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The job sounds like crap, but what realistically are his options? He can start looking for a new job, but with a degree in sociology, that is probably all he will end up doing is looking. If he really wants a cushy corporate job, making good money with lavish benefits, he will need to train in a high-demand career, such as finance or information technology or engineering. Sales is a bleak career path wherever you go, particularly because the job has become so difficult in this age of technology. We are living in a time of almost infinite information, and consumers with easy access to information are a salesman's worst nightmare.
I hate to say it, but I agree with the above.
Breaking the situation down:
1) Your son graduated with a degree that is largely seen as "useless" to many an employer. So even when he is applying for the entry level, low level office support roles (accounting clerk, data clerk, marketing assistant etc...) more than likely he would still be competing against people with "useful" degrees-thus your son is still at a disadvantage.
2) Recruiting jobs are a haven for the unemployed, "what the heck do I do now"" college grad for they don't require a specific degree, they don't pay great and the turnover is pretty high-by their very nature they are designed to suck.
3) Realistically the only other career areas that I think would be readily accessible to a sociology major (aside from having a friend/family member who has inside connections) are other Recruiting jobs and sales jobs. (usually commission only jobs)-Remember he graduated with a Sociology degree, I am not sure that there are many entry level fields out there in dire need of sociology grads.
4) If your son quits now with no job lined up, how long does will the unemployment gap last? I promise you the shiny new grad smell wears off quick and any type of unemployment gap will be asked about and scrutinized and no the excuse of "No one will hire me because I don't have experience, yet how can I get experience if no one will hire me" does not work.
5) HOWEVER, your son has a job-that is huge. And yes I understand the job sucks to high heaven, however he has a job. In today's age where entry level positions demand experience, having a job is huge. I urge him to stick out the job whilst still looking for better work.
-Barring going back to school to study a "real" degree , I would look into Analyst type roles (i.e... Ernst and Young, JP Morgan etc... claim that "you don't need an accounting degree"), insurance underwriter, and other management trainee programs aside from Enterprise.
Above all else, I would not quit the current job. As much as the recruiting job sucks (and dear god I know it sucks), you make more money than sitting at home on the couch, watching TV, looking for work, ranting on message boards and perhaps more importantly it looks better on the resume to any potential employer.
You need to step out and let your son learn how to fend for himself. You giving him advice will either
a) result in annoying him to no end for interfering
b) he will never learn how to find a job on his own
The job he has, is crap. He isn't being trained, what is he doing to accomplish this? Has he asked for more guidance, wrote specific questions, talked to his peers, actually researched like he was told?
It's frustrating for sure, but his training is what it is. He can try and figure out how to get alternate training, deal with it, or job hunt. But he needs to do it.
He applied for one of those and got rejected; offered position to somebody else. There was similar Management Trainee position at Enterprise; canceled the interview after getting this offer and after hearing negative views.
What else can he do?
HE can start looking for his own job and stay where he is until HE finds it. He chose to make the commitment to the company he is with at the moment so it is his choice to leave and find the way to do that. Not your responsibility nor your choice to do that for him, he can research, he can make the appintments for an interview, he can ask the questions regarding where to look for what since it is his job.
That job is probably better than any job that requires a sociology degree. The only jobs I know where employers prefer to have sociology / psychology grads are case workers for various agencies. The pay is the same, if not worse, and the clients are terrible, unless one likes helping the mentally ill, criminals, drug addicts, etc.
Considering the circumstances, your son has it batter than a number of people with the same qualifications.
What are the other options? Go back to retail? Do manual labor? What are his skills (and no, being a special snowflake with a generic degree does not count)? Lots of people learned the hard way, so the only option I see, is work the job and keep applying to others.
He applied for one of those and got rejected; offered position to somebody else. There was similar Management Trainee position at Enterprise; canceled the interview after getting this offer and after hearing negative views.
What else can he do?
