Today with the gargantuan amounts of competition for careers and jobs as well, a bachelor's and even higher degrees are not getting people jobs. Any thoughts?
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
"Overeducated" individuals in the economy
- Thread starter ghostrider
- Start date
"Overeducated" people are often not willing to work for the meager salaries offered to them.
I know many people that are beyond overqualified for their current jobs. Guys with MBA's working customer service jobs just to stay in the workforce.
I know many people that are beyond overqualified for their current jobs. Guys with MBA's working customer service jobs just to stay in the workforce.
I know of a factory that expanded production and needed fork truck operators. A little bit before that another large plant ,Whirlpool , ceased production here putting hundreds if not a thousand out of work .
The HR decided to make the forktruck jobs degree requires positions , required extensive acedimic related testing essentially cutting out the many who had YEARS of experience of operating said equipment properly and safely. Those people were content being blue collar and driving fork trucks all day for a living . They were damn good at it and could do it safely and efficiently.
The first couple of weeks an inexperienced new hire tipped one over ,no one hurt , but she was fired for a safety violation. Could have injured or killed herself or others.
They choose school over experience.
In sure all those hired were glad to even get work and the job pays great ( at least 50k ) with bennnies.
I am also sure they never dreamed 4 years or more of college would lead them into the exciting world of fork truck operating .
I feel for the grads who busted ass thru school , I also feel for those who just wish to be blue collar and now need a 2 or 4 year degree to do so.
It ain't what it used to be for sure and I'm.pretty sure it never will be again.
Glad I learned an in demand skilled trade that few wants to do and fear of death and dirt disinterests most who try.
Typed on my crappy windows phone that will soon be in a lake
The HR decided to make the forktruck jobs degree requires positions , required extensive acedimic related testing essentially cutting out the many who had YEARS of experience of operating said equipment properly and safely. Those people were content being blue collar and driving fork trucks all day for a living . They were damn good at it and could do it safely and efficiently.
The first couple of weeks an inexperienced new hire tipped one over ,no one hurt , but she was fired for a safety violation. Could have injured or killed herself or others.
They choose school over experience.
In sure all those hired were glad to even get work and the job pays great ( at least 50k ) with bennnies.
I am also sure they never dreamed 4 years or more of college would lead them into the exciting world of fork truck operating .
I feel for the grads who busted ass thru school , I also feel for those who just wish to be blue collar and now need a 2 or 4 year degree to do so.
It ain't what it used to be for sure and I'm.pretty sure it never will be again.
Glad I learned an in demand skilled trade that few wants to do and fear of death and dirt disinterests most who try.
Typed on my crappy windows phone that will soon be in a lake
I'm worried that when I graduate that my degree will be worth little. It's a scary situation for most youngsters like myself though the majority fail to acknowledge that fact.
bassguppy said:
It is ridiculous, but Americans are active in shaping government anymore and the government is not doing it's job, but then again the economy is out of their control.
Five years ago, I'd have said this:
"Depends on the degree subject. Does it qualify you to do something of value to others so that they will give you something of value in return? Or is it something of value only to you? (Nothing wrong with that, this isn't a moral statement, just be clear about choices and consequences)."
But now even that isn't true. In my field there's always been space for fresh grads, but that's not so much the case even there any more. People are losing their jobs and coming back one rung lower on the ladder, which means that people just entering the job market are screwed.
It seems to be temporary though. I'd hate to be graduating this year. My gut says that 2014 onward is going to be better. In which case, refer to my earlier answer.
edit: As a practical hint, get an internship, even if it is unpaid. Speaking as someone who reviews resumes and interviews folks ... when 100 resumes land on my desk, I start filtering by "what else has this person got to offer over and above having gone to school? have they any experience of the world outside of university?"
"Depends on the degree subject. Does it qualify you to do something of value to others so that they will give you something of value in return? Or is it something of value only to you? (Nothing wrong with that, this isn't a moral statement, just be clear about choices and consequences)."
But now even that isn't true. In my field there's always been space for fresh grads, but that's not so much the case even there any more. People are losing their jobs and coming back one rung lower on the ladder, which means that people just entering the job market are screwed.
It seems to be temporary though. I'd hate to be graduating this year. My gut says that 2014 onward is going to be better. In which case, refer to my earlier answer.
edit: As a practical hint, get an internship, even if it is unpaid. Speaking as someone who reviews resumes and interviews folks ... when 100 resumes land on my desk, I start filtering by "what else has this person got to offer over and above having gone to school? have they any experience of the world outside of university?"
