graduated college and jobless

[importpower99]

Just seeing if any body else has the same problem or ran into the same problem. Just graduated with a B.S in criminal justice and still have no post-college job(i work now). It also helps that i don't know what i want to do in life. I would like to do something in sales possibly or automotive management, which is what i kinda do now. HELP!!!!

 

[GSXspeeddemon]

Im in the same boat. I graduated in may with a B.S. in Finance and no work yet. Im looking for something along the lines of Financial Analyst or in Accounting.

I guess ill just go back to school and get my Masters or maybe just go to law school.

 

[DGajre777]

Almost everyone is unemployed for a while after they get their BS or BA. Going to get your MS or MA or MBA and finding a job somewhere in a field that may not have anything to do with what you got your degree in is an option.

 

[forcefed 95]

Been there done that. Went to school got my Associate's in business management and Automotive Technology. Now im Insurance agent. I guess im close being i sell auto insurance and its business related sorta.. in a way. But i know one thing i dont want to sell insurance all my life.

 

[Black91TSiAWD]

Been there done that. Went to school got my Associate's in buisness managment and Automotvie Technoligy. Now im Insurance agent.QUOTE]


skipped spelling though?

 

[dsm28]

I dont know i live in Fort worth texas and I work for a marketing company. I am the manager and i am hiring. Let me know

 

[diablos991]

I am approaching this in the next few years upon acquiring my BS in Logistics Management. However, I have looked into the issue and the best idea that I can provide based on my readings is to be willing and able to relocate. Just start applying for jobs in multiple states.

Another route that may lead you to a career may be to check with the institution in which you received your degree from. They may have some sort of placement program. At the very least, provided that the institution is a respectable one, they should be able to offer recommendations or point you in the right direction based on previous graduate's experiences.

 

[leet]

Bah, degrees.

I do not need a piece of paper from the White Man saying that I am fit to work in this world.

I learn hands-on. You can tell who is fresh out of school in my industry, they are the ones who think you can do all this fancy bullshit and it will be SIMPLER to operate and maintain. I'll stick to what works easily and reliably.

 

[diablos991]

Bah, degrees.

I do not need a piece of paper from the White Man saying that I am fit to work in this world.

I learn hands-on. You can tell who is fresh out of school in my industry, they are the ones who think you can do all this fancy bullshit and it will be SIMPLER to operate and maintain. I'll stick to what works easily and reliably.

The aim of a degree isn't necessarily only a piece of paper telling you that you can do something. It serves many more purposes even in the employer's eyes. A degree can signify anything from the ability to utilize ideals learned, to the ability to pioneer new ideals. Both are important tasks to an employer.

Though it seems that a good portion of a University degree is testing how much BS you can take while just turning the other cheek.

There is a quote from Bill Beattie that reads: "The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men."

 

[blcknspo0ln]

I'm in the business management degree and am currently pursuing a higher level management degree through at&t. Trust me, now-a-days experience is much more affective than a degree. However, to get one more rank above the one i'm pursuing, a BS is required. So yes, a BS is not written law to get a good job, but definitely delivers a higher percentage of getting you where you want to go.

I'm a 5th year student with only 70 credits. So i'm on the same boat as some, and not at the same time. I will be finishing my degree sooner or later, but it's not my #1 priority (making money and surviving is).

 

[wolf20043]

I am an Exectutive Chef at a fine dining establishment with no culinary degree whatsoever. 15 yrs experience in cooking, and My assistant has his degree. I find it kind of ironic.
Mike

 

[leet]

The aim of a degree isn't necessarily only a piece of paper telling you that you can do something. It serves many more purposes even in the employer's eyes. A degree can signify anything from the ability to utilize ideals learned, to the ability to pioneer new ideals. Both are important tasks to an employer.

Though it seems that a good portion of a University degree is testing how much BS you can take while just turning the other cheek.

There is a quote from Bill Beattie that reads: "The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men."

Yes, Shawninate, I was being somewhat sarcastic. You know, my usual self.

 

[blackGSX2g]

Yep, same boat...I graduated with my BBA back in April and still nothing. Landing that first job is pretty tough.

