Job Market in LA for New College Grads? (Los Angeles, Columbia: 2014, high school)

[infinitekid]

Originally Posted by RudyOD

Sarcasm noted, but if it were a degree in Spanish translation (legal) with certification, then the O.P. would be set. Or Korean for that matter - lots of Korean firms are use the L.A. as their launchpad for the North America market, and invest a lot here. (Perhaps I should learn Korean, tired of my jobs, ha )

Learn Korean you say???

Nonsense!!

Originally Posted by infinitekid

learn Korean btw

Originally Posted by RudyOD

Well, that's an exaggeration. Koreans do have a presence on the Buena Park border, but Fullerton is a big city.

According to the city itself: (http://www.cityoffullerton.com/civic...px?blobid=7936)

In 2010 Asians only represented 19.5% of the city; projections for 2015 are at 21.2% of the city. This is for ALL Asians, so Korean's alone would be even less. Whereas whites are projected to continue to be the majority next year at 52.4%.

The only city in OC where Asians represent a majority (and not just a plurality) is tiny La Palma. Even then it is a pan-Asian community, so it doesn't have the characteristics of an ethnic enclave like Little Saigon or Little Seoul.

[RudyOD]

Originally Posted by infinitekid

Learn Korean you say???

Nonsense!!

LOL. Knew that would come back to haunt me.

[GatsbyGatz]

Wrong language choice. Being a licensed Spanish translator in LA would help you with job hunting tremendously.

[Oogax3Girl]

You might want to consider looking into a paralegal program. Make sure to get California residency first, so that tuition will be super cheap (last time I check it was $46 per unit at California Community Colleges for residents.) Many paralegal programs have night courses so you can work during the day. Graduates get hired fast since it allows for law firms to cut back on attorney expenses (not a great time to be a law school grad). If it isn't for you, at least it is a short term solution to getting yourself off the ground and not getting paid minimum wage. Once you're here you might be able to find a niche for yourself.

My father's a lawyer and I actually have several years experience as a paralegal here in SC.

And while I appreciate all of your responses, getting responses like "You chose the wrong language" and "Your degree is useless" aren't helping me. I know this already. I also know that I'm already several thousand dollars in debt in student loans and would be better off in the real world for a while figuring out what I *actually* want to do before I go and waste more time and money on a degree that may or may not pan out. (If only someone had explained to me these things BEFORE I started college, instead of me having to realize them when I was a junior and almost through.)

Anyways. My main question. Can anyone tell me what the job market is like? It sounds like it is not good.

Also, I'm sorry if I sound bitter. I do really appreciate any advice you have. I'm just genuinely trying to figure out what to do in spite of my degree choice. If I'm being honest, I plan on moving to LA to get into entertainment. My minor is in Theatre. I was just wondering what the job market was like for entry-level positions, because I figured that could possibly be a way for me to move to the city and get situated and then slowly transition into the television/film business. As of now, I've only ever been to California twice in my life and I've never been to southern California.

I was also trying to solve the problem of finding a place without a job. And finding a job without a place. In order to have a job, you have to already have a place in LA because a lot of businesses only want to hire only locals with LA addresses. But in order to get an apartment, they want to see that you are locally employed. It's a difficult conundrum to fix.

[katnip kid]

I'm confused a bit. A previous poster said that Spanish translation would be useful. Aren't there already many people who speak Spanish in Southern CA? Wouldn't they be native speakers?

A bit off-topic, but how useful would fluency in Italian be in CA?

[steelers1523]

I really don't think it matters what your degree is in if your trying to get into entertainment. If you can be a good assistant and be able to read scripts, you'll have a shot IMO...or at least thats what I'm banking on lol
I think being able to speak french is a huge plus tho in an interview or anything.

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by Oogax3Girl

My father's a lawyer and I actually have several years experience as a paralegal here in SC.

In CA, a paralegal has a strict definition. Here it is:

CA Codes (bpc:6450-6456)

You could work as a legal assistant:

Typical Indeed jobs:

Legal Assistant Jobs, Employment in Los Angeles, CA | Indeed.com

Typical Craigslist for legal jobs in LA:

los angeles legal/paralegal jobs classifieds - craigslist


Also, Workers Comp and other legal-related businesses use on-call interpreters

Certified Sign Language & Interpreters in Los Angeles California | LiNKS Interpreting

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sharo...66276376717341

[RudyOD]

Originally Posted by Oogax3Girl

My father's a lawyer and I actually have several years experience as a paralegal here in SC.

There you go, use that experience to get an entry level position as legal assistant. They are in demand. I'm sure you'll find one at least in DTLA.

Otherwise, there's no point in asking how the job market is. If you want to get into the entertainment industry, either you get yourself where you need to be or you don't. Start making calls, checking out job boards/craigslist etc,. It's a competitive industry, and plenty of people in LA living bare bones, interning for free, working several part times, just for a foot in the door. You might try addressing your question on a thread/forum with other people in industry to see if they can give you some tips about getting in the door.

[RudyOD]

Originally Posted by katnip kid

I'm confused a bit. A previous poster said that Spanish translation would be useful. Aren't there already many people who speak Spanish in Southern CA? Wouldn't they be native speakers?

A bit off-topic, but how useful would fluency in Italian be in CA?

Only because you speak a language does not mean you are knowledgeable in its technical and professional use, as well as various nuances. Which is why translators are certified.

As for Italian...overall it isn't very useful (not like Spanish, Mandarin or Korean), nonetheless, if you look I'm sure you can find something. I've seen random craigslist job listings sometime asking for people fluent in languages like Portuguese or Russian, so I'm sure there must be a market for Italian, even if relatively small in comparison to other languages.

[Raja2014]

I feel compelled to respond because I did a job search in LA in early 2009 as a new arrival. Granted I had an MBA and years of relevant work experience, but the macro and local LA market conditions made it extremely difficult to find a job. I eventually did after four months of searching, but it was a slog. I'm a hiring manager now, so here are my observations:

- There are more job seekers than jobs. People always want to move to LA, but the local economy is not business friendly. There huge amounts of competition for jobs, making it difficult to stand out

- The economy is primarily composed of industries that require unskilled workers (tourism, trade, and manufacturing surprisingly). This means that if you don't have differentiated skills, you are in a tough position

- Most good jobs, particularly in industries such as entertainment, require networking with local people. It's all about face to face interaction to land your first job in a new city (esp if you don't have unique skills)

- LA is a "hustler" dominated economy. Lots of small business owners, real estate agents, plastic surgeons, ambulance chasing lawyers, cross fit instructors, yoga studios, etc. if you can't find a job, you might have to create your own, possibly working two or more jobs, scraping by just barely covering rent

My advice or new grads or folks in college:

- if you still have time, change your major to something that is perceived as valuable to employers. Math, engineering, chemistry, accounting, finance, stats; these "hard" analytic degrees are a signal that you're smart and serious

- do NOT major in subjects such as English, french, history, political science; unless you can demonstrate that you are exceptional in these fields (like publishing papers or writing books before you graduate). If not, then the signal you're giving is that you're taking a lazy major. French is only an acceptable major if you went to Harvard

- learn some on the job skills while in school so your future employer doesn't need to train you. Sales, basic accounting skills, msft excel, SQL, basic IT, HTML, these are all skills of the modern economy. Also good to have some manual labor experience because it teaches you an understanding of the hard work that goes into producing physical products.

- get a job as an admin or in the mail room, and go way above and beyond what's expected. These sorts of jobs, while not glamorous, are a great way to demonstrate your ability to think beyond your day job, and will catch the attention of someone who wants to promote you from within

Good luck