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In a world where everyone goes to college ,how is someone without a degree to get ahead ?This is question I'd like to know ,makes me wonder how an employeer tells all the degreed people apart from the next.
Learn how to be a plumber, you will probably do better than most with degrees.
Learn how to be a plumber, you will probably do better than most with degrees.
Agree!!! And do you know why???? Get a skill not just a degree...I have a degree ( a few) and my salary is going backwards because of the industy I'm in-so I'm going back to school and learning a skill-once I get my foot in the door-my future emplyer will pay for some of my education...
I've been studying this question a LOT these days, as I'm now a 20-yr-old sophomore at one of the top-ranked public universities. I'm sure that many of you here as well have thought about this a lot too, considering how competitive this world is becoming (in literally every sense of the word)
In a world where everyone and their dog has a college degree and *almost* everyone and their dog has a PhD, MBA, or went to law school, it seems like pretty much everyone is smart, dedicated, and motivated.
Of course, not *everyone* does this, but I was figuratively speaking about how there are lots of unemployed men and women these days with higher-education from even the top-notch schools, and from the looks of it, figures will only seem to get worse as we move into the new decade. The competition even among those at the top-of-the-top seems to be getting worse.
What is the best thing that someone's who's pursuing a PhD, MBA, JD, MD, trying to climb the corporate ladder, or beyond, should know and incorporate into their plan of action to get ahead of the millions of others that are doing just the same? It seems even the chant "work harder!" doesn't really add much to the equation anymore, considering that the advice is doled out by parents, schools, and in a lot of other places. And it already looks as if someone who's pursuing a PhD, MBA, JD, MD pretty much *had to* work harder and harder just to get up to where they are (or to stay where they are relative to others who are working just as hard"er"?)
It would be nice if we could get some opinions of those who know some people who have "made it ahead", are aspiring to do so themselves, or any outside-the-box opinions that are waiting to be thrown out there.
The world that you occupy right now, at a competitive college, is not the real world.
In the "real world" everyone does not even have their "BA". (or equivalent)
Last I read, approximately 25% of Americans have four year degrees.
That means we are in no imminent danger of being a nation over run with people holding advanced or professional degrees.
I've been studying this question a LOT these days, as I'm now a 20-yr-old sophomore at one of the top-ranked public universities. I'm sure that many of you here as well have thought about this a lot too, considering how competitive this world is becoming (in literally every sense of the word)
In a world where everyone and their dog has a college degree and *almost* everyone and their dog has a PhD, MBA, or went to law school, it seems like pretty much everyone is smart, dedicated, and motivated.
Of course, not *everyone* does this, but I was figuratively speaking about how there are lots of unemployed men and women these days with higher-education from even the top-notch schools, and from the looks of it, figures will only seem to get worse as we move into the new decade. The competition even among those at the top-of-the-top seems to be getting worse.
What is the best thing that someone's who's pursuing a PhD, MBA, JD, MD, trying to climb the corporate ladder, or beyond, should know and incorporate into their plan of action to get ahead of the millions of others that are doing just the same? It seems even the chant "work harder!" doesn't really add much to the equation anymore, considering that the advice is doled out by parents, schools, and in a lot of other places. And it already looks as if someone who's pursuing a PhD, MBA, JD, MD pretty much *had to* work harder and harder just to get up to where they are (or to stay where they are relative to others who are working just as hard"er"?)
It would be nice if we could get some opinions of those who know some people who have "made it ahead", are aspiring to do so themselves, or any outside-the-box opinions that are waiting to be thrown out there.
College is a massive scam for most people these days. College is more expensive than ever. People are graduating with 20-100K+ in debt to find out that they have no real skills and that there are no entry level jobs. Idiots on the internet will tell every average Tom, Dick and Jane to study something extremely difficult like computer science or electrical engineering. This is pretty dumb because the only thing the average kid learns in college is how to become an alcoholic and how to amass thousands of dollars in debt while living like an irresponsible man/woman-child. This is no exaggeration seeing as 44% of all college students are regular binge drinkers and that one in three college students meets the criteria of being a problem drinker or full-blown alcoholic. But only the top 5% of people in college will do well in complex STEM fields and get good jobs upon graduation. A poorly publicized fact is that there are hundreds of thousands of unemployed/underemployed STEM grads as well. It doesn't make any sense to get into tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to get a job that pays $8 an hour or not to be able to find a job at all.
