A warning to those thinking of going to college

[smileyeagle1021]

Your degree will be fucking worthless. It doesn't matter what level of degree it is, it won't mean jack shit to anyone. If anything it will make it harder for you to get a job. I'm not kidding, I've had "menial" jobs turn me away because they couldn't believe a college graduate was desperate enough to apply there, and everywhere else that requires a degree doesn't actually give a shit about a degree, they only give a shit about having experience. So, that degree will only hurt you, it won't get you a better job because you still won't have experience, and you can't get a lower level job because they refuse to believe that college grads can't get better jobs. Do yourself a favor, degree=unemployable, so just don't try.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

I've actually seen a good number of jobs that the requirement is "a degree." They don't care what the degree is in, they just care that you have a degree. A lot of them are in basic office/administration jobs that don't really require much experience other than "Can you figure out how to file stuff and can you be nice on the phone?"

Though, if you're going to get a degree, and you don't care what it's in you just want a good paying job, then do some research into what industries are growing (healthcare, for example) and looking for people to fill those roles.

Yes there are some companies out there that only want you if you have 3-5 years experience, or whatever, but there are also companies out there actively searching for people just out of college to hire off the bat. I guess it just depends on where you're looking.

[smileyeagle1021]

I'm looking in accounting and finance and I've had to date 15 difference jobs that have said they only require an associates degree (I have a bachelors) that have point blank told me, we don't give a damn about the education, even though you exceed every requirement we have, exceed education requirements, exceed software knowledge requirements, exceed job stability requirements, etc, but because I don't have 5 years of experience in a job with a similar title I won't even be considered. And those are only the ones who have bothered to tell me why I wasn't being considered, over 100 simply haven't replied to my applications.
Oh, and before you ask, accounting and finance is one of the fields that is supposed to be one of the fast growing careers hiring recent grads... yeah, the people who write career articles are full of shit, they haven't had to look for a job in a decade and have no fucking clue what it's like in the real world.

[Nekojin]

Your degree will be fucking worthless. It doesn't matter what level of degree it is, it won't mean jack shit to anyone. If anything it will make it harder for you to get a job. I'm not kidding, I've had "menial" jobs turn me away because they couldn't believe a college graduate was desperate enough to apply there, and everywhere else that requires a degree doesn't actually give a shit about a degree, they only give a shit about having experience. So, that degree will only hurt you, it won't get you a better job because you still won't have experience, and you can't get a lower level job because they refuse to believe that college grads can't get better jobs. Do yourself a favor, degree=unemployable, so just don't try.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Yes, a degree might be an albatross around your neck, but your overbroad superlative completely ignores the many, many people who actually do use their degrees to get a better job than they could otherwise manage.

I think it's wise for people to go check the numbers before getting a degree in any given field - see if there's a lot of job offers on Monster.com and other job sites, see what the average pay is, compared to the loans you'll be taking out, and try to project if the job will still be in demand once you're done with the degree. Not all degrees are worthwhile because the debt far outstrips your earnings potentials. But that's not to say that all degrees are like that.

And if you find that putting your degree on job applications is hurting you, for crying out loud, stop listing it! Switch up to "Some College" instead, or don't list anything. Employers aren't almighty overlords who deserve to know every little detail about your life. If you're applying for a job at Hamhock Hut, your degree in Quantum Physics is irrelevant!

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Have you tried using employment search engines to assist you in finding a job? Those ones have specific search filters where you can blatantly put "entry level" or "little to no previous experience required" etc and so forth. Such as This website targeted specifically for recent graduates.

I've also found that while some companies are stringent on experience, others will at first appear to be, but if you make your case in your cover letter as to why your advanced schooling should make up for the lack of experience they'll be willing to bend the rules.

As for jobs, after some searching, I've found this in terms of experience requirements and such.

Though just stating that degrees as useless and will make you unemployable just sounds like a snapping reaction to built up frustration.

[Greenday]

Here's how I see it. A high school diploma used to be worth something. But not that long ago, it became so that just attending school meant you had a 100% shot at graduating high school. So then it became the college diploma that makes you stand out. Guess what? Everyone in our generation has a bachelor's degree. So it's become the masters but shit, it's starting to seem like everyone's getting a masters.

So yea, work experience is this only thing that sets people apart.

And despite having work experience, I STILL can't get a job. Oh, you've analyzed blood for drugs? Too bad, we want people who have analyzed urine for drugs even though it's the exact same techniques.

