This Must Stop! (Pittsburgh: apartments, student loans, hotel)

[ML North]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I literally just want to know where all of these presumably Pitt and CMU students work at where they can afford tuition AND luxury vehicles AND smartphones AND Starbuck's AND designer clothing (etc., etc.) at their young age. I worked full-time through college at $11.14/hr. (plus sales commissions) and couldn't afford most or much of any of that. I just want to know what I did wrong. I'm not saying I necessarily want an Audi or an iPhone or iPod or Nook or whatever else, but it would be nice to know what all of those people younger than me do for a living that they can afford all of them while I work two jobs and am still financing my way out of debt at 24.

There are many employers in town that pay fine salaries ($40k +) to young professionals: Heinz, PPG, Alcoa, Google, Westinghouse, Bechtel, US Steel, PWC, Deloitte, Federated, PNC, Eaton, EQT, Fifth Third, FedEx, American Eagle, etc. I know a lot of people that are less than two years removed from college who are employed at each of these firms. RNs also make very good money coming out of college. It's not universally true that all young professionals in Pittsburgh are broke.

You're an accountant, right? Have you tried to get in with one of Big 4?

[gg]

Aqua, you are much too young to really have any understanding of how bad things can really get. You are sitting there with your high speed Internet connection with a full stomach and you feel things are bad. It is laughable. I suggest you do some traveling. Somalia or Sudan might be a good trip for you for an attitude adjustment. Read about 1929 US a bit. We are all living in pure luxury, but take it all for granted. Even people in the Hill are living okay in comparison to tons of places. Sure we don't have standards like much of Scandinavia or other places, but we are much better of than tons of places.

I really do believe you need to take a trip and have a look around the world and much of its poverty. It would truly be the best things for you and a life changing experience.

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by Tirade

Either their parents are paying for it or they're maxxing out their credit cards. In either case, they're not actually paying for it with their own money.

That about sums it up...

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by ML North

There are many employers in town that pay fine salaries ($40k +) to young professionals: Heinz, PPG, Alcoa, Google, Westinghouse, Bechtel, US Steel, PWC, Deloitte, Federated, PNC, Eaton, EQT, Fifth Third, FedEx, American Eagle, etc. I know a lot of people that are less than two years removed from college who are employed at each of these firms. RNs also make very good money coming out of college. It's not universally true that all young professionals in Pittsburgh are broke.

You're an accountant, right? Have you tried to get in with one of Big 4?

Exactly, there are tons of "career opportunities" in this metropolitan area. It's just an employers market right now like anywhere else in the country, and the best companies can afford to be picky in who they choose to hire.

Just keep trying and get in as many interviews as possible, the odds will be in your favor then and something good will probably happen.

[gg]

Originally Posted by ML North

There are many employers in town that pay fine salaries ($40k +) to young professionals...

It is interesting that people feel $40K for a cubicle job is good. I hope people know there are bartenders and waitstaff that make that and it is in the form of cash. Not easy to get those waiter/bartender jobs, but they are out there. Some hotels also have health insurance.

$40K was a great salary way back when I graduated college in the mid '80s. How sad. No wonder why so many young still leave our region, although at the moment some stay. I suspect when we move fully out of the recession new college grads will start moving out in droves like they used to.

[Debbie1125]

Originally Posted by Tirade

Either their parents are paying for it or they're maxxing out their credit cards. In either case, they're not actually paying for it with their own money.

^^^This

[ML North]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

It is interesting that people feel $40K for a cubicle job is good. I hope people know there are bartenders and waitstaff that make that and it is in the form of cash. Not easy to get those waiter/bartender jobs, but they are out there. Some hotels also have health insurance.

$40K was a great salary way back when I graduated college in the mid '80s. How sad. No wonder why so many young still leave our region, although at the moment some stay. I suspect when we move fully out of the recession new college grads will start moving out in droves like they used to.

It's certainly respectable for a cubicle job, especially since that $40k cubicle job affords the opportunity to dramatically increase earnings over a number of years. Also, cubicle jobs usually offer other forms of compensation besides cash (benefits, retirement options, tuition assistance, etc.), that are not available to bartenders.

Furthermore, some people with cubicle jobs assign value to their job because they're able to do something that is enjoyable, perhaps challenging, and get paid for it. Especially those who make greater societal contributions than pouring booze in a cup, wiping down menus, and complaining to their customers about high taxes.

[ML North]

...and preparing take-out orders.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Aqua, you are much too young to really have any understanding of how bad things can really get. You are sitting there with your high speed Internet connection with a full stomach and you feel things are bad. It is laughable. I suggest you do some traveling. Somalia or Sudan might be a good trip for you for an attitude adjustment. Read about 1929 US a bit. We are all living in pure luxury, but take it all for granted. Even people in the Hill are living okay in comparison to tons of places. Sure we don't have standards like much of Scandinavia or other places, but we are much better of than tons of places.

I really do believe you need to take a trip and have a look around the world and much of its poverty. It would truly be the best things for you and a life changing experience.

Last year I had a job with a major hospital. I was fired for missing too much time for being sick (I had a rare condition where I was leaking brain fluid from my skull out of my nose). I needed surgery ASAP but I had no job. I was faced with the proposition with getting surgery without insurance before COBRA kicked in and being in debt for the rest of my life or facing or wait and hope I didn't take a stroke or have a brain hemorrhage. I chose to wait, and thank God I'm still here to type this.

So here I was in the richest country in the world facing death or debt after getting fired for being sick while working inside a hospital. No sympathy for me, I was just expected to be all "boot strappy" and suck up the fact that I had brain fluid falling out of my nose. So I had my surgery, had an interview 2 weeks later in tons of pain pumped full of drugs so I could get back on my feet. Somehow I landed it and they gave me over a month to recover. To this day I have extreme headaches, increased intercranial pressure, and an extremely sensitive ear (the surgery cut a whole through my ear to repair the hole in my skull, I got a gnarly scar).

So long story short, I got fired from a hospital for being sick, chose near death rather than life with debt, went through pain/depression/desperation, watched no one give to sh*ts aside from my family and close friends, got a kick of reality right to the face, and lived to tell the tale. Talk about an attitude adjustment and putting things in perspective. Perhaps you should walk a mile in my shoes before you pass judgement sir.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Tirade

Either their parents are paying for it or they're maxxing out their credit cards. In either case, they're not actually paying for it with their own money.

Everyone keeps praising this post & I'm sure some people fall into this category, but also News Flash: believe it or not it is possible to work in the City of Pittsburgh, be young & be successful enough to afford luxeries. Jeesh, some people act like this is some barren Chernobylesque wasteland here where everyone is huddled around a burning garbage can to keep warm.