3 ms·

Ooohh... It just dawned on me right now, why all the higher education hatin lately. Lots of young kids just graduated from college and they can't get jobs, so

by pj 17y ago

Ooohh... It just dawned on me right now, why all the higher education hatin lately. Lots of young kids just graduated from college and they can't get jobs, so they're thinking, "Aw crap... I just went $100,000 in debt and I can't get a job. What the hell did I just waste 4 years in school for? School sucks. I was lied to. This wasn't worth anything. I'm screwed." My heart goes out to you. It's not your fault that the economy sucks. It's not your fault that the world told you you'd get a job if you went to college. It's a pretty sick carrot to dangle in front of you. Your education though, does have a value. But so does work experience. Your degree does give you an advantage over those without degrees, but it doesn't give you an advantage over those with degrees and work experience. Even those with work experience can't get jobs right now and they don't have parents they can move back in with. Imagine how screwed they are. The year after you graduate is often the scariest, most depressing you will have experienced thus far in your life. My friends from college a year or two behind me, they'd graduate and phone me depressed. They'd ask themselves and me, "Why did I just go through that? I'm lonely. All my friends moved away. I work with a bunch of old people." It's normal. It's normal to feel this way. I think college creates a lot of hope in us. The world makes us think that if we just make it through college, life will be easy, but getting that degree is only the start. Don't look at Matt Damon, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs and think you could have been like them, why didn't you drop out sooner. Those guys are the exceptions that prove the rule. Make the most of your time now. Get experience. Keep your skills up to date. Go travel if you can afford it. Expand your mind. Keep working hard. It does pay off.

gaius 17y ago
That is why it's such a problem graduating into a down economy. If you can't get a job in your field, when the economy turns around, say it's in a few years, you will actually be at a disadvantage compared to fresh graduates. Fresh grads get a lot of slack, especially at big firms, they get put onto "graduate training schemes" and "fast-track programmes" and so on. In many companies there are only two entry routes, graduate or experienced. The experienced hires do the work, and the managers are from the graduate scheme. If you miss the window of the first and aren't yet the latter, you're a bit stuck. It's not the end of your career, but it's a disadvantage that will take years to work out.
- garply 17y ago
  Why is this a problem? These people should just allocate their time to the new opportunities created by the downturn. I have several friends who are unemployed recent grads and they seem to be just sitting on their asses, sending out resumes, waiting for the economy to turn around. Why they aren't starting their own projects or seeking consulting work (I believe consulting / temping is somewhat counter-cyclical?) I can't quite figure out. Seeking employment at a large company is only one investment strategy and perhaps not the best one right now given the fierce competition caused by the downturn.
  - nostrademons 17y ago
    Consulting/temping is very much pro-cyclical. The consultants and temps are the first to go when the economy goes down, and the last to be hired back. Playing devil's advocate here (your suggestion is exactly what I'd do, and it's worked fairly well for me), but... One reason they don't may be that it's almost never rational to start a new project over sending out a resume. The resume offers the possibility of immediate monetary payoff for relatively little work, and while the chances are low (particularly in this economy), they're certainly higher than the chances that your new project will succeed. The latter has no immediate monetary payoff, requires lots of work, and has risks that are so varied that you don't even have a framework for evaluating them. It's only when you put a lot of these risks together in sort of a "career portfolio" that it makes sense to take them. Any individual project will probably fail, but together they give you the skills and experience that will a.) get you hired and b.) let you succeed more often with these independent projects. Alas, in my experience most people don't take such a long-term view of their careers...
    - garply 17y ago
      That consulting is pro-cyclical surprises me - I always figured that large corporations had some people who weren't terribly efficient and that in a downturn they would be cut and their workloads would be outsourced to a 3rd party, whom the employer wouldn't need to offer perks and raises and who would have to pay full FICA him/herself.

by pj 17y ago

gaius 17y ago

That is why it's such a problem graduating into a down economy. If you can't get a job in your field, when the economy turns around, say it's in a few years, you will actually be at a disadvantage compared to fresh graduates. Fresh grads get a lot of slack, especially at big firms, they get put onto "graduate training schemes" and "fast-track programmes" and so on. In many companies there are only two entry routes, graduate or experienced. The experienced hires do the work, and the managers are from the graduate scheme. If you miss the window of the first and aren't yet the latter, you're a bit stuck. It's not the end of your career, but it's a disadvantage that will take years to work out.

garply 17y ago
Why is this a problem? These people should just allocate their time to the new opportunities created by the downturn. I have several friends who are unemployed recent grads and they seem to be just sitting on their asses, sending out resumes, waiting for the economy to turn around. Why they aren't starting their own projects or seeking consulting work (I believe consulting / temping is somewhat counter-cyclical?) I can't quite figure out. Seeking employment at a large company is only one investment strategy and perhaps not the best one right now given the fierce competition caused by the downturn.
- nostrademons 17y ago
  Consulting/temping is very much pro-cyclical. The consultants and temps are the first to go when the economy goes down, and the last to be hired back. Playing devil's advocate here (your suggestion is exactly what I'd do, and it's worked fairly well for me), but... One reason they don't may be that it's almost never rational to start a new project over sending out a resume. The resume offers the possibility of immediate monetary payoff for relatively little work, and while the chances are low (particularly in this economy), they're certainly higher than the chances that your new project will succeed. The latter has no immediate monetary payoff, requires lots of work, and has risks that are so varied that you don't even have a framework for evaluating them. It's only when you put a lot of these risks together in sort of a "career portfolio" that it makes sense to take them. Any individual project will probably fail, but together they give you the skills and experience that will a.) get you hired and b.) let you succeed more often with these independent projects. Alas, in my experience most people don't take such a long-term view of their careers...
  - garply 17y ago
    That consulting is pro-cyclical surprises me - I always figured that large corporations had some people who weren't terribly efficient and that in a downturn they would be cut and their workloads would be outsourced to a 3rd party, whom the employer wouldn't need to offer perks and raises and who would have to pay full FICA him/herself.