 

[roadrunner2176]

You and about half of all graduating students have the same problem. Its ironic how someone will spend 40,000 a year for 4 years to get that elusive degree only to get a job doing something entirely different. Either way, don't worry about it to hard because theres more just like you looking for a job to accommodate their degree. Do what you must to get by for now, and look for internships. Internships don't always pay very well, but now days it takes more than a degree to get a good job. Experience is just as qualifying as a degree except 9 times out of 10 they'll hire someone with a degree over someone with experience, and always someone with experience and a degree. Unless their outsourcing.

Worse case scenario: you just end up like most college students who have a degree they'll never use.

 

[cs82685]

Im in the same boat. I graduated in may with a B.S. in Finance and no work yet. Im looking for something along the lines of Financial Analyst or in Accounting.

I guess ill just go back to school and get my Masters or maybe just go to law school.

Now that IMO is surprising. I just graduated with an accounting degree, virtually all my friends were business majors, only one didn't have a job by graduation time and he was a marketing major. Hell I had my job locked down before I even started senior year along with several friends and most of the rest had theirs lined up before starting the spring semester. Maybe it's just the Jersey economy compared to where you're from.

 

[XSNRGGST]

You and about half of all graduating students have the same problem. Its ironic how someone will spend 40,000 a year for 4 years to get that elusive degree only to get a job doing something entirely different.

Worse case scenario: you just end up like most college students who have a degree they'll never use.

WORD!

Did you guys know that the current average college graduate will change careers/jobs at least 8 times in their life time? That is also an OLD statistic.

Times have changed and the old trusty BS is not what it used to be. Our parents(the Baby Boomers) grew up in an industrial age where manual labor payed the bills. The way they could seprarate themselves from the masses was to go to school, get an education and get a "good" job.
Now, in '07, it's NOT WORKING. Look at all the white colar crime. People cooking the books, Enron, Martha Stewart, pensions being pulled, healthcare costs etc. and look at where we are at. I used to be a financial advisor and these are all the reasons that ONLY 2% of the people out there are financially independant at the age of 65. (READ: able to pay their bills and eat. NOT buy an RV and travel the 48 states)
How can they expect us(Gen X and Y) to go to school get student loans/credit card bills racked up to 40k, 80k, 100k and start the "race of life" with our shoe laces tied?

Man, I get fired up about this stuff. Can you tell?

If anyone wants to talk about this further, please PM or email me.

Eddie

 

[diablos991]

WORD!

Did you guys know that the current average college graduate will change careers/jobs at least 8 times in their life time? That is also an OLD statistic.

Times have changed and the old trusty BS is not what it used to be. Our parents(the Baby Boomers) grew up in an industrial age where manual labor payed the bills. The way they could seprarate themselves from the masses was to go to school, get an education and get a "good" job.
Now, in '07, it's NOT WORKING. Look at all the white colar crime. People cooking the books, Enron, Martha Stewart, pensions being pulled, healthcare costs etc. and look at where we are at. I used to be a financial advisor and these are all the reasons that ONLY 2% of the people out there are financially independant at the age of 65. (READ: able to pay their bills and eat. NOT buy an RV and travel the 48 states)
How can they expect us(Gen X and Y) to go to school get student loans/credit card bills racked up to 40k, 80k, 100k and start the "race of life" with our shoe laces tied?

Man, I get fired up about this stuff. Can you tell?

If anyone wants to talk about this further, please PM or email me.

Eddie

Another important thing to consider is that back in the day when the BS degree was a promise to success, the percentage of people with the BS degree was low. The time have indeed changed since the BS degree is now the norm. That is a great reason to pursue a Master's degree.

Any person in college should have a retirement plan already building up as well as a decent savings to support themselves.
Success after retirement age has nothing to do with your college education. It has to do with your ability to distinguish between investments and liabilities and have your investments come out in your favor.

One of my highest concerns is the lack of financial education in the school systems. That is why lower class generally stays lower class. The habits easily get taught to the children and carry from generation to generation. However, maybe it is better that way since if everybody knew how to make a fair amount of money, then it would be alot harder to become rich.