He can go to community college part-time while he works at this job. He should be thanking God or someone he is not stuck in retail hell. I am a college graduate and my retail hell job makes me want to drink at night. I would kill for a job that pays $15 an hour and gets me out of having to be screamed at all the time by customers. I am just tired of verbal abuse.
As some of you may know, my son will graduate within next few weeks with a Sociology degree and Minor in General Business; he has many years of experience in retail. He just started working as a recruiter coordinator at a small company with no previous recruting experience. Today was his second day working at the company and he is disappointed by the lack of training; they expect him to search around different systems and websites, and is setting up a phone training of a software next few days. He was expecting them to sit down and train him all day long in depth, rather than asking him "are you OK" and bla and letting him look around the sites they use with no clue. They asked him to bring his own laptop, which I believe is ridiculous and cheap of them not providing him with one especially since the owner is wealthy with previous work he has done and managed multi million dollar companies.
Another big cons is that they offer no benefits at all; no paid vacation/sick days/holidays, no health insurace no nothing. He just get paid for the hours he works (8-4 M-F job) and no real lunch break (but he is allowed to leave the office for short time if wanted, and noticed the other employees left for 20 min and came back and ate at their desk). Is this common at small businesses? It truly suck
He gets paid only $15/h with small bonus (few dollars more than his current retail job!) Yes, he is happy he got a full time job even before graduating, but it feels like this is like another retail job except no work on weekends/nights. He only applied to few jobs and had an interview at a great large company with benefits but offered position to somebody else. He rejected an interview with Enterprise since he just got this job and heard bad reviews working there (long hours, low pay & having to wash cars).
What tips do you have? When should he be lookin for another better paying job with benefits and actual salary? He doesn't even know what holidays the company is closed for.
Please help he feel unhappy and somewhat depressed already!
This is what happens when you get a degree that basically says "I only went to college because my parents made me; I have no real life goals of my own".
I also notice you are the one complaining about all these things, Mod cut..
Perhaps it is time you let him become an adult. $15/hr is not bad, he's certainly not going to be a manager right off the bat with his first job. As a parent, you should be getting him to see reality.
Last edited by PJSaturn; 12-02-2014 at 08:29 AM..
Reason: Rude.
I don't see how these posts are helping a concerned mother counsel her son who is frustrated and depressed. She wants to go back with some information that may help him change his perspective - and I see nothing wrong with that.
OP, your son may be comparing himself to his friends who are finding themselves with better opportunities. He shouldn't do that. He's on his own path and that's all he should be concerned about.
I would tell him that based on some things you've seen online, this isn't a bad starting job given his degree. Having little training may change the way he approaches work, which isn't a bad thing. If he starts to critically think about how to proceed in given situations, he'll sometimes fail, but he'll also have successes and learn a lot. That's the attitude I would ask him to have, while continuing to look for another job. This first job is all about the experience.
But I do think he should continue to look for another job while hanging in there because they aren't even paying his benefits. If they were, the salary would be a starting point, but without benefits, it now reduces compensation considerably.
What job did he dream of having in pursuing this degree? Or does he just like the topic?
Would he consider sales? I'm not talking about retail now. Some sales positions bring in very good salaries.
Are you in or near a major city where the opportunities might be better?
Roughly accounting for COL, your son is making about what I did when I graduated from college with a history undergrad in 2002. I started in a similar low-level admin job and it definitely got frustrating at times. However, I don't think your attitude is helping him much. Is it a little bush league that he needs to bring his own computer? Probably. But it is what it is, and he needs to gain whatever experience he can in order to move up or move on somewhere else. You mentioned that he has low pay and no benefits "despite the owner being very wealthy." What exactly does that have to do with anything? The owner's running a business and determines salaries based on the market rate. If your son wants to move up he needs to prove his value.
Your son's career will sink or swim based on his ability to solve problems for his employer. If he's not getting the right training he needs to either ask for help or improvise. No one at any job is going to hold his hand and tell him exactly what he needs to do.
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