|
College grads fail;
not the job market.
Copyright Findawish.com
12-02-06
My Pledge |
Sources
More articles
Introduction:
Before reading this article
and definitely before sending an email, read the sources and pledge
sections.
"Failure to Launch"
The following article blames a litany of events as to
why grads are not getting high paying jobs right out of college.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/
MoneyInYour20s/FailToLaunch.aspx
The author details a 24 year old named Loreno Bravo.
She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Masters Degree in teaching
and great work experience. She has $70,000 in debt.
The article blames the cost of college, the low
income of entry level positions, the debt you “have” to rack up to go to
college including credit cards, and that colleges do not prepare you for
the real world.
Here’s reality.
Check out our Flash Presentations Here
First, Bravo majored in psychology. How many jobs
are in her area that are going to pay her enough to get the job she
“deserves?” Obviously there aren’t that many. Majoring in psychology
probably wasn’t the best idea if she doesn’t plan on moving and making the
sacrifices necessary to get the job she “deserves.”
Second, Bravo has a teaching certificate. I thought
she wants a job that pays her the money she “deserves.” Teaching is a
noble profession and they are not paid even close to enough money.
Majoring in teaching is going to take more than just accepting a
paycheck. Teachers are also needed throughout the country…but psychology
isn’t the most desired position. Bravo should have done a little
research.
Doing what you want to do means that you may not get
paid what you want to get paid and you are probably going to end up at
home living with your parents until you get a job that has little to
nothing to do with your degree.
Now for the “colleges do not prepare you for the real
world.” In the sense that you do not have to show up to every class, you
only have class a few days a week and it is usually not an consecutive 8
hours day 5 days a week this is correct. Oh, and the facts that you
aren’t getting paid for your work and even sub par work allows you to make
it through the class (Cs and Ds) this is correct. Work sucks, it is every
day, you have to show up, and you have to do better than average at a real
job or you are rarely going to be paid for sub par work for very long.
Even the tiniest community colleges I’ve researched
online offer classes in adapting to the “real world.” Most people do not
take them as they aren’t required for their degree. Is this the colleges’
fault? Nope. It’s the students’ fault for not researching their options
and planning ahead.
There is also something else missing in this
equation…Parents. Why haven’t Bravo’s parents taught her what life is all
about, bills, work, bills, work, bills, work and continue until you die.
Throw taxes in there and you have real life. Why are so many parents
trying to farm this responsibility out to someone else?
Join the Disney Movie Club and get 3 FREE MOVIES!
Our ancestors can teach us a lot. You are here
because your ancestors knew how to take care of themselves and knew how to
be 100% self sufficient. You may have to look back many, many generations
but at some point your forefather taught his son how to hunt, how to plant
food, how to make it through tough times including drought, storms, wars
and so on.
Today life is so easy that we are complacent and
believe that if we go to college and learn how to be a basket weaver
simply because basket weaving is “in our hearts, it is something we really
want to do, something that we feel good about doing and is something we
are good at” then the world is going to reward us with a high paying job
and a spot in society’s high life.
Since the dawn of the first trade, life has been
about having something that everyone else wants. The person with the most
wanted item “wins,” gets rich, lives famously and “succeeds”. After all,
that is how the author defined Bravo’s world. She can’t find a job that
pays enough so she hasn’t succeeded. The world has let her down. In
reality she’s the person with the least wanted item and ekes out a living
while living with her parents until she finally realizes that she really
does have a place in society and really can find a job…just not exactly
what she “wants” to do or paid over $70,000 to be trained to do.
I guarantee you that our ancestors woke up some
morning wishing they didn’t have to go kill their food…but they had to.
We have evolved into paying someone else to kill our food for us but in a
sense we are still working toward the same goal, staying alive.
So here’s the list.
Post
your item in the classifieds for $10 including color picture, full
write-up, posted for as long as your item is for sale. Items under $100
free, vehicles under $1,000 free.
1.
Get a degree in something that is going to immediately pay you what
you think you are worth.…Psychology and Literature are great examples of
degrees you are going to struggle with.
2.
Work as much as you can during college to pay off loans, or better
yet, to be able to borrow less. No one cares if you get a low A or a high
C in college. They see your degree and go from there. Try getting jobs
(during college) in your degree that pay well; if you can’t find any, you
are probably in the wrong major.
3.
Stay away from:
a.
Eating pizza and buying it for everyone
b.
living in the dorms for no reason (i.e. your parents live just 30
miles from the college)
c.
activities that keep you from working or paying for your college
(extreme drinking, drugs, not missing a single episode of the top 10
sitcoms, not missing a single movie in the theatres)
d.
classes that are easy but meaningless (i.e. basketball if you
aren’t on the team, extreme Frisbee even if you are on the team, basket
weaving)
4.
Do
a.
Live as cheap as possible during college
b.
Live with your parents, even if it means you have a curfew, fight
with them constantly (obviously not any abusive fighting) have to go to a
college you don’t like, or have to travel every day. Why? Would you
rather live with your parents when you are 30?
c.
Focus on paying off your debt as it happens.
d.
Take classes that have meaning. Finance classes are usually
available in high school so they are definitely available in college. If
not find a college where they are available and take them.
The simple truth is the real world sucks when you
think you deserve things. If you suffer through college for a few
years, you’ll make enough money to live how you want when it really
matters. Before you go to college think about about supporting your family, how many kids you can afford, where
your next paycheck is going to come from. Being valuable and getting
the job and paycheck you "deserve" all starts with some common sense
preparations. It's a shame that such simplicity is missed by so many
failing to launch.
****************
Return to articles
Sources
Don't email me if you think I am bashing people who set a degree and
job for the experience and not for the money and are not complaining about
it. I say GOOD FOR YOU. If it paid more and if there wasn't
such a high risk for dealing with stupid people on a daily basis I'd
teach. You're good people for teaching and professions like it.
Before you send any other comments, remember this too: Stupidity
is not in the eye of the beholder. Stupidity is believing that you are not
stupid like the rest of us. And yes, I am doing something about it.
I am posting my opinions for public comment which evokes public thought.
Things may get worse through this "public thought process" but at least
they are changing.
My Pledge
As you may notice in the many articles to come, I absolutely can not
stand people that have an opinion about something they know very little
about or didn't take the time to research before giving their opinion. I
pledge that I will not write a single article about a subject that I don't
know enough about to see several sides of the issue. If you think I am
missing something,
I'd love to be the first to know about it.
Introduction |
My Pledge | Sources
More articles |
