I never thought I would be concerned about finding a job. I especially never thought I would have to go to college. Being born on the poor side of life, going to college seemed almost like an unnecessary luxury, but as we all know it has basically become a modern day requirement.
In 2013, nydailynews.com published an article saying that over 40% of college graduates were either unemployed entirely or underemployed in fields unrelated to those that they spent so much time and money to work in. The unfortunate truth is that degrees in programs such as English and history can really only lead to teaching jobs, which is fine and everything, but that means that everyone within your major is vying for the exact same job as you. It’s similar with degrees in anthropology, music, fine arts, and philosophy. Unfortunately, this is causing people to stay in school longer, going to graduate schools and doctoral programs, to increase their shot at landing the job of their dreams. All this really does, however, is put a halt on actual life and existence in the real world.
To recap, you have to go to college, but after spending all this time and money, good luck finding a job right off the bat. Then, the answer must be more college, right? Yeah of course… that makes sense. If four years and tens of thousands of dollars didn’t quite cut it, then two to four more years on top of that will definitely do the trick. Oh wait, “won’t that cost even more money?” you ask. Yes it will.
Sometime, not too long ago, a switch occurred that caused a bachelor’s degree in just about anything to become basically equivalent to a GED, a master’s degree to be viewed as a high school diploma, and a Ph.D. to be held in the same regard as a measly bachelor’s degree. Now, with your brand new doctorate that took eight plus years to achieve, you expect a fat check every week right? Somewhere in $90,000 a year range, or higher? It makes sense. If you have to be in debt for the first half of your life, you probably expect to make some real money out of it eventually. However, even Ph.D.’s are almost unemployable, unless you are able to find work at a university that can afford to hire you. But, at least they’re better off than their buddy with the bachelor’s degree who probably won’t do any better than a customer service or retail job.
Well, I guess it’s a good thing there’s always trade jobs: carpenters, construction workers, mechanics. The only problem with this impression is that these jobs are often unofficially designed for people who didn’t want to, or couldn’t afford to, go to college in the first place. Now they too are finding themselves out of work because people who can’t find jobs with degrees are moving in.
If only a reset button could be hit. Or maybe society, the federal government, and educational institutions will one day understand that if you are making college a requirement like high school, then it should be free like high school. Is there any way to recover from this? Is there a way to not have someone with a master’s degree in engineering working as a cashier at the supermarket, and a way to prevent the guy who dedicated his whole life to becoming a great mechanic from losing his job to someone with a degree? I don’t have an answer, do you?
the void of chaos 