Posted on 05/08/2009 8:00:46 PM PDT by reaganaut1
The bad news for this spring's college graduates is that they're entering the toughest labor market in at least 25 years.
The worse news: Even those who land jobs will likely suffer lower wages for a decade or more compared to those lucky enough to graduate in better times, studies show.
Andrew Friedson graduated last year from the University of Maryland with a degree in government and politics and a stint as student-body president on his résumé. After working on Barack Obama's presidential campaign for a few months, Mr. Friedson hoped to get a position in the new administration. When that didn't pan out he looked for jobs on Capitol Hill. No luck there, either.
So now, instead of learning about policymaking and legislation, he's earning about $1,250 a month as a high-school tutor and a part-time fundraiser for Hillel, a Jewish campus organization. To save money, he's living with his parents.
If asked a year ago whether he'd be tutoring now, Mr. Friedson says, "I would have laughed in your face."
Trading down to a lower-skilled job isn't just a hit to Mr. Friedson's ego. It could also hurt his bank account for years to come. Economic research shows that the consequences of graduating in a downturn are long-lasting. They include lower earnings, a slower climb up the occupational ladder and a widening gap between the least- and most-successful grads.
In short, luck matters. The damage can linger up to 15 years, says Lisa Kahn, a Yale School of Management economist. She used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a government data base, to track wages of white men who graduated before, during and after the deep 1980s recession.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
We are doomed to be a nation of massively indebted sharecroppers, working for our foreign and government masters at a pittance, never to escape.
The first black President, a man who was infused with endless years of entitlement and paradoxical hatred for the United States, will ironically make us all into slaves.
Plus a lifetime of paying back all the money Obama borrowed from the Chinese. Oh well, by and large this is the generation who voted for him.
That’s what happens when you graduate while Reagan was President like I did and are automatically rich and graduating with the Messiah and it is poor house time.
Not to worry - an H1-B will be even cheaper.
And the employers won’t have to worry that they’ll leave at the first sign of a better offer!
A degree in Government and Politics. How sad.
Exactly the kind of person who I don't like working at my business. Circular file.
Are we supposed to feel sorry for this wannabee govt leech?
*After working on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign for a few months*
He figured he had just as much experience as Obama, so why not immediately look for a job on Capitol Hill?
Maybe he could toss some salads for Barney Frank.
As a farmer friend of mine in Alabama once told me...
"When my son graduated from high school, I sat down and had a long talk with him and his education and college. I told him that, if he wanted to go to Auburn and study agriculture or engineering or some other productive study, I'd pay his way -- 100%".
"On the other hand, if you want to go to Tuscaloosa and learn to be a lawyer or a politician or some other parasite on society, you're on your own."
Boy went to Auburn...
Decade!!!!, More like a life time, cheap slave labor is the only way that those multimillion dollars CEO salaries are possible.
Yep, and Arlen Spector hoped to keep all of his seniority in the Senate, but alas no luck there either. Its all okay in the long run though, Michelle has a $500 pair of shoes so we can all feel good about ourselves.
I guess all the really good majors like, basket weaving, applied buggy whips and creative dance were filled.
What is Graphics Design? What is Communications? Who created these majors?
“...Mr. Friedson hoped to get a position in the new administration.”
Probably also expected ZERO to fill his gas tank and pay his mortgage.
Mr. Friedson, you voted for him. Enjoy your (lack of) rewards over the next decade!
well, advertising agencies do need graphics designers. the rest of the majors mentioned, yech.
Does graphic design really require a four year degree? Or could you do it in two years. But now everything is a four year degree....
For an art director or creative director, yes it does require a four year degree. For a basic graphic arts position such as layout artist or file prep for web or printing, a two year associates degree will usually do. I have a BFA in graphic design. It’s not some sort of newfangled degree. It’s been around since the fifties at least. Prior to that, agency talent came out of dedicated art schools or learned the business through on the job experience.
Nearly everything you look at on the web, in print or on television required the input of a graphic designer on some level. It’s not exactly an obscure field.
Well said.
And your business is probably the last place Mr. Friedson would look for a job.
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