Written by Every news source seems to be reporting the same now that summer is here. More bad news for job seekers! Except this time its so bad even high school students can’t find temporary summer jobs. The lack of of seasonal employment is said to be at its lowest since World War II! How is any educated professional or recent graduate expected to find a job when even simple seasonal employment cannot be found? Something is terribly wrong and its just getting worse. Seems like its slowly trickling down to every workforce group. There are countless numbers of students set to start or return to college in the fall, but how can they justify that in this market. Of course many will feel its best to ride this out while getting an education. It could be that for some the better choice could be just forgoing the debt they will accumulate and college. What do you think? Would you start college in the Fall?
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Education Epidemic
Plan C…
My journey includes significant experience working within the sports industry. I mention that only to emphasize the irony of the idea of having a Plan C. Yes…I made that up in my head but please be open to my rationale.
During all of the work I have done for organizations from little league all the way up to professional sports, the universal lecture to ALL is have a Plan B! Right??? Right! So I’m just a bit curious if there are any parents, or mentors out there in this fascinating time we are living cautioning young people in their lives as they run up to them with gusto and naivete saying, “I want to go to college”, replying to them, “I support your dream, but make sure you have a Plan C just in case that higher education thing does not work out!”
Historically a college education has carried the weight of being a solid foundation to implement your Plan B effectively. I’m of the opinion the solid foundation that has held our beloved Plan B for so many years has a severe crack in it. Could the irony now exist of having a back-up plan “just in case” our wild dreams of being a college educated, gainfully employed, financially productive citizen does not happen either despite all of your hard work, hopes, and dreams? Educated…now what?
A SELLERS MARKET
Not a Buyers’ Market…
Has the degree industry become like the real estate industry? (And yes, I did say degree industry on purpose) Are you upside down in the return on your investment? Did you pay more for your degree yesterday than its’ worth today? Upside-down mortgage…does that sound familiar?
Or perhaps the purchase of a college degree is metaphorically more reflective of the purchase of a car. What is exactly the total cost of ownership of a 2012 model college degree? The moment your drove that shiny new degree off the university lot, did it depreciate in value? If you sold your degree back to the university would you be upside- down in that car note?
Just like there is sometimes a great time to buy, or a great time to sell, could there possibly also be a great time to get educated?
UNDEREMPLOYMENT IN 2012
Useless Degree Syndrome (UDS)
Just coming to realize you might have been infected by a useless degree? At what point did you realize there might be a bigger problem?
Symptoms of (UDS)
*Underemployment
*Past due bill payments and you want to pay your bills soooooo badly
*Inability to pay back the student loans for that precious degree hanging on your wall
*Endless job searches with no tangible results
*Growing resentment for trying to better yourself
*Inbox filled with rejections from jobs first thing in the morning
*Responses from jobs you forgot you even applied for
*Unexplained or unprovoked aggression towards underwhelming job descriptions *Uncontrolled twitching of the eye to the term “overqualified”
*Slight depression intermingled with overpowering determination to not be a statistic
*Reoccurring hallucinations that you are regressing in life instead of progressing
*Lack of mental understanding in areas such as:
-Earning a job in your field
-Making almost the same salary I did long before I had a degree
-Non-paid internships
-Not being hired because you are actually the best candidate
THE ULTIMATE JOB SEARCH
The Internet is filled with too many job search engines, agencies and services to count. Each tend to claim they are the best and offer the most postings. The problem is weeding out the scams from the actual quality resources. Some are filled with 1000s of results of which 30 percent may be actual solid opportunities. It takes time to sift through all of those and time is precious when you are unemployed.
In a day when you can gain an entire education online and specific job search firms such as The Ladders exist that a large service or search specifically catered to educated individuals has been created. It would certainly thrive in this economy with more job seekers than ever. There are a few niche job search sites, but what we need is a service who gathers all employers who only want those educated candidates and can then match them with job seekers whose education has been verified. This would be a huge advantage for job searchers and employers alike. Employers would have a trustworthy resource pool of educated candidates looking for employment and job searchers would have access to postings from employers they know value their education. This my friend would be The Ultimate Job Search! Hopefully somewhere between the niche job search websites and popular sites such as Career Builder or Monster this will be developed at some point. It would be a positive step in restoring value to a hard earned college education and giving the educated the leg up that they deserve in the job market.
