you have a masters in biochem and a degree from pharmacy school, you have overseas teaching experience, and you have a new career lined up already! Wink

A few years after college working temporary jobs, feeling out what you want to do with your life isn't so bad. Patience is a virtue. On the other hand, I probably come from an area where people are more used to being under-employed, and where I currently live, there are university-educated people who have spent 20 years working in the front-line service industry just making ends meet. For people like that bartending or waitressing, which was only supposed to be a temporary job, had become their career, and that's a horrible waste of people who are capable of doing more.


when I think of all the people my age that have 6 figure jobs, families of their own I feel like I've been cheated out of life I should of had. I've been patient for too long, only because I didn't have much of a choice. For people doing part-time work...they've wasted their time if they didn't acquire assets with their savings or moved onto something that pays higher. The worst case scenario are those that have went to college and have 6 figure dept with degrees they cannot get quality jobs with.

Previous generations at least got a job out of their degrees (no matter how obscure or useless) and their debt consisted primarily of the mortgage for the house. Now the situation is that the newer generation of graduates just have a mortgage-sized student debt with no house to live in and NO JOBS! That's not to blame the economic times or anything, I believe this whole saturation of degrees is entirely a man-made problem. Because anyone can get a loan to go to college the trend now is to acquire higher and specialized degrees like myself just to secure some semblance of employment.
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Kuros



Joined: 27 Apr 2004

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 5:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

(http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=149371&start=1500&sid=7bb107ce2c4b10cd360f993b024a23fb)
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Adventurer



Joined: 28 Jan 2006

PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

recessiontime wrote:
silkhighway wrote:
recessiontime wrote:
I consider myself part of the lost generation that's went to college, got a masters in biochem then after all that I couldn't even get horrible jobs like dishwashing for min. wage. Now I'm 28 and about to finish pharmacy school with a long term job waiting for me when I'm done in 2 more months. In my entire 20's the only real job I've ever had was teaching English overseas.


How about looking at the glass half-full here? You're *only* 28, you have a masters in biochem and a degree from pharmacy school, you have overseas teaching experience, and you have a new career lined up already! Wink

A few years after college working temporary jobs, feeling out what you want to do with your life isn't so bad. Patience is a virtue. On the other hand, I probably come from an area where people are more used to being under-employed, and where I currently live, there are university-educated people who have spent 20 years working in the front-line service industry just making ends meet. For people like that bartending or waitressing, which was only supposed to be a temporary job, had become their career, and that's a horrible waste of people who are capable of doing more.


when I think of all the people my age that have 6 figure jobs, families of their own I feel like I've been cheated out of life I should of had. I've been patient for too long, only because I didn't have much of a choice. For people doing part-time work...they've wasted their time if they didn't acquire assets with their savings or moved onto something that pays higher. The worst case scenario are those that have went to college and have 6 figure dept with degrees they cannot get quality jobs with.

Previous generations at least got a job out of their degrees (no matter how obscure or useless) and their debt consisted primarily of the mortgage for the house. Now the situation is that the newer generation of graduates just have a mortgage-sized student debt with no house to live in and NO JOBS! That's not to blame the economic times or anything, I believe this whole saturation of degrees is entirely a man-made problem. Because anyone can get a loan to go to college the trend now is to acquire higher and specialized degrees like myself just to secure some semblance of employment.


Though I have an M.A., I think it would have been nicer if I were some business executive and pulling in a large salary. However, the important thing is to make the best of what income and time we have and to invest our money wisely. Do what you can, and looking back won't fix anything.
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Louis VI



Joined: 05 Jul 2010
Location: In my Kingdom

PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 2:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Two sides of the coin.

recessiontime wrote:
...when I think of all the people my age that have 6 figure jobs, families of their own I feel like I've been cheated out of a life I should have had.

When your friends think of you and your freedom to travel and do what you want, without mortgages and multiple commitments, they feel like they've been cheated out of a life they should have had.

The grass is always greener on the other side. Loans, in-laws, divorce, stress at the workplace one can't afford to quit, man, the other side has it as rough as they do rosy.

Decide which side you want to be on, really! and be there.
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Ya-ta Boy



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994

PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 5:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Previous generations at least got a job out of their degrees (no matter how obscure or useless) and their debt consisted primarily of the mortgage for the house. Now the situation is that the newer generation of graduates just have a mortgage-sized student debt with no house to live in and NO JOBS! That's not to blame the economic times or anything, I believe this whole saturation of degrees is entirely a man-made problem. Because anyone can get a loan to go to college the trend now is to acquire higher and specialized degrees like myself just to secure some semblance of employment.


The sad reality is that we need to stop paying for Pell grants, etc. for the children of the non-rich to get college degrees. Far too many of the great unwashed are getting educated beyond their station in life. In the old days, when we as a society thought that the abilities and skills of the majority could contribute to society was worth investing in has gone away. We need to tinker with the immigration rules to better skim off the best of the Indians and Chinese so we can utilize their creativity, but we need to cut way back on educating the kids of the middle and lower classes of Americans. Those people need to be smacked down hard so they accept their station in life. As they used to say, education just makes people dissatisfied.