17,000,000 College-Educated Americans Are Wasting Their Degree On Menial Jobs

[bamacre]

How could someone "waste their degree?"

Is this like Government sending artists, thinkers, doctors, to Siberia? Is that wasting a degree?

-John

I "wasted" my accounting degree. Don't use it one bit.

 

[ShawnD1]

I "wasted" my accounting degree. Don't use it one bit.

I "wasted" my chem degree. Worked in the field for 2 years and now it's only useful when I'm doing things I don't get paid for. Did you know you can remove permanent marker by rubbing methanol on it? That'll be handy when I have kids and they fuck with my walls

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

While true to some extent, Mexico and China are gaining jobs far faster than losing them. Also, as I explained before, more and more sub-assembly work is being done outside the US, shipped in, finished with some sort of value added function (final assembly, packaging, etc) and then labeled as made in the USA. I've seen first hand that the manual labor jobs are cherry picked out to other countries only to have a small percent of the original workforce complete the assembly here and declare it a made in the USA product.

Automation has gotten to the point that it saves more US jobs than it destroys (as it keeps the production plants here and not completely offshored).

this is fraud.

It will not be considered a deceptive practice for a marketer to make an unqualified U.S. origin claim if, at the time it makes the claim, the marketer possesses and relies upon competent and reliable evidence that: (1) U.S. manufacturing costs constitute 75% of the total manufacturing costs for the product; and (2) the product was last substantially transformed in the United States.

A product that includes foreign components may be called "Assembled in USA" without qualification when its principal assembly takes place in the U.S. and the assembly is substantial. For the "assembly" claim to be valid, the product’s "last substantial transformation" also should have occurred in the U.S. That’s why a "screwdriver" assembly in the U.S. of foreign components into a final product at the end of the manufacturing process doesn’t usually qualify for the "Assembled in USA" claim.

 

[Jhhnn]

It's not finding work doing what you're trained for because we have off-shored that production. Granted every degree does not have marketability even in the best of times but when 70% of new college grads are not finding work we have a problem with home grown industry. Trade deficit already proved that, we consume more than we produce and have for years. Not working is just a materialization of it as predicted by non bribed shill economists such as Paul Craig Roberts 20 years ago.

Sadly, that's all too true. International capitalism no longer needs Americans to produce, but only to consume. If we don't have the money to consume, they'll lend it to us or to our govt, either personally or on the level of govt deficits and balance of trade deficits. That's unsustainable in the long run, of course, but it facilitates shifting of income to the top among Americans even as it basically hollows out the economy in general. It's a form of looting.

Education, in general, can be a way for individuals to get ahead within a given system, but really makes little difference in a system that doesn't need the skills education can provide. With deliberately maintained currency imbalances, those skills are often much cheaper in the larger system of the world economy. Education can open the door to better employment, but only if that better employment is actually available. Otherwise, taking on huge debt to obtain such education is an exercise in self delusion, just another way that the system chains debt slave suckas to the oars.

 

[OutHouse]

What kind of jobs are those with liberal arts degrees qualified to do?

very high paying IT jobs.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

very high paying IT jobs.

Ahhhhh the helpless desk.....

 

[OutHouse]

Ahhhhh the helpless desk.....

na HD people here dont have degrees.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

That's true, but going to a top tier school can open doors for future careers that going to a lesser school doesn't or provide opportunities that a lesser school cannot provide.

You pay for the networking at top tier schools more than anything else. We've seen real idiots graduate from the Ivy League, so I don't place them on too high of a pedestal (I'm looking at you, GWB!).

 

[ShawnD1]

na HD people here dont have degrees.

Nice. 'round these parts, you pretty much need a PhD in computer science to be a minimum wage help desk phone jockey.

That must be the least satisfying job ever. In your last year of school, you were designing extremely complicated data management systems that could rival what Google does. 6 months later you answer the phone for $10/h and help retarded people turn on their computer.

