[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Need to Vent... (Page 1 of 6)
Posted: 11/10/2011 9:09:41 AM EDT
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Some people don’t understand what’s happening to the job market. I hear and read comments all the time from people who say, “Just get a job” or “Quit being lazy.”
For all those people on here who have a job and can’t fully understand what’s going on, let me tell you about my situation. In the fall of 2006, I enrolled at a private liberal arts college in Kentucky. I was accepted on an academic scholarship that paid the majority of my tuition. The rest was paid in the form of student loans. During freshman orientation, I distinctly remember one of the economic professors showing a powerpoint about the advantages of going to college, especially a liberal arts college. One graph, in particular, showed the average earnings over a lifetime for those who had a degree and those who didn’t. Those who had a degree made a lot more. I registered for classes and chose history as my major. Before everyone piles on me for choosing history as my major, understand there was a method to my madness. During high school, I participated in the mock trial team. I loved it. I knew from my research that a high percentage of law school students had undergraduate majors in history. I enjoyed history, so it was a good plan. I would study something I enjoyed and set myself up for an easy transition into law school. I worked hard. On average I read 1500 pages a week of historical material and the majority of my papers required original research—that means going to the library and finding sources. By the way, the 1500 pages does not include reading the sources you find at the library. In college, history majors don’t memorize dates and facts. They research and write essays. During this time, I also did several internships in government and business. I held leadership positions on campus as well. In the beginning of 2009, I began studying for the LSAT. I took the classes and bought the study materials. I first took the test in June of ’09. My scores were average. I studied harder and took the test again in October. I raised the scores a little, but not much. On a side note, a lot of the people taking the LSAT in ’09 were a lot older. At least half of the people I tested with were in their late 30s or early 40s. I went to the law school fairs and talked with the admissions counselors. They were pretty blunt. Since the financial crash, applications had skyrocketed and older people with a successful career behind them would be given preference. Literally, the admissions requirements for Kentucky’s law schools jumped overnight. In the past, my test scores and grades, coupled with my leadership and intern experience would have landed me a spot in law school. But with many more applicants, those same schools could set the bar higher. I didn’t get accepted anywhere. I said fine. I’ll get a job, build up my resume, and apply again in the future. But getting a job is not that easy. I’ve had a few temporary jobs, but nothing long term. I literally apply for jobs on a daily basis. It’s all about experience now. I was turned down for a lawn-mowing job the other day because I didn’t have enough experience. I’ve looked for jobs as a janitor. They all require experience. Yes, you need years of experience to clean toilets. I can’t make this up. A couple of months ago, I had a phone interview with a local company for a secretarial position. The lady on the phone told me there were over 200 applicants. She also said not to get my hopes up because a lot of people who applied either had a Masters or a Ph.D. The job paid $11/hr. What am I supposed to do? I’m male, white, inexperienced, and I only have a bachelors degree in a field that’s not in high demand. I don’t fit into any government statistic. I currently have $2.47 in my bank account with no job prospects in sight. There are a lot of people in my situation. I don’t want anyone else to pay more taxes so I can get a check from the government. My Mom always told me, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” I believe that. But it’s extremely difficult to find work right now. By the way, my historical concentration was the Roman transition from the Republic to the Principate, in particular, the rise of Julius Caesar. For anyone who thinks that things are going to get better, you’re wrong. |
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Stop regestering on gun websites and go register on job hunting sites. Plenty of min wage manual labor jobs around that require no experience or degrees. Also there's the military... No, there's not plenty of min wage jobs. Not today, there isn't. Military might be a good option if they'll take him. Stats on the fitness of the nation's young people for service is pretty depressing though. What I find sad about the whole situation is that people who study history are ridiculed for learning something useless. And these same people doing the ridiculing then turn around and wonder why this country is ass fucked 9 ways from Sunday. |
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I sympathize, OP. Don't just respond to want-ads; put your resume up here for review and possible consideration. Once it's reviewed, start dropping off copies at every employer in your county.
Have them looking at your resume BEFORE they go to the trouble of putting a want-ad in the paper or online. You can't compete with 200 other respondents, but you can beat them to the punch. Work with your school to see if they can place you in a coop or internship, both your department and the school at large should have ties to local employers and a vested interest in boosting their alumni employment stats. Use public assistance if you need it, nobody cares these days. |
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no one deny's the job market sucks. it sucks worse for young guys with no experience because it's an employers market and they get to pick from thousands of over qualified candidates. in this market you take what you can get. this isn't the first time it's happened and likely won't be the last, unless the economy finally just dies. while college is not a bad thing, and many jobs that pay well require a degree, the costs associated with it has become as much or more of a liability than it's worth in many cases.
education alone doesn't get you hired. work history and experience do. in this market not having all 3 means your running the fry machine. |
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Stop regestering on gun websites and go register on job hunting sites. Plenty of min wage manual labor jobs around that require no experience or degrees. Also there's the military... O rly? I never thought of looking for a job on a job listing website. It completely escaped me. Read my post. A lot of these "min wage manual labor jobs" require experience. I would join the military but I can't because of a medical condition. |
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Keep at it, you'll find something sooner or later.
