4 ms·

Me too, graduated with a degree in the hard sciences, 1974. (They're called that for a reason.) Then I worked as a fry cook, then a dishwasher, then a radio st

by teeja 17y ago

Me too, graduated with a degree in the hard sciences, 1974. (They're called that for a reason.) Then I worked as a fry cook, then a dishwasher, then a radio station librarian, then a DJ, then a lumberjack, then a carpenter. THEN I got a real job. Don't misunderstand: kids graduating right now landed in the shit. You're right: the greedy bastards have worked us over good. But guess what kid: we're all in it, and it's always been that way. Heard of anyone who worked all their life to build up a 500K retirement and just lost 60% of it? Two decades ago I listened to a guy tell me that he paid into a pension for 30 years, and when his company went down, it was ALL GONE. Rodney Dangerfield: "It's a jungle out there." Bank on it.

andreyf 17y ago
Things are much better now, then. For every person complaining, there are a lot of people working quietly - I graduated a year ago, and I had no trouble finding a job (and then switching it a couple of months ago) - but that's just one example, maybe I got lucky. Still, I can't think of a single college friend whom I could honestly call smart who can't found a job. Yes, I'm sure the people that wasted their time in college drinking and cheating didn't get much out of it, and are having a tough time now, but I can hardly feel sorry for them.
- nostrademons 17y ago
  That's what I see among my friends, but I wonder if that holds across all socioeconomic strata. It seems like this recession hit the upper reaches of society first - finance, consulting, lawyers, universities and venture capital - and then worked its way down to regular unemployment. The news now is that finance is recovering (thanks to government bailouts), but the consumer picture is getting worse. Retail and manufacturing are taking it in the chin now. Edit: Actually, no, I can think of several friends in the class of 09 that graduated from a top college and still can't find jobs. They're in non-technical fields though; maybe tech is doing better, but non-tech is still in the dumps.
  - andreyf 17y ago
    The examples I was thinking of were all either CS, Math, or hard sciences - a lot of them chose to go to grad school, though.
sophacles 17y ago
Except when we get our real job we will get the same starting pay you got. That's without adjusting for inflation. Seriously, My best offer out of college was for a programming job paying what my father was offered for an entry level sales job in 1979. However, we are paying 2000's prices on our college education. We'll be lucky if we get to have the inflation adjusted equivelent of 500K in retirement to lose.

by teeja 17y ago

andreyf 17y ago

Things are much better now, then. For every person complaining, there are a lot of people working quietly - I graduated a year ago, and I had no trouble finding a job (and then switching it a couple of months ago) - but that's just one example, maybe I got lucky. Still, I can't think of a single college friend whom I could honestly call smart who can't found a job. Yes, I'm sure the people that wasted their time in college drinking and cheating didn't get much out of it, and are having a tough time now, but I can hardly feel sorry for them.

nostrademons 17y ago
That's what I see among my friends, but I wonder if that holds across all socioeconomic strata. It seems like this recession hit the upper reaches of society first - finance, consulting, lawyers, universities and venture capital - and then worked its way down to regular unemployment. The news now is that finance is recovering (thanks to government bailouts), but the consumer picture is getting worse. Retail and manufacturing are taking it in the chin now. Edit: Actually, no, I can think of several friends in the class of 09 that graduated from a top college and still can't find jobs. They're in non-technical fields though; maybe tech is doing better, but non-tech is still in the dumps.
- andreyf 17y ago
  The examples I was thinking of were all either CS, Math, or hard sciences - a lot of them chose to go to grad school, though.

sophacles 17y ago

Except when we get our real job we will get the same starting pay you got. That's without adjusting for inflation. Seriously, My best offer out of college was for a programming job paying what my father was offered for an entry level sales job in 1979. However, we are paying 2000's prices on our college education. We'll be lucky if we get to have the inflation adjusted equivelent of 500K in retirement to lose.