I couldn't get a job in my college educated field of graphic design because every company wants someone with at least five years full-time professional experience at a big company plus a college degree to work for a hair over minimum wage. Also, tons of people want and need graphic design services (i.e. websites), but they don't want to pay anything for your services. Instead, I very recently took a job outside of my field as a sales manager for the local branch of a national company. My current job included training which most college degreed fields do not. Most jobs that require a college degree only want seasoned career veterans with years of full-time work experience, not little Johnny who just graduated from college with a couple unpaid internships. I was hired on the strength of my personality at my current job; not my fancy-schmancy college degree. Most employers could care less about a college degree. My current job doesn't even require a degree. However, you need a thick skin and a people-personality to do well in sales. Yeah, dealing with ungrateful customers sucks sometimes, BUT I get paid a good salary base pay plus commission. But get used to it naive college students because America is now a service economy. And that means your future job will most likely involve dealing with rude, impatient and entitled people on a daily basis. Don't expect to get paid a lot on the strength of your artistic talents either. Also, don't expect to get paid six figures to surf the internet unless you get a federal gravy train job. Even then, public servants deal with arseholes all day. If I grind hard enough and get enough sales, it is possible to make 10K+ a month at my job. I have more earning potential than a degreed cubicle slave that earns an inescapable set low wage. I have more earning potential than most graphic designers.
My brother-in-law is also a sales manager for a local car dealership and he doesn't have a degree. He makes a doctor's salary and works less than 20 hours a week at a car dealership. Although nothing is made in America anymore, you can still make a good living selling sh*t to people made in other countries. I'm lucky that I live in suburban Maryland, which is the richest part of the richest state in the country. This is the best area of the country to be a salesman because there is no recession out here, but rather a huge economic boom. The slothful aristocratic class of insanely overpaid federal workers in this region has way too much money and free time on their hands.
Last edited by goldenchild08; 02-12-2012 at 11:13 PM..
College is a massive scam for most people these days. College is more expensive than ever. People are graduating with 20-100K+ in debt to find out that they have no real skills and that there are no entry level jobs. Idiots on the internet will tell every average Tom, Dick and Jane to study something extremely difficult like computer science or electrical engineering. This is pretty dumb because the only thing the average kid learns in college is how to become an alcoholic and how to amass thousands of dollars in debt while living like an irresponsible man/woman-child. This is no exaggeration seeing as 44% of all college students are regular binge drinkers and that one in three college students meets the criteria of being a problem drinker or full-blown alcoholic. But only the top 5% of people in college will do well in complex STEM fields and get good jobs upon graduation. A poorly publicized fact is that there are hundreds of thousands of unemployed/underemployed STEM grads as well. It doesn't make any sense to get into tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to get a job that pays $8 an hour or not to be able to find a job at all.
I couldn't get a job in my college educated field of graphic design because every company wants someone with at least five years full-time professional experience at a big company plus a college degree to work for a hair over minimum wage. Also, tons of people want and need graphic design services (i.e. websites), but they don't want to pay anything for your services. Instead, I very recently took a job outside of my field as a sales manager for the local branch of a national company. My current job included training which most college degreed fields do not. Most jobs that require a college degree only want seasoned career veterans with years of full-time work experience, not little Johnny who just graduated from college with a couple unpaid internships. I was hired on the strength of my personality at my current job; not my fancy-schmancy college degree. Most employers could care less about a college degree. My current job doesn't even require a degree. However, you need a thick skin and a people-personality to do well in sales. Yeah, dealing with ungrateful customers sucks sometimes, BUT I get paid a good salary base pay plus commission. But get used to it naive college students because America is now a service economy. And that means your future job will most likely involve dealing with rude, impatient and entitled people on a daily basis. Don't expect to get paid a lot on the strength of your artistic talents either. Also, don't expect to get paid six figures to surf the internet unless you get a federal gravy train job. Even then, public servants deal with arseholes all day. If I grind hard enough and get enough sales, it is possible to make 10K+ a month at my job. I have more earning potential than a degreed cubicle slave that earns an inescapable set low wage. I have more earning potential than most graphic designers.
My brother-in-law is also a sales manager for a local car dealership and he doesn't have a degree. He makes a doctor's salary and works less than 20 hours a week at a car dealership. Although nothing is made in America anymore, you can still make a good living selling sh*t to people made in other countries. I'm lucky that I live in suburban Maryland, which is the richest part of the richest state in the country. This is the best area of the country to be a salesman because there is no recession out here, but rather a huge economic boom. The slothful aristocratic class of insanely overpaid federal workers in this region has way too much money and free time on their hands.
It's too bad none of your claims are backed up by any facts. Personal examples are pretty useless as there are always exception to the rule.
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