OT: Job Market For College Grads?

[Ozzie Nelson]

http://www.theatlantic.com/business...r-college-grads-your-definitive-guide/274580/

 

[DobbsRover2]

Although "college debt load" is not the same as the article's "job market" topic, I'm still surprised that the term was not mentioned here. The huge debt for students and families nowadays has a big effect on how students think about employment opportunities, even in a rising market. But I guess it also tends to funnel them toward tech positions that are in demand in the US.

 

[meyers7]

It's not "good" out there. But it's not horrible either. My son who just graduated had 4-5 job offers. (a couple weren't all that great, but were full time jobs he could have taken if it came to that) But he did work his butt off looking for work. He said he sent out 80-90 resumes for specific jobs, and went on about a dozen interviews. He also worked all through college, a lot. So he had plenty of "job experience" when he went looking. He has said though that many of his friends he graduated with are still looking for work.

He is the one kid of mine I don't worry about too much. He just has a way of landing on his feet and creating his own luck.

Have to see how the other kids do as they graduate????

 

[alexrgct]

Although "college debt load" is not the same as the article's "job market" topic, I'm still surprised that the term was not mentioned here. The huge debt for students and families nowadays has a big effect on how students think about employment opportunities, even in a rising market. But I guess it also tends to funnel them toward tech positions that are in demand in the US.

Yep, and it drives kids to think about what to study in college in terms of ROI. Learning for its own sake has gone by the wayside, as is taking courses in fields that teach you how to think critically and communicate effectively (which are vital, irrespective of your professional decisions). Colleges have turned largely into glorified trade schools, and excessively expensive ones at that. The model is broken. It has absolutely impacted social mobility in this country. For all the rhetoric of self-determination and America being the land of opportunity, in terms of social mobility, we rank behind Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands, and it's not like Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Ireland, UK, Austria, Belgium, or France, are way behind us. Now, that's not horrible company to be in, but we can and should do better. Any solutions I might suggest would probably make this post political, so I'll avoid that. But the bottom line is that, despite the well-researched and well laid out article in the Atlantic, the current model for higher education in the US isn't sustainable.

 

[UConnChapette]

I have one piece of advice for all kids entering college - do an internship or two, or better yet Co-op, where they alternate a semester of course work and a semester working in the field of their major or ANYWHERE if nothing is available related to their major (yes you Art History majors). Choice of school also helps. My recent college grad son, GaTech computer science, did two different internships summers between soph and junior years. He knew at the end of his second internship he would receive a job offer, but still applied other places just to see what was available. Did receive additional offers but went with the company he did his second internship with. He left school with student loan debt of just under $30,000. Not a lot by most standards but he is pulling in a six figure income. Then again he is paying $2,840/month for a 685 sq foot apt in 10% income tax CA....which eats into that salary mightily.

Two advantages to the internship co-op route: real life work experience in your field to put on your resume and earning income that can help minimize student loan reliance. Of the kids my son graduated with, most of them that did an internship/co-op during college had one or more job offers. Those that didn't...most are incurring more debt with grad school or are still looking for jobs.

And if anyone has seen the movie "The Internship" that isn't really how they decide who gets job offers

 

[Kait14]

I have one piece of advice for all kids entering college - do an internship or two, or better yet Co-op, where they alternate a semester of course work and a semester working in the field of their major or ANYWHERE if nothing is available related to their major (yes you Art History majors). Choice of school also helps. My recent college grad son, GaTech computer science, did two different internships summers between soph and junior years. He knew at the end of his second internship he would receive a job offer, but still applied other places just to see what was available. Did receive additional offers but went with the company he did his second internship with. He left school with student loan debt of just under $30,000. Not a lot by most standards but he is pulling in a six figure income. Then again he is paying $2,840/month for a 685 sq foot apt in 10% income tax CA....which eats into that salary mightily.

Two advantages to the internship co-op route: real life work experience in your field to put on your resume and earning income that can help minimize student loan reliance. Of the kids my son graduated with, most of them that did an internship/co-op during college had one or more job offers. Those that didn't...most are incurring more debt with grad school or are still looking for jobs.

And if anyone has seen the movie "The Internship" that isn't really how they decide who gets job offers

Internships are insanely competitive, it's not that easy to just get one anymore. It's especially difficult now a days with all of the BS general education courses they require you to take in order to graduate. Trying to squeeze all of those classes in on top of an internship is rough. That's awesome that your son only has $30,000 in debt. By the time I'm finished I'll have well over $100,000, but hopefully I will have an MS and a DPT so my salary upon graduation should help.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I'm not as old as some on this board, but I have to admit I graduated 35 years ago.
I find the debt load the most amazing thing. Coming from a very modest financial background, I chose a state school because my parents could afford it - there was never any idea in my family that I should pay for my schooling. Private schools (my other choice was Wesleyan, because Yale didn't want me) were not affordable, even had I been working. That said, I had friends that went to the Ivy league and they certainly were not cheap by the standards of the day (I'm not sure I would call Rutgers "cheap" even if it was a lot cheaper than it is today or than private schools were).

