Am I dumb for having gone to college? (Caro, Hudson: apartments, rent)

[rmsi]

For the social services perspective:

I'd have to agree with many of the posts here, Michigan doesn't seem like a good place for you to try to find the work you're looking for. NYC, I also agree may not be the place either.

With your Psych degree and a decent interview, you can get a job as a case manager working with seriously mentally ill folks here in Phoenix that, last I knew, started around $30k a year. Not the greatest salary, but that $8.50 an hour job would have netted you less than $18k annually.

There are opportunities with an advanced degree, but in the social services the advanced degree takes a loooooooong time to pay for itself -- getting the Psych degree I hope an academic adviser at some point shared with you that to make any money with a bachelor's in psych you need to get an advanced degree past the BA/BS level.

One thing you may want to ask yourself is why you got the psych degree? And what do you really want to do - not necessarily how much do you really want to make. You can make a decent living in the social services, but the rewards are certainly not in the financial compensation but in the work - if you aren't interested in working with people and helping kids/adults/people with disabilities/etc in a direct service role then the paralegal may be the direction to go for you. But if you have a mindset that helping people and the positive feeling that gives you can make up for some of the money you WON'T make, then follow the psych stuff out.

Sorry to make this so long, but the path I went was to get a Master's in Social Work a couple years after my bachelor's in Psych because I realized the things I wanted to do required more school. I am currently a therapist at an HIV/AIDS service organization and I couldn't imagine doing something I like any better for a job. Remember, do what you love for a living and you'll never "work" a day in your life.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by MarissaInMichigan

I have a bachelor's in psychology and certification as a paralegal (just finished school). I haven't found any good job offers. The one offer that was made was for $8.50 an hour for a debt collection firm. Mind you I spent about $80K on school. Needless to say, I am mad as he*&. My education took 5 1/2 years to obtain. I need your help and advice people. I'm 28 years old with no kids or husband, living in my mom's basement right now searching for work. It gets more depressing day by day, to levels of despair I did not think I was capable of experiencing. How do I lift myself up? What should I do? I can't find work ANYWHERE. Even at McDonald's (I applied to a dozen of them!). I really just feel like doing a Nicholas Cage in Leaving Los Vegas and locking myself in a motel with all the cheap scotch I can charge on my Visa. Is there any reason to hope at all?

North Carolina pays Qualified Professionals between $20 and $35 an hour as case managers working in the mental health field around Raleigh...

[Coldjensens]

Yes. Only dumb people go to college. THe smart ones all stay out of college and get factory jobs, food service positions and lawn maintenance work. College education is completely worthless. That is why so few people go to college these days. The numbers are just dropping like you would not believe.

[rmsi]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

North Carolina pays Qualified Professionals between $20 and $35 an hour as case managers working in the mental health field around Raleigh...

Problem being, what is considered a "qualified professional"? Here in Arizona, a Master's AND a license is required to be considered a "Behavioral Health Professional", and the numbers you quote for hourly pay sound like not only licensed Master's- and Doctoral-level folks, but also those that are independently licensed (which normally takes around two years post-Master's)... I've looked around the country, and although the availability of jobs changes, the numbers they pay for behavioral health jobs is pretty consistent...

So $20-$35 an hour is a pretty decent estimation of what you could expect to earn if you were to go back to school, get an advanced degree and spend the time (and money) to become independently licensed in the state you intend to practice.

If you want any info on realities of a career in behavioral health, school, licensure, etc feel free to message me. I've done quite a bit of research into different licensing requirements in different (mostly midwest) states, I've worked in social services for eight years now, and my wife is a social worker as well.

Good luck!

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by MarissaInMichigan

I have a bachelor's in psychology and certification as a paralegal (just finished school). I haven't found any good job offers. The one offer that was made was for $8.50 an hour for a debt collection firm. Mind you I spent about $80K on school. Needless to say, I am mad as he*&. My education took 5 1/2 years to obtain. I need your help and advice people. I'm 28 years old with no kids or husband, living in my mom's basement right now searching for work. It gets more depressing day by day, to levels of despair I did not think I was capable of experiencing. How do I lift myself up? What should I do? I can't find work ANYWHERE. Even at McDonald's (I applied to a dozen of them!). I really just feel like doing a Nicholas Cage in Leaving Los Vegas and locking myself in a motel with all the cheap scotch I can charge on my Visa. Is there any reason to hope at all?

