Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was looking @ unemployment rates by occupation and it's very obvious that trades and jobs which don't require a college degree generally (retail, dishwashers, cashiers) rank way higher in unemployment.
There is almost no job that requires a bachelors that is over 6%.
My observation is it's generally the opposite. Construction I can see the high rates, but I see help wanted signs in retail all over the place. I would think cashiers, clerks and cooks would be able to find a job pretty easily. I feel like those with white collar jobs are the ones who can go years without finding a job. They list lawyers at 1.2%. LMAO! In my experience, lawyers and engineers are the ones who go years without jobs and have a larger proportion of their workforce unemployed at any given time.
I'm sure it's true that the unemployment rate among the college-educated is lower than among the non-college-educated. However, I do not believe that's any vindication of the Send Everyone To College movement. I don't feel like going in the details of why. They've been discussed a million times on this subforum.
You really believe it's harder for a big box cashier to get a job than an Anthropology professor?
I find that impossible to believe.
I think part of the problem is that people who have degrees are generally looked at as "better." So if I had someone with a degree and someone without one, most drones would go with the one that has a degree. That's why the numbers are probably skewed in favor of degree holders.
You really believe it's harder for a big box cashier to get a job than an Anthropology professor?
I find that impossible to believe.
It's a matter of supply and demand though. There are hundreds of applicants for every cashier position, and most of those applicants don't have the skills to do anything else.
There are only a few applicants for highly skilled openings, and any given applicant has transferable skills to apply for many different types of positions.
I was looking @ unemployment rates by occupation and it's very obvious that trades and jobs which don't require a college degree generally (retail, dishwashers, cashiers) rank way higher in unemployment.
There is almost no job that requires a bachelors that is over 6%.
My observation is it's generally the opposite. Construction I can see the high rates, but I see help wanted signs in retail all over the place. I would think cashiers, clerks and cooks would be able to find a job pretty easily. I feel like those with white collar jobs are the ones who can go years without finding a job. They list lawyers at 1.2%. LMAO! In my experience, lawyers and engineers are the ones who go years without jobs and have a larger proportion of their workforce unemployed at any given time.
Anyone else feel this is highly skewed?
Do you know how many different jobs outside of being a lawyer a lawyer can land?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jobaba
The studies say it.
You really believe it's harder for a big box cashier to get a job than an Anthropology professor?
I find that impossible to believe.
The anthropology professor has other options other than being an anthropology professor.
Just to give you an example, I will tell you the types of jobs I've worked in and interviewed for. I have a BA in Social Science and a Master of Security Studies. Most of these jobs either required a degree or accepted a degree in lieu of experience or licensure. Also, most of these interviews occurred before I completed my master's degree.
parole officer
OIG Investigator
pre-trial bond officer
police officer
dispatcher
substance abuse counselor
security manager
operations manager
probation officer
child protective services caseworker
some job doing casework with Medicaid benefits
auto insurance claims adjuster
criminal justice instructor
lieutenant for a correctional facility
account manager
If it ever looks like I will become long-term unemployed, I will take anything. I already know I can quickly go back to doing security and might even be promoted to a supervisory position quickly because of my degrees and prior experience.
I do think there's something weird about the "data" and studies that college degree holders have lower unemployment rates. However, I have found time and time again that many college degree holders are "underemployed" or don't make money relative to what you'd think someone with their education level would make. In fact, almost everyone I know with a college degree is like this. That accounts for a lot and creates false positivity around going out and getting a college degree, as well as advanced degrees.
I disagree with a couple of responses you've gotten to this question, as well. For example, the idea that lawyers can get a bunch of different jobs aside from being a lawyer is flawed. I found that if you're a lawyer who has practiced law for a long time, there is some truth to that...but if you're someone who went to law school and realized early that you made a mistake or that's not what you want to do or are one of the graduates who struggled to find law-related work and decide to look outside of law because of that, you're kinda screwed. There are so many erroneous perceptions about the legal field and lawyers that it makes it hard to get a job in another field--people think you're nuts if you have a law degree and look outside of law. But what experienced lawyers have on their side is there are many fields or jobs that have some relationship to law that you can use that experience to transition into, like teaching law school courses or writing for law-related journals, or you can use your years of experience researching to get into journalism. I would guess this is true for other fields as well, i.e. work experience matters more than your degree.
I also disagree in many cases that a college degree gives you more options outside of your field. For example, what rosie-hair wrote...if he/she had those first three jobs AFTER getting a degree in physics and engineering, rosie_hair was "underemployed." The last three, I can see having some relation to rosie_hair's studies, although I obviously don't know the specifics. I have a BA in psychology and an advanced degree, work in IT and I am considered by people who know better "underemployed," although I would argue I'm more along the lines of someone who just isn't making an amount of money you'd expect for my education level and am starting from the ground up in a field I didn't go to school for. And when I say "people who know better," for example, I know what IT support individuals make and who a lot of those places will hire...so with a masters in engineering, yeah, I'd say rosie_hair was underemployed or, at least, making less than his/her educational worth. I don't think the degrees helped get those jobs in cases like that. Now, the coworkers I had when I worked IT support who had Computer Science degrees and such...they were underemployed, definitely, unless, perhaps, they were Tier 3 or an admin or something along those lines.
And not to be offensive, but you have to think about the backgrounds of some of the people who work as cashiers, in kitchens, etc. Some of these people have criminal records. Some of these people are unreliable and, thus, have unstable work histories and can't keep these jobs very long. Some of these people are very young, not even 20-years old, and so simply aren't going to stay in those jobs long or look for work all the time because they don't really "need" them. There are just so many unknown factors when you're looking at employment stats.
"However, I have found time and time again that many college degree holders are "underemployed" or don't make money relative to what you'd think someone with their education level would make"
But that depends on the markets as they go up and down. Titles, what people actually do and pay and bennies go all over the place.
A degree does give options outside of a field though because frankly it is hard especially in the private sector to quantify experience. It is more than simply just years. Can you sell yourself against competition in what you did rather than time?
I wouldn't equate money as everything because frankly the stress level and power of the job become large factors. I have a friend who went from 50k to 40k and loves it. Why? Much less stress and he moved to a lower cost area which more than makes up for the difference. He's also not in a union now so he has much more control of what he does.
Sometimes people work for the experience and then go somewhere else to make more. I see that all the time in the northeast. A degree can go further in places where it is less common, get experience there and then move back. I see that countless times.
I'm not saying that everyone has to get a degree. However, you do have to show that you can continue education and accomplishments in addition to working. Even if you have a degree you still have to keep up. Some people do the whole keeping up with the Jones in buying the newest iphones. Well you have to do that with training and reading.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
