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One trick to avoid this gap is to re-enroll in school, at least until you can secure work again. You may have to take loans in the short term, but depending on

by barik 15y ago

One trick to avoid this gap is to re-enroll in school, at least until you can secure work again. You may have to take loans in the short term, but depending on the loan the interest may be 0% or near 0% while you are out of work. You might even learn topics that will make you even more attractive as an employee, and refresh your memory on topics that you've forgotten about while being out of work (for some reason, these obscure, academic questions seem to be common interview questions). In addition, there are practically always events on campus that offer free food, so you can minimize meal costs this way. I've had several colleagues in the past few years do this. They'll join a master's program at a University somewhere. The colleagues will suddenly go from unemployed to a rising student with prior, verifiable work history. Once they get a job, repaying the loan is fairly easy, especially if it's a state school.

dave_sullivan 15y ago
I really hate the go back to school argument. It sounds to me like this: Hey, you know that degree that is doing absolutely nothing for you right now even though you loaded yourself with debt to get it in the first place? Well, the problem is that degree, which you're still paying for, that's the old model. What you need to do is upgrade to a better degree by taking on more debt. Then you'll really be able to get a job (for reals this time!), and if not, there's always a PHD... Also, a 0% loan is still a loan, you have to repay the principle, and if you overpay for an education (itself overpriced for the same reasons houses were overpriced), you'll still have to pay that back. Start with the library, that's free.
- Mz 15y ago
  Not arguing for or against, but you remind me that my inspiration for dropping out of college at age 20 was two men I knew who both had college degrees and delivered newspapers for a living. One was a couple of quarters shy of a Master's and in default on his mountain of loans (he later suckered a woman into marrying him and paying them off -- that was his big accomplishment in life) and the other went back to school for a second bachelor's, which never got finished for some reason. He lived with his mom until she died and he inherited the house. The last I heard, he was still delivering newspapers. I decided I could deliver newspapers without a mountain of student loans and would be better off doing so without the debts.
- barik 15y ago
  "Start with the library, that's free" The library doesn't reset your resume. This does. You don't actually need to finish the degree, find a job while in school.
  - dave_sullivan 15y ago
    Ok, fair enough, I'm talking about getting another degree often being a bad investment, you're talking about going to school simply to prevent or fill a gap in your resume. If that's the goal, let's say you only go back to school for a year. What does grad school cost these days? 28k for public, 38k for private? So you're paying $30,000 for someone to essentially vouch that you're doing something with your days while looking for a job? Seriously, I'm just not seeing where this makes practical financial sense?
    - burgerbrain 15y ago
      If you are in desperate need of a job, then don't go to grad school for a year to reset yourself, take a handful (at most) of classes at a community college. Paying a handful of thousand (at the most) so that you can find any work in particular is well worth it if that is what you need to do.
  - barik 15y ago
    I can only speak personally of the individuals I know who have done this at NC State. The cost per semester is $1,802.17 for one class. The average time that I've seen for the people who've tried this approach has been between 1 and 2 semesters, maybe 3. Of course, I don't know that many people in the first place, so my sample size is limited. http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/cashier/tuition/gradtuition.asp http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/cashier/tuition/gradtuition.asp Plus, as a student, you get access to the career fair as well as the internship program.
  - javaecc123 15y ago
    Perhaps this is the strategy he was pursuing when he took on a second masters in acoustical engineering. Getting more degrees will probably not solve his problems, especially for a 55 yr old man.

by barik 15y ago

dave_sullivan 15y ago

I really hate the go back to school argument. It sounds to me like this: Hey, you know that degree that is doing absolutely nothing for you right now even though you loaded yourself with debt to get it in the first place? Well, the problem is that degree, which you're still paying for, that's the old model. What you need to do is upgrade to a better degree by taking on more debt. Then you'll really be able to get a job (for reals this time!), and if not, there's always a PHD... Also, a 0% loan is still a loan, you have to repay the principle, and if you overpay for an education (itself overpriced for the same reasons houses were overpriced), you'll still have to pay that back. Start with the library, that's free.

Mz 15y ago
Not arguing for or against, but you remind me that my inspiration for dropping out of college at age 20 was two men I knew who both had college degrees and delivered newspapers for a living. One was a couple of quarters shy of a Master's and in default on his mountain of loans (he later suckered a woman into marrying him and paying them off -- that was his big accomplishment in life) and the other went back to school for a second bachelor's, which never got finished for some reason. He lived with his mom until she died and he inherited the house. The last I heard, he was still delivering newspapers. I decided I could deliver newspapers without a mountain of student loans and would be better off doing so without the debts.
barik 15y ago
"Start with the library, that's free" The library doesn't reset your resume. This does. You don't actually need to finish the degree, find a job while in school.
- dave_sullivan 15y ago
  Ok, fair enough, I'm talking about getting another degree often being a bad investment, you're talking about going to school simply to prevent or fill a gap in your resume. If that's the goal, let's say you only go back to school for a year. What does grad school cost these days? 28k for public, 38k for private? So you're paying $30,000 for someone to essentially vouch that you're doing something with your days while looking for a job? Seriously, I'm just not seeing where this makes practical financial sense?
  - burgerbrain 15y ago
    If you are in desperate need of a job, then don't go to grad school for a year to reset yourself, take a handful (at most) of classes at a community college. Paying a handful of thousand (at the most) so that you can find any work in particular is well worth it if that is what you need to do.
- barik 15y ago
  I can only speak personally of the individuals I know who have done this at NC State. The cost per semester is $1,802.17 for one class. The average time that I've seen for the people who've tried this approach has been between 1 and 2 semesters, maybe 3. Of course, I don't know that many people in the first place, so my sample size is limited. http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/cashier/tuition/gradtuition.asp http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/cashier/tuition/gradtuition.asp Plus, as a student, you get access to the career fair as well as the internship program.
- javaecc123 15y ago
  Perhaps this is the strategy he was pursuing when he took on a second masters in acoustical engineering. Getting more degrees will probably not solve his problems, especially for a 55 yr old man.