In the meantime you might want to try a find a job working construction at a larger project. Power plants, hospitals, manufacturing facilities, etc are good places to make more than minimum wage even with no experience. I work for an electrical contractor and our starting pay is $10 - $12 an hour depending on the project. A lot of the time if you can pass a drug test you can get a job. If you get in with a good company they'll keep you busy if you're a hardworker. Being successfull in construction work is 80% showing up for work and 20% common sense. |
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Stop regestering on gun websites and go register on job hunting sites. Plenty of min wage manual labor jobs around that require no experience or degrees. Also there's the military... No, there's not plenty of min wage jobs. Not today, there isn't. Military might be a good option if they'll take him. Stats on the fitness of the nation's young people for service is pretty depressing though. What I find sad about the whole situation is that people who study history are ridiculed for learning something useless. And these same people doing the ridiculing then turn around and wonder why this country is ass fucked 9 ways from Sunday. i can point you to a metic shit ton of min wage jobs within a 4 block area of where i am now. the problem is most people can't/won't work for that and maintain their lifestyle. |
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Stop regestering on gun websites and go register on job hunting sites. Plenty of min wage manual labor jobs around that require no experience or degrees. Also there's the military... No, there's not plenty of min wage jobs. Not today, there isn't. Military might be a good option if they'll take him. Stats on the fitness of the nation's young people for service is pretty depressing though. What I find sad about the whole situation is that people who study history are ridiculed for learning something useless. And these same people doing the ridiculing then turn around and wonder why this country is ass fucked 9 ways from Sunday. i can point you to a metic shit ton of min wage jobs within a 4 block area of where i am now. the problem is most people can't/won't work for that and maintain their lifestyle. Same here. It might be delivering pizza or working at Home Depot, but that looks better on a resume than a blank space. |
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Stop regestering on gun websites and go register on job hunting sites. Plenty of min wage manual labor jobs around that require no experience or degrees. Also there's the military... No, there's not plenty of min wage jobs. Not today, there isn't. Military might be a good option if they'll take him. Stats on the fitness of the nation's young people for service is pretty depressing though. What I find sad about the whole situation is that people who study history are ridiculed for learning something useless. And these same people doing the ridiculing then turn around and wonder why this country is ass fucked 9 ways from Sunday. i can point you to a metic shit ton of min wage jobs within a 4 block area of where i am now. the problem is most people can't/won't work for that and maintain their lifestyle. Same here, the local domonies I drive by every day can't even keep a sign twirler employed, and the job pays $9+ an hour, to spin a sign on the side of the road. I wish I was kidding but every 3-4 days the twirler is replaced by a "Sign Twirler Wated" sign int he grass and they post in the paper every week. |
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Some people don’t understand what’s happening to the job market. I hear and read comments all the time from people who say, “Just get a job” or “Quit being lazy.” For all those people on here who have a job and can’t fully understand what’s going on, let me tell you about my situation. In the fall of 2006, I enrolled at a private liberal arts college First Mistake in Kentucky. I was accepted on an academic scholarship that paid the majority of my tuition. The rest was paid in the form of student loans Second mistake. During freshman orientation, I distinctly remember one of the economic professors showing a powerpoint about the advantages of going to college, especially a liberal arts college. One graph, in particular, showed the average earnings over a lifetime for those who had a degree and those who didn’t. Those who had a degree made a lot more. Way to buy the snake oil I registered for classes and chose history as my major Third mistake. Before everyone piles on me for choosing history as my major, understand there was a method to my madness. During high school, I participated in the mock trial team. I loved it. I knew from my research that a high percentage of law school students had undergraduate majors in history. I enjoyed history, so it was a good plan. I would study something I enjoyed and set myself up for an easy transition into law school. I worked hard. On average I read 1500 pages a week of historical material and the majority of my papers required original research—that means going to the library and finding sources. By the way, the 1500 pages does not include reading the sources you find at the library. In college, history majors don’t memorize dates and facts. They research and write essays. During this time, I also did several internships in government and business. I held leadership positions on campus as well. In the beginning of 2009, I began studying for the LSAT. I took the classes and bought the study materials. I first took the test in June of ’09. My scores were average. I studied harder and took the test again in October. I raised the scores a little, but not much. On a side note, a lot of the people taking the LSAT in ’09 were a lot older. At least half of the people I tested with were in their late 30s or early 40s. I went to the law school fairs and talked with the admissions counselors. They were pretty blunt. Since the financial crash, applications had skyrocketed and older people with a successful career behind them would be given preference. Literally, the admissions requirements for Kentucky’s law schools jumped overnight. In the past, my test scores and grades, coupled with my leadership and intern experience would have landed me a spot in law school. But with many more applicants, those same schools could set the bar higher. I didn’t get accepted anywhere. I said fine. I’ll get a job, build up my resume, and apply again in the future. But getting a job is not that easy. I’ve had a few temporary jobs, but nothing long term. I literally apply for jobs on a daily basis. It’s all about experience now. I was turned down for a lawn-mowing job the other day because I didn’t have enough experience. I’ve looked for jobs as a janitor. They all require experience. Yes, you need years of experience to clean toilets. I can’t make this up. A couple of months ago, I had a phone interview with a local company for a secretarial position. The lady on the phone told me there were over 