[fireheart17]

Here's how I see it. A high school diploma used to be worth something. But not that long ago, it became so that just attending school meant you had a 100% shot at graduating high school. So then it became the college diploma that makes you stand out. Guess what? Everyone in our generation has a bachelor's degree. So it's become the masters but shit, it's starting to seem like everyone's getting a masters.

So yea, work experience is this only thing that sets people apart.

And despite having work experience, I STILL can't get a job. Oh, you've analyzed blood for drugs? Too bad, we want people who have analyzed urine for drugs even though it's the exact same techniques.

And then there's the whole "how the frak am I meant to get experience" for certain jobs.

[AdminAssistant]

do some research into what industries are growing (healthcare, for example)

Not to OT, but there are now a lot of places with too many new nursing students and not nearly enough jobs for them all. Healthcare is no longer the golden ticket it was a few years ago.

[Hyena Dandy]

My friend got a job in environmental consulting.

He turned it down because he's going to go to grad school, but...

I kinda think that he wouldn't have gotten it without his geology degree.

[AdminAssistant]

And if you find that putting your degree on job applications is hurting you, for crying out loud, stop listing it! Switch up to "Some College" instead, or don't list anything. Employers aren't almighty overlords who deserve to know every little detail about your life. If you're applying for a job at Hamhock Hut, your degree in Quantum Physics is irrelevant!

I'm running into this problem. I have a Bachelor's, Master, and I'm halfway through a Ph.D., but life problems necessitate a real job. I'm fine with an office-y type job, answering phones and whatnot, but I can't not list my advanced degree work, because that's all I've been doing for the last six years. So, I can either list that I'm a Ph.D. candidate and be over-qualified, or I can have a six year gap in my work history.

[protege]

So yea, work experience is this only thing that sets people apart.

Yep, it's all what you do with it. For example, I don't have a masters degree...yet I have a better job than my brothers who do. Mainly because I was willing to work my ass off...and didn't have the belief that I was entitled to making a mint fresh out of school

[Nekojin]

I'm running into this problem. I have a Bachelor's, Master, and I'm halfway through a Ph.D., but life problems necessitate a real job. I'm fine with an office-y type job, answering phones and whatnot, but I can't not list my advanced degree work, because that's all I've been doing for the last six years. So, I can either list that I'm a Ph.D. candidate and be over-qualified, or I can have a six year gap in my work history.

You want advice on how to lie on your resume? Part-time schooling, self-employed. "I supported myself by selling things on eBay. It didn't make me much money - every time I thought I was going to start making some real money, my supply chain dried up, and I had to scramble to find new stock."

It's not perfect, but if you're at least familiar with eBay, it's a lie you can easily bluff your way through. It is also, incidentally, part of my ACTUAL "work" history, and I managed to get jobs anyway.

Incidentally, I highly recommend networking - use the people around you to get jobs where they work, or places where they think you'd fit. The modern working world is highly nepotistic, but nobody really wants to admit that.

[Andara Bledin]

I have spent well over 5 years job hunting, although not all together, and not for some time.

Every single job that has ever called me back (or taken my call back as the case usually was) chose to pass me by because I was, simultaneously, overqualified and underexperienced.

I have never been hired on my own merits; I've only been hired for anything because I was placed there by some agency or because someone I knew basically handed me the job. So, yeah, definitely double down on the networking.

Oh, yeah, and Nekojin only works where he does right now for the same reason.

^-.-^

[smileyeagle1021]

and didn't have the belief that I was entitled to making a mint fresh out of school

Yes, because the $12 an hour job is a mint...
Oh, and those are the jobs that professors tell their students not to take unless they are truly desperate.
And even those jobs won't accept someone simply because they know what the hell they are doing, they have to have been paid for doing it in the past. I've even seen places now specifying PAID experience, so that unpaid internship you took in college (because your parents' last name is Gates apparently and you can afford to work for free) now doesn't get you anything either.
Most people I know (myself included) don't feel we are entitled to a mint, but we do feel we are entitled a chance to prove ourselves, and right now, no one is interested in that quaint idea anymore, they're only interested in the already proven that are desperate enough to work entry level positions because there is nothing else available to them either.

[Greenday]

And then there's the whole "how the frak am I meant to get experience" for certain jobs.

In my interview for my last job, that's exactly what my interviewer said. I was the first person they've ever hired fresh out of college.

They just offered me another job today.