Posted on 11/12/2022 5:37:14 AM PST by FarCenter
There are degrees in Hard Sciences which will yield rewarding and remunerative careers.
Then there are degrees in “hobbies”. Most of those are in “the arts/studies”
They love that. There is plenty of grifter jobs available.
My wife had an English/Communications major. She worked as a broadcast journalist for 20 years. Now she is a writer for a large health system.
One of the stories she tells comes from her freshman year. One of her communications professors brought in people who actually worked in the field. They ALL explained that almost no one made any money. And these folks worked in the Boston market—one of the largest markets in the country.
Anyone getting one of those degrees and then complaining about their earnings must be a literal idiot.
Now, writing for high level hospital administrators….that’s a good gig.
I’m surprised biology isn’t #1 with all the 126+ genders BS and woke professors.
Critical thinking is the enemy of becoming a compliant subject. It’s not just the worthlessness of many degrees, but the suppression of the ability to think. Talking to a gender studies major reveals that political indoctrination totally destroys the ability to understand reality.
I made my living as a library cataloger. That was my masters degree. The PhD in Philosophy was for grins
I don't see it online. It may be replaced with Success Without College.
Do a search for "Skip College Start Your Own Business". There's lots of links. A decade ago this wasn't a trend.
Perhaps this info will help your son. I'd have raised my now grown children a bit differently if I'd known of the non-college alternative.
-—daring vision for the future-—
There you have it.
Elon Musk can see the future. He can visualize what others concerned only with the past and immediate future cannot.
Your tale describes one other Musk talent. He can find great minds and motivate them to do their very best. He can imbue them with the possibility he clearly envisions.
While education is of course very important, it is will, desire, and challenge that actually get things done.
If I had it to do all over again, I definitely would not have majored in history. Thank goodness I went to business school later. That was a much better career for me than law.
“Of the people I’ve known and asked, it was mostly engineers who were working in the field they studied in college. “
Engineering is a solid field. Jobs are competitive but pay well. I was lucky to never get laid off and there was plenty of challenging work throughout my career.
In arguing with the education establishment about how my children were going to be educated, I got into a heated discussion with an administrator who trotted out her Ph.D in Education and demanded that I address her as Doctor, which I refused to do. I countered her Ph.D with one of my own, in Physics and told her I was certain I could do her Ph.d program while standing on my head, and that I was convinced that she could not complete my program under any circumstances.
That is how the game is played. Most will back down when the degree is trotted out, but she knew that I knew her degree was worthless.
We used to joke about scholarship athletes taking basket weaving but at least they learned something sorta useful.
English major here, with minors in Classics and Business. There was a time when a liberal arts major would have been the most reasonable and useful preparation for a career in law or government. Sadly, with the corruption of the liberal arts, apart from a very small number of great books and/or conservative Catholic institutions, it’s downright dangerous to one’s mental and emotional health to major in anything but the servile arts, such as accounting or engineering.
I had the same reaction. 😉
Here’s an oldie but goodie I have posted my essay several times. It may need to be updated but in the main is still true.
BTW....... it’s McRib time again
McDonald’s as School
Go to work for McDonalds and consider it as going to school. Rather than come up with a bunch of bucks for tuition, Get a job at MD and pay extreme attention to what is taking place. Get paid for your efforts in the process. Set a limit. Go one year or maybe a year and a half. Be dedicated to the task the same as if you were paying thousands of dollars at a college.
The concept involves looking at McDonalds as an industrial microcosm . McDonalds is very much like a factory with hundreds of employees except smaller. MD also has a retail arm in addition to the manufacturing arm. To grasp how things are done in the manufacturing and business world, MD is small enough to observe all the operations that can be studied in detail and the study extrapolated to the world. MD is chosen because it is truly a global company and one if not the very best successful business to be studied.
The big question, the goal of the going to MD as school, is to discover in detail what is MD? Why does it exist?