White collar crime has always been an issue. We are just seeing it get glorified through our wonderful media network these days. That is no reason to not get an education.

The stem of all of these problems is that people feel obligated to get a good job with their degree. When the real tallent is utilizing those skills you gained to become successful. Even if that means pursuing other careers. Just getting a degree is not a way to make a decent living.

 

[XSNRGGST]

Another important thing to consider is that back in the day when the BS degree was a promise to success, the percentage of people with the BS degree was low. The time have indeed changed since the BS degree is now the norm. That is a great reason to pursue a Master's degree.

I understand that a Master's takes you to the next level but do you think that if everyone starts pursuing a Masters, it will eventually become the equivalent of a BS? Such as a BS was better to have then simply a HS Diploma? Except now the Master's comes with a much higher price tag/investment cost with more time involved. Therefore a higher percentage of a person's productive years are spent earning that degree and MAYBE putting themselves further into debt with less time to catch up in the long run. Of course, getting a Masters should pay much more and therefore make it easier to pay off such debt.
I understand that the debt is considered an investment, and there are many different points to be made up and down this one topic.

Any person in college should have a retirement plan already building up as well as a decent savings to support themselves.
Success after retirement age has nothing to do with your college education. It has to do with your ability to distinguish between investments and liabilities and have your investments come out in your favor. One of my highest concerns is the lack of financial education in the school systems. That is why lower class generally stays lower class. The habits easily get taught to the children and carry from generation to generation.

I agree with you here. Unfortunately, like you said, the school systems don't teach us success principles, investment techniques, or even as simple guidelines as The Rule of 72. Nor was I taught the different routes of investing such as Roth IRAs. This being that I changed my areas of study from Micro-biology/Pre-med to International Business to Linguistics/Japanese/East Asian Studies. I didn't know a single person in all my years of college that was even close to thinking about an investment plan. Most the general public doesn't have an investment plan as well. That's why 98% percent of those over the age of 65 are still dependent on family member's, friends, the government and charity to help them pay their cost of living. When I did my own financial analysis, my wife and I would need $2.2 million in the bank, free and clear, to retire at 65 keeping our SAME STANDARD OF LIVING. Which was lower middle class at best at the time. That number has since gone up.

However, maybe it is better that way since if everybody knew how to make a fair amount of money, then it would be alto harder to become rich.

I don't agree with you here. There is plenty to go around and people need to realize that. There are people in this country and world that are about more than simply taking their piece of the pie. They are baking pies for others to partake in as well. Let's remember that our Fore Father's did not stick their necks on the chopping block (literally) so that we could all work for some other man's dream. Especially in the form of a cubicle for 60 hours a week. Thomas Jefferson said that the average man dies at 25 and is buried at 40.
Our country was created for entrepreneur-ship. It is interesting that when having a job we get paid and then we pay taxes to the government. When you have a business, you get a great deal of your taxes written off. This country was built on ownership.

White collar crime has always been an issue. We are just seeing it get glorified through our wonderful media network these days. That is no reason to not get an education.

Yeah, isn't the media great?
Yes, get an education, but be educated about getting an education. I mean ask the right questions at least when you are choosing a career. So many people get wrapped up in "what they like to do" and "what they are good at". Kids are expected to know what they want to do for the rest of their life at the ripe old age of 17-18. How about we ask ourselves and the up and coming generations, "How do you want to live?" Do you want to live in a cube 50 hours a week, on the weekends, with Lumberg as your boss, worrying about if your pension is going to be there in another 5, 10, 15, 20 years? Do you want your wife and kids to see you go away, spend your good hours of the day with bossy-Pooh, to come home, have your 2 beers and dinner, and then go to bed to just do it all over again the next day?

The stem of all of these problems is that people feel obligated to get a good job with their degree. When the real talent is utilizing those skills you gained to become successful. Even if that means pursuing other careers. Just getting a degree is not a way to make a decent living.

Exactly! That's what we need to change. How people perceive education and it's roll to succeeding in the game of life. The paper doesn't tell you what your value to the world is in the way most people think it does. It is how you got that paper, with the struggles and growing that you did to get it. We need to study success pricipals, get some ethics and charge the hill.