200 applicants. She also said not to get my hopes up because a lot of people who applied either had a Masters or a Ph.D. The job paid $11/hr. What am I supposed to do? I’m male, white, inexperienced, and I only have a bachelors degree in a field that’s not in high demand. I don’t fit into any government statistic. I currently have $2.47 in my bank account with no job prospects in sight. There are a lot of people in my situation. I don’t want anyone else to pay more taxes so I can get a check from the government. My Mom always told me, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” I believe that. But it’s extremely difficult to find work right now. By the way, my historical concentration was the Roman transition from the Republic to the Principate, in particular, the rise of Julius Caesar. For anyone who thinks that things are going to get better, you’re wrong. You never had a job in high school? You have no experience doing anything? You can't get a job at McDonalds? Sorry you didn't go to a votech school or join the military, maybe it's not too late? |
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A first post like this will draw some ire, but your writing style makes me a believer in the story if you indeed did write it... Someone your age that can write as well as you can will stand out among other applicants to most positions. In addition to the scarcity of work, you have the additional problem of over education. Few managers want to hire a guy that will disappear as soon as he has an opportunity. Your problem is that you got cock blocked mid path. This might be a blessing to you, as if you read the posts from some of the practicing Lawyers here, it sounds pretty unappealing. |
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Some people don’t understand what’s happening to the job market. I hear and read comments all the time from people who say, “Just get a job” or “Quit being lazy.” For all those people on here who have a job and can’t fully understand what’s going on, let me tell you about my situation. In the fall of 2006, I enrolled at a private liberal arts college in Kentucky. I was accepted on an academic scholarship that paid the majority of my tuition. The rest was paid in the form of student loans. During freshman orientation, I distinctly remember one of the economic professors showing a powerpoint about the advantages of going to college, especially a liberal arts college. One graph, in particular, showed the average earnings over a lifetime for those who had a degree and those who didn’t. Those who had a degree made a lot more. I registered for classes and chose history as my major. Before everyone piles on me for choosing history as my major, understand there was a method to my madness. During high school, I participated in the mock trial team. I loved it. I knew from my research that a high percentage of law school students had undergraduate majors in history. I enjoyed history, so it was a good plan. I would study something I enjoyed and set myself up for an easy transition into law school. I worked hard. On average I read 1500 pages a week of historical material and the majority of my papers required original research—that means going to the library and finding sources. By the way, the 1500 pages does not include reading the sources you find at the library. In college, history majors don’t memorize dates and facts. They research and write essays. During this time, I also did several internships in government and business. I held leadership positions on campus as well. In the beginning of 2009, I began studying for the LSAT. I took the classes and bought the study materials. I first took the test in June of ’09. My scores were average. I studied harder and took the test again in October. I raised the scores a little, but not much. On a side note, a lot of the people taking the LSAT in ’09 were a lot older. At least half of the people I tested with were in their late 30s or early 40s. I went to the law school fairs and talked with the admissions counselors. They were pretty blunt. Since the financial crash, applications had skyrocketed and older people with a successful career behind them would be given preference. Literally, the admissions requirements for Kentucky’s law schools jumped overnight. In the past, my test scores and grades, coupled with my leadership and intern experience would have landed me a spot in law school. But with many more applicants, those same schools could set the bar higher. I didn’t get accepted anywhere. I said fine. I’ll get a job, build up my resume, and apply again in the future. But getting a job is not that easy. I’ve had a few temporary jobs, but nothing long term. I literally apply for jobs on a daily basis. It’s all about experience now. I was turned down for a lawn-mowing job the other day because I didn’t have enough experience. I’ve looked for jobs as a janitor. They all require experience. Yes, you need years of experience to clean toilets. I can’t make this up. A couple of months ago, I had a phone interview with a local company for a secretarial position. The lady on the phone told me there were over 200 applicants. She also said not to get my hopes up because a lot of people who applied either had a Masters or a Ph.D. The job paid $11/hr. What am I supposed to do? I’m male, white, inexperienced, and I only have a bachelors degree in a field that’s not in high demand. I don’t fit into any government statistic. I currently have $2.47 in my bank account with no job prospects in sight. There are a lot of people in my situation. I don’t want anyone else to pay more taxes so I can get a check from the government. My Mom always told me, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” I believe that. But it’s extremely difficult to find work right now. By the way, my historical concentration was the Roman transition from the Republic to the Principate, in particular, the rise of Julius Caesar. For anyone who thinks that things are going to get better, you’re wrong. I would have loved to have majored in history as I throughly enjoyed all aspects of study, even Russian history. However, I had zero interest in law school but knew I had to study a marketable skill(s) so I focused on math, the sciences and eventually engineering. To be blunt, you didn't have a 'plan B' so you need to get one quick. You're experiencing a shift in the market, (law schools,) so you need to adapt but you do know that the job market for young lawyers is horrible right now? If you want to go for further education, consider an engineering or chemistry degree. |
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A first post like this will draw some ire, but your writing style makes me a believer in the story if you indeed did write it... Someone your age that can write as well as you can will stand out among other applicants to most positions.. Truth. A lot of people in their 20's today can't write for shit. |
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If you are willing to move and not afraid of hard work...
