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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Many people go to college for the social aspects, and either have a useless major or just barely get by, and don't learn enough to convince interviewers of their knowledge. Even the best student will have a hard time competing without experience, and many choose to party rather than work while in school. Even when experience is not required, the applicant with any work experience has a big advantage in the competitive work environment. In my department, the jobs with the least requirements are two years college (any) but 2 years related experience, and we have no shortage of applicants.
I don't know of any people who are college educated and taking minimum wage jobs. None.
I don't know any either. I work at a law firm and our paralegals are college grads with liberal arts degrees. They do NOT make min wage or even anything close to that. We also have an office assistant who is a college graduate with a liberal arts degree. She doesn't make as much as the paralegals but she doesn't make anything remotely close to minimum wage. She will be in line for a promotion to paralegal.
My oldest son is currently a senior in college. Most of his friends who graduated are having good success in the job market. Even as a student he was able to make over $20 per hour in the summers. He has a job lined up after graduation.
I have a good friend who is 27 years old and she has a degree in Theater. She is working for a bank at a good job. She is NOT making minimum wage or anything even close to minimum wage.
My husband's partner has 4 children between 23-30. 3 are college graduates. 1 is not. The college graduates are all gainfully employed and fully self reliant. The one who does not have a degree is working odd jobs and having a hard time getting herself launched.
I could go on and on but I just don't know who all these people are.
Yeah, a "cardboard" degree. Many posts here detail the degrees like Art History, where there simply is not much demand for the skills learned, even if well learned, in the marketplace.
You simply don't see STEM and Business majors working fast food (unless as a manager, in the case of the business majors).
There is a demand for art history.
But in order to have a career in that A you have to get graduate level degrees. B it's not just about your degrees. You have to produce academic work that you get published.
Someone who just has a bachelors degree in Art History most likely hasn't published anything of note, hasn't done any research, and likely has no field experience. Therefore they are unqualified to work in the field.
Art history people either work in academia or museums but as I just said there is substantial work that one must do to get either of those jobs.
They need to make money until something better comes along, they have poor interview skills, they share expenses with a roommate or two, so they are getting by and having fun while they are young, etc.
Yes it doesn't mean that they will stay in those positions forever. At the same time just because you are a college graduate it doesn't mean that you are a quality candidate.
Many people go to college for the social aspects, and either have a useless major or just barely get by, and don't learn enough to convince interviewers of their knowledge. Even the best student will have a hard time competing without experience, and many choose to party rather than work while in school. Even when experience is not required, the applicant with any work experience has a big advantage in the competitive work environment. In my department, the jobs with the least requirements are two years college (any) but 2 years related experience, and we have no shortage of applicants.
Very true too. If you haven't had any relevant internships or done any relevant work in the field you may have a hard time getting a job after graduation. It also depends on what you want to do.
As noted academic type jobs require research experience, require published work, and graduate level degrees. No major is useless, but these types of jobs will not hire someone with just a BA and BS (who also has no experience).
I don't know any either. I work at a law firm and our paralegals are college grads with liberal arts degrees. They do NOT make min wage or even anything close to that. We also have an office assistant who is a college graduate with a liberal arts degree. She doesn't make as much as the paralegals but she doesn't make anything remotely close to minimum wage. She will be in line for a promotion to paralegal.
My oldest son is currently a senior in college. Most of his friends who graduated are having good success in the job market. Even as a student he was able to make over $20 per hour in the summers. He has a job lined up after graduation.
I have a good friend who is 27 years old and she has a degree in Theater. She is working for a bank at a good job. She is NOT making minimum wage or anything even close to minimum wage.
My husband's partner has 4 children between 23-30. 3 are college graduates. 1 is not. The college graduates are all gainfully employed and fully self reliant. The one who does not have a degree is working odd jobs and having a hard time getting herself launched.
I could go on and on but I just don't know who all these people are.
Articles like this also conveniently lump all college graduates together. These people working from the minimum wage could have graduated from University of Phoenix or some other diploma mill schools.
I do have a friend with two degrees who is working in a bar and can't get a professional job but it is because he is an obvious alcoholic with anxiety and other issues that show during interviews so he can't get a good job.
Before I got my undergraduate degree I was able to make up to $19 an hour and that was YEARS ago. Grad student now.
I don't know any either. I work at a law firm and our paralegals are college grads with liberal arts degrees. They do NOT make min wage or even anything close to that. We also have an office assistant who is a college graduate with a liberal arts degree. She doesn't make as much as the paralegals but she doesn't make anything remotely close to minimum wage. She will be in line for a promotion to paralegal.
My oldest son is currently a senior in college. Most of his friends who graduated are having good success in the job market. Even as a student he was able to make over $20 per hour in the summers. He has a job lined up after graduation.
I have a good friend who is 27 years old and she has a degree in Theater. She is working for a bank at a good job. She is NOT making minimum wage or anything even close to minimum wage.
My husband's partner has 4 children between 23-30. 3 are college graduates. 1 is not. The college graduates are all gainfully employed and fully self reliant. The one who does not have a degree is working odd jobs and having a hard time getting herself launched.
I could go on and on but I just don't know who all these people are.
That's because they don't exist.
My son has been earning over $20 per hour in his field each Summer. And he has a "useless" major, according to some.
I could add to your list. It wouldn't matter. They have an agenda. And they remain hell bent on proving that higher education is useless.
The best way to find out if they are walking that particular talk, is to see what their post secondary student children are doing.
Why would some College Grads end up in a minimum wage job?
Not having the appropriate experience in their field of study. Every college student should be getting internships relevant to their major after their freshman year and complete some more their sophomore, junior, and senior year. A college degree isn't worth the paper it's printed on without that experience in your field. I only ended up with one summer internship working in a research and development lab and I ended up having to start off in a contract to hire position to gain enough experience to be competitive for a full time permanent chemist position. I started off with $17 an hour and no benefits for the first 8 and half months out of school until I was converted to full time in another research group at my current company. I wished I started doing 6 month internships after my freshman year even if it did delay my graduation a year because I would of had the 2-3 years of experience in an R&D lab without having to start off as a temp. I guess it all worked out. I am making $45k now but I was initially very frustrated with my initial job prospects.
P.S. Advice for College Students; get started on those internships your freshman and make sure you have 1-2 years of professional experience in your major so you don't end up starting off as temp to get your foot in the door or worse working a pathetic retail/McDonald's job.
Why would some College Grads end up in a minimum wage job?
Makes you wonder why we don't really organize and promote trades more. Hers some sobering facts for college grads pursuing the arts...
1). Arts degrees are laughable outside of education and customer care
2) you don't need an arts degree for the latter
3). Trades quite often pay much, much more than many college degrees
4) only one guy/gal becomes the CEO and its usually set aside for someone with pedigree 99% don't have. And yet, all colleges try to teach you to be one.
5). College is a business. We simply don't need them all and we have over 3,000 universities.
6) skills are great, higher paying skills are better
7) no one cares what size shoes Lincoln wore.
8) Fewer care about a liberal arts degree
9) people do care about an engineering, legal, finance, computer science, web anything and administration degrees
10) many more wish they had one
Message? Don't be a tool and pursue the arts. Be a hard worker and get a kick you in the teeth degree so you have a prayer of a job outside of Starbucks when you graduate. It's that simple. If I want to find out what size shoes lincoln wore, I'll google it. No need to hire an Amy Irving type to tell me.
Just saying.
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