You are not dumb for going to college. You learn alot in college. You have a degree. I am still in college and waiting for the day I graduate. One thing you could try is teaching.

[gradstudent77]

Originally Posted by Bhaalspawn

I agree with ImaMichagander, and you might consider seeking out work as paralegal. Sadly, law firms have been laying them off along with other support staff and associate attorneys. If you want to try to work as a paralegal your best bet might be a city with a large legal market, perhaps Chicago, New York City, Boston, or Washington, D.C. Sadly, the cost of living in those places can be insane, but perhaps it would be worthwhile. After gaining marketable experience you might be able one day relocate to an area with a better salary-to-cost-of-living ratio.

ImaMichigander, I wouldn't be so sure of that. You can find numerous sob stories on the Internet about people who just cannot find work and who end up losing the employment value of their degrees by virtue of being unemployed for too long or going underemployed-involuntarily-out-of-field for too long. Perhaps this was the paradigm in the '60s and '70s, but I'm not convinced that it holds true any longer. Personally, I believe that our nation is undergoing a major economic transformation and that we have entered a new, much less prosperous age where old paradigms will no longer hold true.

I could buy the idea that our economy has changed enough recently that many old paradigms about education and such do not still apply, but don't you think most of the sob stories have to do with the individual? For instance, don't you have to imagine that our original poster did not exactly attend a prestigious university, did not get a high gpa and did not gain the sort of work experience and contacts s/he should have.

I guess my point is that while I do see that the wheels are falling off of the idea that many can be prosperous in a post-industrial society while huge pockets of poverty continue to exist in a third world, individuals who are capable enough can still create prosperity today and into the medium-term future. Although, I do understand that a Jurgis Rudkus style beat down of my hubris by the economy might be coming in a few years down the road.

[gradstudent77]

Originally Posted by RottenChester

Yes you are dumb. I was once in a liberal arts degree program in college not too long ago, and realized the crap they were teaching me was useless in real world situations. I was paying way too much money to sit in classes and learn stupid things. I foresaw the impending doom of this economy and got out of school. I found a job. Three months after I got hired, my company announced it would be on a hiring freeze. It is still in effect today.

People you need to realize that the only degrees that are going to pay are nursing, engineering, law, and medicine. With everything else you are just wasting your time and money. My advice to MarissaInMichigan is to take whatever job you can get for now, try and work down your school debt, and when you have enough saved up, move somewhere that is booming or poised to boom.

Man cannot live on bread alone. Right? No? Well, what the hell am I supposed to do with this master's in russian ballet?!!

[SeaSideBay]

Originally Posted by MarissaInMichigan

I have a bachelor's in psychology and certification as a paralegal (just finished school).

BA is psychology= WORTHLESS.

You have to have a Ph.D in psychology to actually make money in that field. Go back to school and don't stop until you are done with your doctorate (8 years). And by the time your out again the economy will more than likely have gotten FAR better.

[Tyryztoll]

I think Marissa's problem may be her attitude. Every post I've read by her is overwhelmingly negative and blames the state of Michigan for her problems. Can't find work, even at McDonalds? I know damn well I could land a fast food job in 5 minutes if I had to in order to survive.

Marissa, get off the internet forums and start pounding on employers doors to tell them why you think you deserve to be there more than the next joe. You gotta market yourself, you gotta go above and beyond in these tough times. Why are you questioning the intelligence of obtaining your college education? That's no way to think at such a young age.

If you really want out of Michigan then GO! You'll find the going tough no matter where you wind up in this day & age, so be ready to continue your struggle if you expect to sit back and have things handed to you just because you have a degree.

BTW, I lived in Texas for 7 years and it SUCKS.....JOBS OR NO JOBS! Michigan any day of the week over that ugly sweatbox!

[SeaSideBay]

Originally Posted by Northman

Can't find work, even at McDonalds? I know damn well I could land a fast food job in 5 minutes if I had to in order to survive.

Have you filled out an application with them lately?
I did last summer, along with any other fast food places I could find. They all were not hiring. What area do you live in? That obviously makes a difference.