Similarly, the folks I knew didn't graduate to hugely paying jobs, although, most found jobs soon enough. I suppose that making about $40K was considered quite decent at the time, at least in my circle.

Of course, I'm an exception to the story, I stayed in my part time position at graduation, started my career company job at, IIRC, $7000 per year (actually, paid weekly salary) and was making close to $100k annually when the office where I worked was eliminated 27 years later.

 

[Bestiarius]

Although what I have to say about the college issue has nothing to do with one of my sons, I’m going to start out with his story.

In 1983 he graduated from High School. He did okay, but to illustrate his mindset, when he was tasked to write a 5 page report that only came out to be 3 pages, he would most likely change to a font on his Apple II that was larger rather than write more to achieve the prescribed length. I was surprised when a guidance councilor told me he was one of the brightest kids in the school, but it was immaterial, because he refused to go to college, or even go out and look for a job. Many threats later, including a brief stint living in his car, he agreed to start a job search.

He decided that there was only one company he wanted to work for, a company that usually hired only folks with PhDs headquartered in a building in NJ designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. So, a kid that never worked a day in his life, whose sole work experience occurred at the age of about 7 when he was told by me at 10:00AM that he had to rake leaves until lunch, and at 10:10AM was found in the kitchen making his lunch, expected his work ethic to shine through to his chosen employer.

Although he was told by his selected workplace that there were no job openings, he somehow secured an interview. His strategy was to write his resume and to tell the personnel interviewer that if he was not hired, he would be living in his car in his parent’s driveway. Regarding his lack of higher education, he explained that he could not see the purpose of taking a lot of worthless courses, and besides, his head was already filled with information that would be useful to the subject company. His only condition of employment was that said company must agree to allow him to take whatever courses or seminars he thought would be interesting. Further, he should be allowed to work from home after 2 years on the job. All this was accompanied by lots of pleading and reverential talk.

A week later he was happily sitting in his room messing around on his computer. Happy, because he had fulfilled his promise to search for a job – conscience cleared. Little did he realize that he was about to have his residence relocated to a residence he already owned, a 1975 Chevy Chevette.


Then, to our amazement, a call arrived from his chosen employer requesting he come in for a second interview. Long story short, he has now been working for that company for 28 years and counting. End of chapter 1. To be continued.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Although what I have to say about the college issue has nothing to do with one of my sons, I’m going to start out with his story.

In 1983 he graduated from High School. He did okay, but to illustrate his mindset, when he was tasked to write a 5 page report that only came out to be 3 pages, he would most likely change to a font on his Apple II that was larger rather than write more to achieve the prescribed length. I was surprised when a guidance councilor told me he was one of the brightest kids in the school, but it was immaterial, because he refused to go to college, or even go out and look for a job. Many threats later, including a brief stint living in his car, he agreed to start a job search.

He decided that there was only one company he wanted to work for, a company that usually hired only folks with PhDs headquartered in a building in NJ designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. So, a kid that never worked a day in his life, whose sole work experience occurred at the age of about 7 when he was told by me at 10:00AM that he had to rake leaves until lunch, and at 10:10AM was found in the kitchen making his lunch, expected his work ethic to shine through to his chosen employer.

Although he was told by his selected workplace that there were no job openings, he somehow secured an interview. His strategy was to write his resume and to tell the personnel interviewer that if he was not hired, he would be living in his car in his parent’s driveway. Regarding his lack of higher education, he explained that he could not see the purpose of taking a lot of worthless courses, and besides, his head was already filled with information that would be useful to the subject company. His only condition of employment was that said company must agree to allow him to take whatever courses or seminars he thought would be interesting. Further, he should be allowed to work from home after 2 years on the job. All this was accompanied by lots of pleading and reverential talk.

A week later he was happily sitting in his room messing around on his computer. Happy, because he had fulfilled his promise to search for a job – conscience cleared. Little did he realize that he was about to have his residence relocated to a residence he already owned, a 1975 Chevy Chevette.


Then, to our amazement, a call arrived from his chosen employer requesting he come in for a second interview. Long story short, he has now been working for that company for 28 years and counting. End of chapter 1. To be continued.

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