What's in Store for Today's College Grads
Sep/15/10 03:19 AM
Customers at work constantly ask me about the job market faced by recent college graduates, probably because they’re confused why I’m still working at the summer job (for now) that I’ve held since eighth grade. Fair question.
Here’s what I’ve come to realize:
If you graduated from a high ranking school or have a specialized degree and weren’t a sloppy drunk for the past four years, you’re very likely to have a respectable entry-level job at a big corporation. For example, Wall Street seems to love Georgetown McDonough School of Business students with Finance degrees and recruits them heavily. So, most of my peers are gainfully employed in America’s worst city. The same goes for students with engineering degrees from schools like University of Maryland, University of Michigan, etc.
If you have an English degree or an Art History degree from an Ivy or near-Ivy school, you’re unemployed and living at home. Get used to it. You probably think you’re “above” any of the other jobs that you might be able to find involving manual labor or seemingly-menial work. Until you gain some hard skills, unlike the ones you gained in those thought-provoking classes, you’re unlikely to find work in this economy.
But, if you’re an average student with an average degree who went to an average college, you’re most likely back home working the same job you’ve been working summers throughout high school and college. It’s tough getting recognized from the big firms that don’t recruit at these schools, so you’re left with what you’re familiar with.
This isn’t all that bad, though it’s not what most graduates entered college thinking they’d do afterwards.
From the point of view of the local company, these graduates have specialized knowledge of the business and market gained through years of lower-level summer work. Additionally, given the job market, companies can retain or rehire these graduates at below market rates (often with no benefits), paying small change for now-skilled college graduates. This stinks for the employee, but it’s better than being unemployed like more than 10% of America (forget the BS official unemployment numbers, real unemployment is much higher than stated).
One might argue that this situation isn’t good for these graduates at all. Relatively low level work, low wages, etc. Not to mention the fact that the market for summer hiring might be thrown off next season with graduated workers hanging on the payrolls.
Long term, though, I’m convinced it will be a positive experience for these workers. Small businesses are the heart of America. Here, graduates get to experience every aspect of these small businesses, from first-year hire to manager and so on. They see the ups and the downs, the struggles and successes, the efficiencies and the inefficiencies. If the economy doesn’t improve any time soon (I’m not holding my breath), they’ll continue to move up the ladder instead of moving on to other fields of work they might have experienced pre-recession. Who knows? They might eventually be offered to take part in ownership of the business. Or, someday they could use their now-specialized skills to open up their own small business in that field, or any other for that matter, already having the invaluable experience of small business management.
I have one friend in mind who particularly fits well into this category. He’s worked as a stocker and clerk at a local liquor store forever. Recently, he moved up to a manager position, which means he plays a role in examining and forecasting sales, ordering products, suggesting sales strategies, dealing with distributors, etc. The raise they gave him for this position is pretty lame, but these are skills that will make him a far more attractive job candidate or small business owner in the future. Certainly more so than a paper pusher constrained to a cubicle post-graduation.
Just goes to show that a crummy economy isn’t the end all for motivated, driven workers.
Here’s what I’ve come to realize:
If you graduated from a high ranking school or have a specialized degree and weren’t a sloppy drunk for the past four years, you’re very likely to have a respectable entry-level job at a big corporation. For example, Wall Street seems to love Georgetown McDonough School of Business students with Finance degrees and recruits them heavily. So, most of my peers are gainfully employed in America’s worst city. The same goes for students with engineering degrees from schools like University of Maryland, University of Michigan, etc.
If you have an English degree or an Art History degree from an Ivy or near-Ivy school, you’re unemployed and living at home. Get used to it. You probably think you’re “above” any of the other jobs that you might be able to find involving manual labor or seemingly-menial work. Until you gain some hard skills, unlike the ones you gained in those thought-provoking classes, you’re unlikely to find work in this economy.
But, if you’re an average student with an average degree who went to an average college, you’re most likely back home working the same job you’ve been working summers throughout high school and college. It’s tough getting recognized from the big firms that don’t recruit at these schools, so you’re left with what you’re familiar with.
This isn’t all that bad, though it’s not what most graduates entered college thinking they’d do afterwards.
From the point of view of the local company, these graduates have specialized knowledge of the business and market gained through years of lower-level summer work. Additionally, given the job market, companies can retain or rehire these graduates at below market rates (often with no benefits), paying small change for now-skilled college graduates. This stinks for the employee, but it’s better than being unemployed like more than 10% of America (forget the BS official unemployment numbers, real unemployment is much higher than stated).
One might argue that this situation isn’t good for these graduates at all. Relatively low level work, low wages, etc. Not to mention the fact that the market for summer hiring might be thrown off next season with graduated workers hanging on the payrolls.
Long term, though, I’m convinced it will be a positive experience for these workers. Small businesses are the heart of America. Here, graduates get to experience every aspect of these small businesses, from first-year hire to manager and so on. They see the ups and the downs, the struggles and successes, the efficiencies and the inefficiencies. If the economy doesn’t improve any time soon (I’m not holding my breath), they’ll continue to move up the ladder instead of moving on to other fields of work they might have experienced pre-recession. Who knows? They might eventually be offered to take part in ownership of the business. Or, someday they could use their now-specialized skills to open up their own small business in that field, or any other for that matter, already having the invaluable experience of small business management.
I have one friend in mind who particularly fits well into this category. He’s worked as a stocker and clerk at a local liquor store forever. Recently, he moved up to a manager position, which means he plays a role in examining and forecasting sales, ordering products, suggesting sales strategies, dealing with distributors, etc. The raise they gave him for this position is pretty lame, but these are skills that will make him a far more attractive job candidate or small business owner in the future. Certainly more so than a paper pusher constrained to a cubicle post-graduation.
Just goes to show that a crummy economy isn’t the end all for motivated, driven workers.
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