Info Mine Misco Jobs |
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A first post like this will draw some ire, but your writing style makes me a believer in the story if you indeed did write it... Someone your age that can write as well as you can will stand out among other applicants to most positions.. Truth. A lot of people in their 20's today can't write for shit. Hell I'm in my 30's and I can't write for shit. I can spell with the best of them but my grammer is atrocious. 
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| I had a similar problem back in 2001. I finished school with BS in Comp Science just after the internet bubble burst. I was going up against people with 5+ years experience for entry level jobs. It took me about a year to find a job in IT. What got my foot in the door was doing a free internship a day or two a week for three months. Then when a spot opened up, I had the home field advantage. |
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Quoted: I didn't make it past liberal arts college AHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! Too fucking funny..."but...but...the professors told me this would be awesome and worthwhile..." ZERO sympathy, you fucked away years of college on a worthless degree, just like a metric fuck ton of whiny, self-entitled assholes who are now in the business of shitting in public parks and transmitting body lice between each under an "Occupy _______" banner. McDonalds will definitely hire you. So will 7-11, Plaid Pantry, or any number of other similar jobs your liberal arts degree prepared you for. With any luck, you can save up enough money to buy a crying towel, and still have enough left over to call someone who cares. |
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So basically, you made a series of bad choices, and are reaping the results. Sounds like life to me. Whats your problem again? He doesnt have a rape whistle.  Balls. No he has those for admitting he went to a liberal arts college, listened to liberal professors about real life, and then got a major in history and could apply it to nothing in the real world outside of Lawyers and Politics which he cant even get into. Everyone is in need of a good rape whistle. Especially if TRG is around if you can fight through the chloroform. |
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Also, there's plenty of jobs out there for outside the box thinking quality liberal arts majors.
The issues are the "outside the box thinking" and "quality" parts. My wife just graduated in May with an English degree. She was applying to 10+ jobs a day once she graduated, and a few before. She had her first interview before she had her diploma. She was shocked at the number of writing related jobs that were available just in our area. She had a job by August. Amusing part is, part of the reason she got the job was because she did just about perfect on the writing/editing/research test they gave her before her interview. Apparently almost everybody else flunked it. She found it easy. Part of it is that she also loves writing and editing, but she doesn't want to write the next great American novel. For a lot of her classmates that was their goal, which will obviously never happen. Those folks never thought of applying for a job writing contract proposals because it wasn't "creative". ETA: I have a history degree. Now I'm in logistics. |
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Stop regestering on gun websites and go register on job hunting sites. Plenty of min wage manual labor jobs around that require no experience or degrees. Also there's the military... O rly? I never thought of looking for a job on a job listing website. It completely escaped me. Read my post. A lot of these "min wage manual labor jobs" require experience. I would join the military but I can't because of a medical condition. First, i feel for ya. Not having work sucks. Second, perhaps you should have chosse a different major. In a good job market, finding a position that used your major wouldn't be that easy, seein on how it would mainly apply to education, kinda limits your options. Third, while still in school and watching this economy die, you should be suprised that you are in this situation. |
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Quoted: Meh.Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: So basically, you made a series of bad choices, and are reaping the results. Sounds like life to me. Whats your problem again? He doesnt have a rape whistle. Balls. No he has those for admitting he went to a liberal arts college, listened to liberal professors about real life, and then got a major in history and could apply it to nothing in the real world outside of Lawyers and Politics which he cant even get into. Everyone is in need of a good rape whistle. Especially if TRG is around if you can fight through the chloroform. "Does this towel smell like chloroform to you?"  |