College Degree AND Underemployed: What did you major in and what is it that you do? (license, highest)
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.
Why are customers calling the company? It isn't to tell them how well they are doing... so what problems are the people in call centers being trained to resolve? Is there a reason he can't use that training to build on to and move out of the call center?.
He could. The first place to look is at the company/industry of the product/company/service he is supporting at the call center.
right... except when you look at many of the degrees in college, few of them teach anything that are "unique" to the degree. STEM ones are some what more focused, so the skills they get aren't as easily picked up by someone with a passing interest. So it limits the competition somewhat.
What skills does a history major have that is unique to history? Research? Writing papers? STEM majors research and write as well... Different subjects but the skills can be translated. But can a history major do lab work/computer work that a stem major does? A bit more unlikely, none of the skills translate directly. The soft skills, STEM and other degree classes are required to take generic classes at about the same frequency, so non-STEM majors can't claim they are better at "soft skills" either.
Technical writing is not a major in college, neither is instructional writing nor copywriting... Sure, being skilled means people can get jobs, but when someone's skills from having no work experience amounts to just a rehash of the same set of skills everyone else has, it's harder to find work because everyone else is a direct competitor.
Actually a history major can do lab work that a STEM major does. Anyone can be trained to do anything on the job in almost any field. The degree is just a check the box requirement. At my company, you can take a college graduate from any discipline and train them to operate the HPLC and GC-MS instruments I use and teach them how to transcribe, interpret the data, calculate the concentrations of the samples, and determine the RSD and percent recovery of the calibration standards and samples. I learned that stuff in my chromatography course my junior year but anyone can be taught how to do it without a chemistry degree.
The issue with folks breaking in the job market is employers demand so much experience for entry level jobs. Every analytical chemist position I applied to in the Atlanta area demanded 3-5 years of experience like anyone cannot be trained on the job. I found my current company that asked for 0-2 years of experience and the pharmacetuicals company I work for hires new graduates fresh out of college and actually train them. They also offer a competitive salary and benefits unlike most companies bringing workers in as temps with no benefits.
The OP, wants to break in his desired field but I bet every job he applies to demands 3-5 years of experience and he will have to work for free in order to get into the field which is impossible to do if you got bills to pay. Hang in there OP things are going to better I was in the same position as you a few months ago working a lousy contract job with no benefits but I found a company that hired me, trained me and paid me a decent salary. You might have to relocate to find a position in your field of study that doesn't demand years of experience and will mold you into the best employee.
no I get this. It's the same with any entry level jobs. McDonalds/Walmart/all of them.
Entry level means entry level, the number of years doesn't mean the skills "grow" just by being there. It is a stepping stone into the company. You use it to prove yourself to them, to gain an understanding of what the company does (something someone not working there might not get), and the direction of the company.
No, they are not entry level jobs, they are service job. You don't get a office job by working as a cashier at Walmart, and most people get nowhere in call center work. As a cashier, you can become store manager. As a call center worker, you can become second line support. After this, most people will hit the wall.
To get a better job, you need to get into your field. If you want to do accounting, you need to have job where you can do at least a little bit accounting. Thats the reality of business.
Quote:
Why are customers calling the company? It isn't to tell them how well they are doing... so what problems are the people in call centers being trained to resolve? Is there a reason he can't use that training to build on to and move out of the call center?
You can't become an expert, because most of the time you are talking about the same issues. In addition the knowledge you learn is very specific, for instance you might learn all the potential bugs of a certain product.
Quote:
The closest thing to call center that I've seen is just taking donations over the phone for a radio station. And outside of the donation drive, they were normal radio hosts...
This is maybe why you don't understand how dead end call center work is. Most work is for corporations. When you call the bank at 11 pm, someone is in a call center helping you to log into your bank account. He will know a decent amount about online banking, but he can't use that knowledge to get a banking job.
Actually a history major can do lab work that a STEM major does. Anyone can be trained to do anything on the job in almost any field.
well... yeah, with training. Even doctors are "trained". But you'd have to start from the beginning if someone has no background in it. So yes, you can train a history major to do lab work. You can also just train someone with lab work built into their college program to speed things up. That's what I meant. Training costs money, a lot of it. You have to pay 2 people to get the job done, trainer/trainee. And production is slower and possibly have mistakes too. So you hire people that are more easily trained.
I'll point out that you were not "thrilled" at your temp job until you got into current job. But to get to current job you had to get feet wet at temp job first. Not many ways around it since experience is needed, and they were the ones that offered it.
A call center job is the same to me, if it is the only entry into that office, then they just have to suck it up and do it until they get the experience to move out of it.
@Camlon,
Quote:
You can't become an expert, because most of the time you are talking about the same issues. In addition the knowledge you learn is very specific, for instance you might learn all the potential bugs of a certain product.
If I know the potential bugs... wouldn't I be getting a job in the department that fixes them? I mean, in the lab field (since I know it better). I can consult with the IT company that makes the computer system. They hire MTs to test system and to see if it makes sense on how it flows, several former co-workers do that now so it isn't "hypothetical". Even just using it long enough, I could get certified and become a specialist for it if company needed one.
