4 ms·
Am I the only one who feels that having to actually try to get a good job straight out of uni should be the norm rather than the exception? College is not trai
by swombat 17y ago
Am I the only one who feels that having to actually try to get a good job straight out of uni should be the norm rather than the exception?
College is not training for a job. It's something you should do because you want to learn. If you go to university because you want a job, you're a fool. There's no conceivable reason why simply "having a degree" (or, for the blue-collar example, being alive) should be a guarantee of a "good job".
I didn't graduate all that long ago, from a top university, and yet I had to actually struggle to get my first job (graduating right after 9/11 and being a foreign student didn't help). I don't see that as abnormal, though. What's so terrible about a little struggling? It's not like any of these so-called thousandists are struggling to feed themselves. Does anyone really want to just waltz out of college into a boring, reasonably paid job for the rest of their life? I find it hard to empathise with anyone whose aspirations in life stop there.
Sorry for the slightly incoherent rant, but this sort of thing (which I think they call "an overgrown sense of entitlement") bugs me. Nothing's guaranteed in this world, not even that you'll have a fair shot. Compared to most of human history, these are fantastic times we live in, where almost everyone is at least given the opportunity to do something with their life. Stop bitching and get on with making the most of your life!
- arebop 17y agoIf it's difficult to find a good job* straight out of uni, then graduates must work hard at /finding a job/ rather than at something society values (e.g., engineering). If we're imagining better worlds, I think it would be better to have a superabundance of worthwhile things to do than to have a superabundance of people chasing a smaller number of worthwhile activities. *(or found a startup)
- swombat 17y agoMaking sure people are matched to jobs they're good at and they like is something that society values. Or would you prefer that your career was chosen by a central committee?
- liquidben 17y agoI think one of the worst gaps in a college education is the preparation for finding a job. I graduated with no clue for what to do next, having rested in the thoughtless assumption that it would all just follow. No one had ever told me that the search for work is the most important job you'll ever do.
- nollidge 17y ago> If you go to university because you want a job, you're a fool. Even if that's what your elders had been telling you all your life? I'm not saying it's their fault either; after all it worked for them [1], so it made sense to pass on a working theory. I just don't think it's apt to label a young person foolish just because they listened to the (flawed) wisdom of the more experienced. [1] I'm speaking only of the U.S. Baby Boomer generation like my parents, since that's all I'm qualified to speak of.
- waterlesscloud 17y agoYes. If you listen to what everyone is telling you without evaluating it for yourself, you are indeed a fool.