There was a video I watched sometime awhile back that talked about how we're beginning to create an education bubble in the US. Essentially, more and more people are gaining higher levels of education while throwing themselves into debt in order to obtain a degree. This, of course, lowers the value of said degrees, as the number of holders increases. At the same time, the number of jobs that require a degree have been decreasing in number over the past decade. This is supposed to eventually lead to another 'perfect storm' sort of situation where hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Americans will be forever stuck with loans that they'll never be able to pay off, for a degree that is worth less than the money they spent to obtain it.
Hopefully that makes sense. My brain is a little fried right now, so I'm not sure if I'm being 100% clear with what I'm trying to say.
i hope your prediction is correct , or incorrect , keep reading . A business man told me it would get better in 2013,that was in 2008...
Funny enough, back in '07 I was saying things would be fine by the time my friends would be ready to graduate college in '11. It's '12 now, and there doesn't seem to be any sign that things are going to get much better anytime soon.
I'm only really talking about my particular corner of the economy (tech stuff). I'm over in the SF Bay Area and judge economic trends by how crappy the traffic is on 101. It is getting crappier, but slowly.
wait a minute...they're raising their criteria for hiring, so we need to kill a whole bunch of mother****ers? 300+million?
That's the population of the US right there.
I happen to live right there.
I mean, call me bleeding heart if you must, but might I recommend some job training? Before we start mowing down civilians, at least...maybe some night classes for IT or cosmetology?
Learn a trade vs Nuke some people...man, if these are my options, I think I'm just going to choose drugs
Lets not forget education is also a for profit business...
I'm not going to say it's a scam but ... It seems , as already stated , driven many deep into debt. Some have debt levels equaling a mortgage...
I somehow feel a greed factor involved in the process , someone is making a lot of money. It sure isn't the majority of grads
I'm not going to say it's a scam but ... It seems , as already stated , driven many deep into debt. Some have debt levels equaling a mortgage...
I somehow feel a greed factor involved in the process , someone is making a lot of money. It sure isn't the majority of grads
That's the thing, the cost to get said training is increasing. At my school alone, the cost of tuition has gone up close to $11,000 over the course of 4 years. In addition, the number of people who are also increasing their own training is on the rise, so you're essentially spending more time and money to achieve additional training just to stay on par with where you already are. Even then, that's still no guarantee that you'll land that dream job over someone else... which is why I mentioned the importance of networking early on.
It was predicted 2013 for this area, we haven't had it really bad , with a couple exceptions ,one being a major factory shuttering it doors laying off a thousand , and now a large aluminum plant is threatening the same if the electric utilities don't lower the rates for them ...
Here we make everything no one else wants in their backyard. Plastic , aluminum ,coal and power plants ,cars , chicken nuggets , meth etc...
Sorry for the hijack
It really does depend on what degree and specialization (and economics in general). If someone has a lot of education and/or degree in a field with no demand, they are unlikely to find suitable work. Those with a little bit of training in an area of high demand will probably do fine.
One field that remained "hot" throughout these difficult times is healthcare. In general, demographics are changing and the average age of our population is getting older. Older people need more healthcare services. In the case of people working in healthcare, those with more training and the right degrees are doing rather well.
One field that remained "hot" throughout these difficult times is healthcare. In general, demographics are changing and the average age of our population is getting older. Older people need more healthcare services. In the case of people working in healthcare, those with more training and the right degrees are doing rather well.
UncleFluffy said:
Several people I know have been getting scammed by "internships". They are all over..."Come work for us, get a head start, could lead to a good paid full time position if you put in the work" etc, etc.
People come on as "interns", work for 3 months or more and are then told that there are no positions available for them. Free labor for the company - disgraceful in my eyes.
I'm totally joking with this statement BUT there is some validity to it. After WWII the infrastructure of the world was in shambles EXCEPT in the USA. We still had our factories, road systems, and technology.
You make perfect sense. And I agree there will be a student loan bubble not too far down the road. How is someone with a BA in Waste Management working at Starbucks expected to pay off a $40,000 college loan. Student loans are like a mortgage now where you can take 25 years (i think) to pay back. That's nuts!
My wife is nearly finished with her Doctorate in Psychology. Right now she's applying for her final year internship. There are not enough doctoral internships in the USA for all students in the field as many private colleges or "degree mills" are saturating the market with students. Were talking students taking on $150,000+ in loans and expenses. When my wife started (part-time program) the economy was still going relatively strong now people are opting to go for a higher degree because of job loss or difficulty getting a job. She can opt for a "less prestigeous" internship that's not APA accredited but that's what some employers want such as the VA (which she wants to work for) or Universities.
At my school the majority of students in the ranks 1-40 are wanting to become engineers, lawyers, or doctors to make "bank" as they say. It scares the hell out of me cause mist if these are interested in the sane thing with little to no reasoning behind those choices.
