Posted on 02/24/2005 9:12:40 AM PST by Willie Green
A waitress at one of my favorite Strip District restaurants last week used one of the industry's oldest cliches. She delivered a meal and reminded me that she "really didn't do this" for a living.
Waiting tables, she explained, was simply something she was doing until a well-paying job opened up in the field she studied during six years in college.
While this is rote conversation for wait staff in places like New York and Los Angeles, where everyone with a tray of linguini in their hands is waiting for a slot on NBC's "Fear Factor," it's unusual for Pittsburgh.
Or is it?
The waitress, it turns out, spent all that time and nearly $150,000 of her family's money studying social sciences, but after graduating she became disappointed with the entry-level salary of her chosen field.
"I can make, like, twice what I'd make as a social worker waiting tables," she confided, "so I'm probably going to just stay here."
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
Gives a new (nonsensical) meaning to the phrase "College Degree Required", doesn't it.
My youngest daughter majored in business and minored in math. She hasn't had any problems finding good paying work.
What's worse is that humanities majors are not even seen as serious academics. It's one thing to have an impractical degree (I managed to get a job as a mathematician) but when it's also considered to be easy, it's a disaster. The truth is, liberal arts degrees from the Ivy League may carry some weight, but not from other schools.
"4 years full time at Bucknell: $100,000
degree: liberal arts
two years later: teaching high school (law degree for a few) "
Two years RN school.
Work 3 days a week- $52K
I attended an ROP (regional occupational program) in high school for electronics lab tech assistant. I performed well and was able to get work experience at a large electronics company, then later hired at 6.35 an hour in 1984, pretty good money then for an 18 year old. I am still in the industry doing well financially. College is NOT the only way. In fact for *some* people in may be wasting valuable time. For others it is the best choice. Everyone is different.
""I can make, like, twice what I'd make as a social worker waiting tables," she confided, "so I'm probably going to just stay here.""
Ding ding ding. Its great that she can't look past the next 6 months a realize that she'll never progress past a waitress or shift leader.
Having ANY BS degree in college virtually guarantees a $25k a year job in SOMETHING. My brother started an engineering job for 30k in 1996 when he graduated college and now makes over $300k a year as VP. Heck, I know people that start at 25k-30k with business degrees from ho hum state colleges that make over $50k after 4 years and now they're on the cusp to make upper management jumps in a few more years. That's a good wage for 20 somethings in south (obviously northern or western states require more income).
People need to get the idea out of their heads that they'll live like Paris hilton the day they graduate from college. There's a lot of time to build a very successful career in 5-15 years out of college. The six figure incomes just take time.
Hey this guy writes for my favorite motorcycle mag, "Iron Works". Always enjoy his columns there, have to check this out...
Just lay down the expected 20% tip and keep it to yourself.
Not necessarily. I spent two years from 2001 to 2003 in a community college getting a network administration degree, and can't find work in that field. I'm looking into going back to work in the field that dropped me on the street back in '01, since I at least have "experience". In the computer field, they want you to have five years of experience in a technology that's only been out for four years, so you pretty much have to have been a beta tester way back when in order to meet the requirements.
College seems to be a big waste of people's time, and taxpayer money, anymore. Degrees only impress other academics, and government agencies that hire only relatives of people already working there.
Apprenticeship at a trade union would cover employability. A liberal arts college degree puts one in the herd of unskilled laborers.
Like, really?
One of my professors held a lecture yesterday called "God and Science". I heard it was supposed to be really good...too bad I had way too much to do yesterday and schedule conflictions. Anyway, colleges aren't all bad these days. Sure, there's plenty of libs. But the Young Conservatives are very present here. For example, the Affirmative Action Bake Sale, where whites paid $1.00 for a cookie or brownie, Hispanics paid $0.50, and black paid $0.25 . There was alot of controversy over that, but it really made people think.
conflictions = conflicts. damn i'm tired.
My brother works at MBNA. He had started out going to college, had no discipline, and went into the Air Force. His tour ended and he left. He applied to MBNA for their entry level job. Everybody at MBNA starts out telemarketing (they only call their own customers) even the college graduates. In fact, there are so many college graduates that it's tough to break in without a degree. Well, with his 4 years in the Air Force, they gave him a shot -- after 6 interviews! He's doing well now, better than he ever thought possible in the past.
Social Worker = good bucks?
She must have skipped that appointment with her high school guidance counselor.
I still think most of the kids in college these days shouldn't be there. Last week I was on a thread where people were saying partying and finding spouses were valid reasons for going to college. Pathetic.
"To many American university students would rather spend their college years pulling bong-hits while they major in "Literature of Contemporary Protest" and "Peace Studies" and leave the mechanical engineering classes filled with students named Amir, Singh and Mohammed."
Yep,
When I did my under grad, I wnet after the hardest subject matter degree program I could find (I didn't go to an Engineer school - but a business school), so I took Economics. Hard economics - mathematical Supply and demand, GNP determination, Econometrics, all that. Not easy stuff, but it makes sense once you get past ECON 101.
My daugther is just in love with ballet.
Somehow I can't see sendign her to college for a dance degree. If she makes it as a dancer, great (only 2% of dancers can find a dance job when they done being trained.)
Then again AFTER her dance career maybe, she can get a different degree. I just don't know.
Any Freeper's with some experience in the dance world?
(Propably a strecth, but I thought I try)
""I can make, like, twice what I'd make as a social worker waiting tables,""
Well, at least she mastered basic economics in her 6-years of college.
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