DEGREE RIP OFF????
New college students are presented with a plethora of degree options and majors. Usually those who have trouble deciding or not sure where to start visit one of the college counselors at their particular school. These counselors then help you find out what interest you and what path you should take during your education.
Here is the part that no longer makes sense. There are numerous studies and data available that suggest certain degrees are not likely to lead to gainful employment much less a nice salary. However schools still offer them and counselors still encourage students to pursue them. My question to you is “How can we continue to offer and recommend an education that will not even come close to helping one provide for themselves?” We still charge them the same outrageous tuition and allow them to rack up loans. It almost seems like a scam and a situation that only benefits the schools and loan companies.
Let’s consider the following: In our society there are different levels of quality for our various products and service. We know and accept that often times the higher quality and service will cost us quite a bit more than the cheaper bargain end option which likely offers far less quality and service. Basically if you want the best you will end up paying for it and you get what you pay for!
Now educational institutions do not operate this way at all. They provide products that will greatly vary in their benefit and pay off to the student or “customer if you will”. However the high tuition remains the same for all offerings. It seems like the reward should justify the investment and this is far from the case in higher education offerings. Now certainly money isn’t everything to some people and there is nothing wrong with pursuing their passion in life whether they reap great rewards or not. It just seems as if schools and counselors should fully disclose the fact that an education no longer guarantees success. Many young people entering college have heard their whole lives that they must have an education to succeed. Now that our country, economy, job market and workforce have changed greatly it seems time that education do the same. Maybe some degrees have become irrelevant and perhaps many no longer warrant the high cost of tuition and large debt many will have accumulated when they graduate.
So do you think there are some degrees that are no longer relevant?
Should the cost of all degrees be the same despite their earning and employment potential?
Are Colleges and Universities doing a disservice to students and perhaps even being unethical by promoting degrees with little worth?
WHAT BILLS?????? EDUCATED AND STILL CAN’T PAY THE BILLS!
So tell me, in today’s job market what exactly constitutes a good job for a college graduate. Or, maybe I’m using the wrong verbiage, what constitutes an appropriate job for a college graduate. Lets start with the salary shall we…. first order of business lets just make sure the job actually has a salary!
Reverence for a college graduates desire to do whatever it takes to have a successful career often becomes void because they are working towards a “possible opportunity” that really does not exist. Graduates often have faith that their hard work, networking, or being in the right place at the right time in front of the right person will override the fact that their employers only truth is that they are going to capitalize on college graduates free labor.
At this point the whole unpaid internship or volunteer job shadowing game is quite disgusting. As bad as most people do want to work, and do want to obtain legitimate job skills that will make them an asset to the company of their choice, this choice does not make their bills vanish into the abyss of paid in full land!
Underutilized Resources…From the IT Job to just A Job
How many times have you heard how overqualified for a job you are? Is it just me or does the term “overqualified” sound like that annoying overplayed single on all the radio stations from an overexposed pop artist. However, isn’t it ironic once you finally land a job it only barley pays some of the bills? Yet, in this job after college you find yourself working harder than you ever have, for much smaller than you’ve ever had. Its official you have transcend from the “IT JOB” goal, to just having the “A JOB” reality.
What’s the value of a college degree? | Reuters
What’s the value of a college degree? By Lauren Young
RESUMES AND COVER LETTERS THAT WORK!
So you have combed the Internet and papers looking for those job opportunities and you are ready to apply. A cover letter and resume is your first chance to make a lasting impression. Its like a sales pitch except you do not know too much about the reader and you have on average about 30 seconds before they are finished reading it. Resume and Cover Letters for job openings are too often over thought and over done. What many do not realize is the potential employer wants to know what the job seeker can do for them. Being capable of printing fancy font and exaggerating details are not part of what they are seeking in a potential employee. There are thousands and thousands of sources for professional resume templates and cover letter examples claiming they are guaranteed to get you an interview. That’s fine, but there are a lot of things that you need to know that come from the experience only an average job seeker would possess. The best things you can do for your resume, cover letter and your chances of gaining employment come from trial and error. So we now have page dedicated to helpful advice for all your professional resume and cover letter needs. So check out the page and maybe improve your chances of getting in the door and actually giving your sales pitch face to face with the boss!
http://www.educatednowwhat.com/resume-cover-letter/