Thank you for your dialogue and excellent points.

Eddie

 

[Defiant]

I don't understand how they sell degrees these days. If you have access to $50K+ at eighteen, bank it and retire at forty. If you're bright enough and sufficiently motivated to finish college, you can own most businesses out there within the four, six or eight years that college takes.
Ah, but there's sure no figuring out what the hell people will do.

 

[roadrunner2176]

Well put defiant.

160,000 (before interest) over the course of 4 years spent with no guarantees, or get a job, start from bottom up make 100,000 or more over 4 years and take specific night classes achieving a degree your satisfied with. After 4 years you'll have some money, knowledge, knowhow, and no debt, unless you buy a house or something like that.

You go to college for 4 years, accumulate 120 plus credits and in life use 30-40 of those credits. Instead of spending all that money for useless credits go and get a degree in what you want, not a bloated degree that says you can do anything except everything without another 2 years of education and more debt

I don't want people to be accused of saying college is worthless, just way overpriced for 4 years of B.S. and professors who teach what they know, not what you should know.

College has become equivalent to buying a computer. Overpriced and out of date before you get it home. Looks good on paper but full of bloatware inside.

As for retirement funds, if you don't have one by now it would be a great time to start . When I was in high school I like to work my a** off during the summers and weekends. Ended up with some extra cash and instead of spending it on something useless I bought cd's and invested in long term. A little bit of money goes a long way if you invest it properly, plus a big bonus is thats it's not taxable unless you make an early withdrawl.

 

[importpower99]

Well this thread is becoming interesting, alot of people get a degree and do something different(very common), however getting a degree shows a level of commitment which is what emplyers look for. The career servicies office in my school sucks. And dsm 28 which company do you work for?
Oh also all you guys who said you don't need college or that it's useless, you guys are so clueless! becuase in college we formulate the best drinking games, for example Flip Cup, and Power Hour. (JK). Thank you guys for your opinions and help.

 

[wolf20043]

Dont take me wrong, I did not say it was useless, just that I never got the opprotunity, but still without a degree, I have someone working below me with one, and we both applied at the same time for the same position. Same age as well.
Mike

 

[ghostcar]

bah... who needs a degree !!
all it takes is some finacial sense, something they most definatly dont teach in school, school just teaches you how to be an employee. If thats what you want to do and have your 401k depleted faster than you can grow it through inflation go ahead. the real way to make it is to be an owner of assets, think about the wealthiest people around, they surely are not managers at walmart. its people who own businesses and real estate.
i've had a steady job since i was 15 and right after high school i bought a house, 2 years later i rented that house out while i lived in a 1 bedroom apartment. some of my tenants were old enough to be my parents, you cant imagine how wierd that feels. after 2 years of being a landlord i sold it and paid off everything i have, and had a house built from the ground up . i am the youngest home owner in my neighborhood by far. I was asked by a door to door salesman if my dad was home... haha, i said no.

 

[Flash]

I don't think the quality of an education has been mentioned. I am a firm believer in getting an education, but also an education from an institution that will provide you with the best education possible. This is all derived from quality professors that do create a challenging and engaging environment in classroom for their students.
It matters where you get your degree, it looks great on a resume. A BS from a private school such as Yale will carry more weight then a BS from some public state-funded school (there are decent state-funded schools). With small private schools such as Yale, they are able to expect more from the students because the professors can test a student on a more individual basis.

 

[GSXspeeddemon]

Now that IMO is surprising. I just graduated with an accounting degree, virtually all my friends were business majors, only one didn't have a job by graduation time and he was a marketing major. Hell I had my job locked down before I even started senior year along with several friends and most of the rest had theirs lined up before starting the spring semester. Maybe it's just the Jersey economy compared to where you're from.

Unfortunately i went to a small private school (St. Edwards) in Austin, TX. We are overshadowed by UT (the largest university in the US). It is extremely difficult to get a local internship or a job if you are not attending UT. The reason i was having difficulty was because i had narrowed what i wanted to do down to being a financial analyst. However, reality has kicked in and i have started looking into other options.