You pay for the networking at top tier schools more than anything else. We've seen real idiots graduate from the Ivy League, so I don't place them on too high of a pedestal (I'm looking at you, GWB!).

gee dub had lots of connections outside of school. Hi dad George HW Bush was astoundingly successful, powerful, and well connected. dubya could have dropped out of high school and still landed in high positions.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

na HD people here dont have degrees.

We require degrees for all IT positions here, help desk included. That is, before we outsourced the help desk.

And yes, it is dumb to require a degree for a position like help desk. Heck, even higher level IT jobs shouldn't require them if you can get a guy with tons of experience and who is an ace at what he does.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

gee dub had lots of connections outside of school. Hi dad George HW Bush was astoundingly successful, powerful, and well connected. dubya could have dropped out of high school and still landed in high positions.

My point was that had GWB been born to John Q. Public, he would not have gone to an Ivy League school. You can be a total nimrod but mommy and daddy can pull a few strings and suddenly, you're a Yale graduate.

 

[McWatt]

My point was that had GWB been born to John Q. Public, he would not have gone to an Ivy League school. You can be a total nimrod but mommy and daddy can pull a few strings and suddenly, you're a Yale graduate.

Not anymore. Bush graduated the year before coeducation came to Yale. As was the case in all the pre-coed Ivies, admissions weren't academically competitive, especially for legacies. When the applicant pool suddenly doubled, however, the bar was instantly raised much higher. At Yale, even more than many other Ivies, being a rich legacy now has a very limited effect.

One of the other side effects is that academics within the college became more competitive. Bush would never have graduated were he attending the Yale that existed 30 years later. There was some interesting discussion of Bush and Kerry in the alumni magazine shortly before the 2004 election. To brutally summarize, neither was at all academically talented and both would have been butchered in the current system.

 

[piasabird]

There is still some benefit from having a well-rounded education that the average Bachelor's degree will provide. It should expose the students to a wide range of subjects and ideas and give them some basic skills needed should they decide to change career paths. People however, need to get off their behind and go and look for work in different areas. A lot of jobs have been shipped overseas to places like China, and India, and Mexico or wherever. In reality, most college educations dont really prepare you to do actual work in a field. The real knowledge is often learned on the job.

First rule I would use is to think out of the box and if you want a job ignore the fact that you may not be fully qualified for the job. Just apply and tell they you have a degree in XYZ. Most likely they can not find fully qualified people for the job anyway. Getting people to just show up for work every day is often more important. Just show up at the interview looking like a professional and speaking clear and concise english and you may get the job. You would be surprised how many different jobs you could get with a degree in some field like Marketing. If you have a degree in some field like Literature go back to school and most of the english and math and the basic electives you have can probably transfer into some other field of study. Nursing only requires an associate degree.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

The company where I work will accept work experience (provided it's more than 10 years) in place of a Bachelor's degree. Though the job posting will always state the required education is a Bachelor's degree.

 

[Zebo]

I "wasted" my accounting degree. Don't use it one bit.

How can you waste an accounting degree? They are in demand are they not?

I already told my boys the only way I'm paying for college is accounting/MBA. And only with 3.8 or above so they can get into Wharton MBA or something.

Otherwise they will have to make their own path if they want to fiddle.

 

[Zebo]

I "wasted" my chem degree. Worked in the field for 2 years and now it's only useful when I'm doing things I don't get paid for. Did you know you can remove permanent marker by rubbing methanol on it? That'll be handy when I have kids and they fuck with my walls

Well Isopropyl 90% works too and millions of other hot solvents. And you can always run an ICPMS or GC..


< Chem BS who bought a clue and got engineering MS attached to get out of lab.

 

[JSt0rm]

I'm confused brudda. What do you do? Sound? Movies? Stuntman? Cool regardless.

I do sound.

Thanks.

Anyways I guess for this thread the point is we have no freakin idea what skills are of value and what skills aren't yet our school system pushes the entire population towards the same small skill sets that they deem of value based on our notions of this value in the 1800's when the modern school system was made.