@Camlon, If I know the potential bugs... wouldn't I be getting a job in the department that fixes them? I mean, in the lab field (since I know it better). I can consult with the IT company that makes the computer system. They hire MTs to test system and to see if it makes sense on how it flows, several former co-workers do that now so it isn't "hypothetical". Even just using it long enough, I could get certified and become a specialist for it if company needed one.
They are hiring engineering graduates, or people with many years of experience to do testing. As a call center worker, you don't have much of a chance. I have seen a few people manage to move away from the phone, but most people fail.
And you might know the potential bugs, but you don't know how to fix them. You know how to get around them. And consulting with the IT department won't really work, because you have no communication with each other. If you find a bug, they will ask you to send a report while you are on the phone. If it is a known bug, then you just tell the customer how to avoid it.
No, they are not entry level jobs, they are service job. You don't get a office job by working as a cashier at Walmart, and most people get nowhere in call center work. As a cashier, you can become store manager. As a call center worker, you can become second line support. After this, most people will hit the wall.
To get a better job, you need to get into your field. If you want to do accounting, you need to have job where you can do at least a little bit accounting. Thats the reality of business.
You can't become an expert, because most of the time you are talking about the same issues. In addition the knowledge you learn is very specific, for instance you might learn all the potential bugs of a certain product.
This is maybe why you don't understand how dead end call center work is. Most work is for corporations. When you call the bank at 11 pm, someone is in a call center helping you to log into your bank account. He will know a decent amount about online banking, but he can't use that knowledge to get a banking job.
This^. Most of the experience you get from most jobs doesn't transfer into better jobs. if you are working a dead end job in retail and your major is in accounting your experience is not going to help you get a staff accountant position at earnest and young. Call center work at a major bank is not going to help you land a position as a personal banker.
A lot of folks in dead end jobs can't get the right type of experience that will help them move into them r first real job in their field because that experience is not applicable for that position.
When companies demand 3-5 years of experience and you don't have it that much experience. It's going to be hard for that person to compete for that position. How do you get experience in that field if nobody allows you to work in that field. Every person has to find that company that is willing to train and take a chance on you so you can get experience and move up in your career.
Why is everyone advising to go INTO STEM? I'm trying to advise everyone to get OUT of STEM! The fact is, 1/3 to 1/2 of those who go into STEM end up employed in some other field in the long run. And the H1B visa crap is only making it worse.
The pay rate has been stagnant in the STEM field, especially IT, for the last 10 to 15 years and is, now, slowly going down. If you're already in it, you MIGHT be ok (I say might, as you recall what happened at Disney.) If you're NOT in it yet or are just going into it, your career prospects are going to get WORSE the longer you stay in it. The dot com bust was only the beginning of the downturn in IT.
I have a Bachelors in Computer Science and two Associates and am having trouble getting hired in my field or even, so far, data entry. I see a lot of ads for Trucking and Nursing around here.
Perhaps Nursing might be a good idea. They seem to be in demand, though I thought I heard that that field was being saturated too, though I bet the medical field is far better off than the general STEM field. Problem is, you have to pay more $$$ to get those degrees, so you'd best HOPE that this trend continues for medical hiring a lot.
I have a Bachelors in Computer Science and two Associates and am having trouble getting hired in my field or even, so far, data entry. I see a lot of ads for Trucking and Nursing around here.
If I was forced to do data entry, it wouldn't take long before I made a program to do the job for me. Those jobs are mostly gone.
Look, people without CS degrees are able to get IT jobs, so its not that hard. Also, developers jobs care more about what you know, than what degree you have. For instance do you have a nice Github portfolio? Can you do the questions they ask you in interviews? Do you have many personal projects? Do you know most of the languages they ask for in job ads?
If directed at me, I make no attempt to hide my bias for it... I've been pretty clear that I like what I do and think STEM is a good route to go.
But I do not reject other degrees either. If someone doesn't want to do STEM, then by no means do I tell them they can't. I just tell them to make sure they know what they want, and that they are using degree as a tool to do it. Not the other way around. Want to be a musician? Then getting a music degree, exposes someone to more than they could on own. But getting a music degree with no interest in it will not turn someone into a musician. Getting a STEM degree because it helps someone get where they want, but having a STEM degree does not "make" someone a STEM worker. Degrees are tools... what you get out of it is more important than just having it. I have a hammer, I don't know how to use it, it serves no purpose... did I waste money? If I have the skills to use a hammer, I could use a rock as well... Basically my point of view. A degree helps streamline things, but doesn't mean other routes are not open either. Just make sure that what you want to do fits with what you are learning from the degree.
I don't view college as a "life" experience, it's there to learn things you would have a harder time doing on own. So I like STEM degrees... because I find it easier to learn with instruction than other degrees. IE English/History, I could go to a library and read up on it. Foreign languages, yeah it is useful to have instruction... I took it in college.
Ten years ago a history degree or any college degree was enough to get into the door of many companies. Today, the US economy is worse off and companies are pickier in whom they hire.
It' not your fault, it's just called CHANGE!
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.