I'm not saying everyone should go into art or music but everyone should have the capacity to be creativite and we kill that in people. Only creativity will allow people to navigate our current and future situations because we have really no idea what the world will look like. Creativity isnt painting a picture or making a song, creatvity is thinking outside of the box and being open to ideas that come to you. Creativity isn't something you can just teach. Its a way of thinking and its something that needs to be exercised to become good. Our schools fail at exercising that part of our brains.

 

[Zebo]

My sister has a BS is music theater from very expensive University of Tulsa, I think she's still a struggling artist. Dad send her 10K every so often for another "recording session" aka living expenses....I think immediate family is only one who's bought her albums. LOL

 

[BoberFett]

I do sound.

Thanks.

Anyways I guess for this thread the point is we have no freakin idea what skills are of value and what skills aren't yet our school system pushes the entire population towards the same small skill sets that they deem of value based on our notions of this value in the 1800's when the modern school system was made.

I'm not saying everyone should go into art or music but everyone should have the capacity to be creativite and we kill that in people. Only creativity will allow people to navigate our current and future situations because we have really no idea what the world will look like. Creativity isnt painting a picture or making a song, creatvity is thinking outside of the box and being open to ideas that come to you. Creativity isn't something you can just teach. Its a way of thinking and its something that needs to be exercised to become good. Our schools fail at exercising that part of our brains.

Hmm. Someone call hell, I think it might be cold down there.

This is an interesting video I saw recently from a talk about education.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

 

[bamacre]

How can you waste an accounting degree? They are in demand are they not?

I already told my boys the only way I'm paying for college is accounting/MBA. And only with 3.8 or above so they can get into Wharton MBA or something.

Otherwise they will have to make their own path if they want to fiddle.

I was in another industry while in school, and stuck with it after. Also, I hated accounting by the time I was a senior.

Jim Rogers would advise your kids to be farmers, btw.

 

[JSt0rm]

Hmm. Someone call hell, I think it might be cold down there.

This is an interesting video I saw recently from a talk about education.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

I'll definitely check that out. I love ken's ted talks. I linked one of them up earlier in this thread. He really helped me put to words what I've always thought about our school system.

 

[Zebo]

I was in another industry while in school, and stuck with it after. Also, I hated accounting by the time I was a senior.

Jim Rogers would advise your kids to be farmers, btw.

Hehe the small farmer has already been thoroughly looted and shut down by guys with MBAs bankers, commodities traders and whatnot.

 

[bamacre]

Hehe the small farmer has already been thoroughly looted and shut down by guys with MBAs bankers, commodities traders and whatnot.

Yup, exactly.

 

[ShawnD1]

There is still some benefit from having a well-rounded education that the average Bachelor's degree will provide. It should expose the students to a wide range of subjects and ideas and give them some basic skills needed should they decide to change career paths.

The problem is that nobody recognizes the skills from that. As a chemist, I have more experience with Word and Excel than most people will ever have, but I would never be able to get a job as a secretary or file clerk. When I was applying for summer jobs as a student, I applied for lots of summer jobs involving record keeping and I never heard anything back even though I really do have experience with that (chemistry work is about 99% record keeping and 1% actual chemistry).

Simply put, learning things is pointless. Even if you're skilled and experienced, nobody will recognize it. HR people don't give a shit that you have submitted peer reviewed journal articles and you can do the most complicated things in MS Word; a piece of paper saying your major was physics or biology obviously means you are incapable of using MS Office.

Chem BS who bought a clue and got engineering MS attached to get out of lab

Cool. I got out and took electrical engineering. Best decision ever. Engineering has a lot more artistic freedom. You can do anything you want as long as it's good

 

[BoberFett]

I agree with you man. Everyone who hasnt seen this should watch it.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html


edit: Well I agree that a degree isnt worth anything. Watch the video.

I'll definitely check that out. I love ken's ted talks. I linked one of them up earlier in this thread. He really helped me put to words what I've always thought about our school system.

Just watched the vid you linked, very good. He's an excellent speaker, I really enjoy listening to him and he's absolutely right. The whole paradigm needs to change. The way we view and interpret different peoples abilities has to changed.