As a study aid, a laptop computer would be beneficial. The computer can be used to keep notes and to make and record lists. Homework is making notes and expanding the lists, making entries into the big list of things learned and things to be explored further
Most McDonalds employees don’t flip burgers, they are in sales. At McDonalds if you apply your self and study what is happening you can develop a good understanding of sales and customer service. The front line, the people on the counter, have an opportunity to meet and greet a wide cross section of customers, of people. The very act of asking” how can I help you” engages the customer in a business transaction. The customers can be observed and then studied in the abstract. Make a list. What kinds of customers, what do they want, what do they need, how does MD meet their wants and needs, what wants and needs are not met, should every want and need be met?
https://www.prageru.com/courses/life-studies/i-learned-more-mcdonalds-college
If you clean up, study the various chemicals and cleaners. Read the MSDS documents and learn a lot about OSHA, chemicals and government regulation. Learn what they do and why they do it. Learn why someone made and effort to obtain each of the specific cleaning products. Understand the process and how it relates to government regulations. Learn why MD wants the task not only performed but the reason for doing it. Learn if there is and external requirement such as a local or federal regulation. Learn about the regulation and why it exists. Learn if MD made the rule and how the rule makes the product better.
Somewhere there are posters. The posters are mandated by the government and outline the various employment laws. The posters are the basis for the interaction of business and government. They might seem overly complex and quite boring but they are a major part of the lesson. Study the posters and develop a total understanding of what they mean. Learn how the government and business interact and why.
Hang out with the manager and study and learn the flow of goods. Learn the basics of purchasing. Study the inventory flow and learn how inventory management keeps the company rolling.
A testimonial can be viewed here.
https://www.prageru.com/courses/life-studies/i-learned-more-mcdonalds-college
A typical Mc Donalds store is a mega industry on a micro scale. They obtain raw materials hire labor and manufacture a product to very tight specifications. The process is typical of all manufacturing, only the product, the manufacturing equipment and size are different.
The principles of how raw materials are obtained, moved around, stored, and used apply to all business and manufacturing. A thorough understanding of the various tasks and processes involved will be useful elsewhere. The lessons can be expanded to a basic understanding of product quality and quality control. The business and all the jobs there are absolutely dependent on the quality of the product.
Tight specifications, what are the specifications, where did they come from, why have the specifications, how are they met, who enforces the specifications and assures consistent quality? These are all valuable lessons to be learned in the micro factory. The answers can be learned by paying attention and carefully watching what is actually happening throughout the place.
The subject of raw materials is very important area of study. One of the lists or perhaps several of the lists would be of various raw materials or raw material categories. Just what and how many raw materials is required to keep the place running? A list describing the material, where it comes from and exactly how the material is used can provide extremely valuable insights.
Then there is the matter of human resources. A one year study of the flow of people in and out and retained could result in a master’s degree paper on proper use and abuse of labor resources.
The concept of a crew, a team, can be studied. The crew concept is meant to develop a sense of belonging, of common purpose. A study of how the various individuals of the crew interact and depend on each other will yield an understanding that can be extrapolated to a much larger organization. How success or failure of one individual impacts the mission of the crew provides important lessons.
Then there is cash. A study of cash management could provide a detailed insight into cash, banking and the importance of plastic payments to a small business.
The MD school you choose might be near home or across town but it is merely one of many. A whole different course of study is what happens at and to MD outside the local operation? How does your store relate to a regional and national and global network of stores.
Back to the big question. Why does your school exist? Why do we have MD’s. The answer to that question applies to each and every business and manufacturing operation in the country. The answer is to make the owners a profit. Each and every item on all the various lists that will be developed in the school process is there to assure a profit. Proving that statement is the goal of the school and learning the reasons is the way the proof is obtained
It is all there for free. As a matter of fact one can get paid while at this school. All it takes is a proper frame of mind and a desire. Everything there is something to be learned
An interviewer will be blown out of her shoes when the lessons set out and learned are recounted in extreme detail.
There is a growing number of colleges were we stopped hiring engineers. These woke universities teach that the correct answer in math is racist and so is showing how they got the result.
Our work was too dangerous and important for the nation to let this s^^t in.
That depends on whether the clerk has gone to college.
I have one of those sociology majors in family, who then discovered not useful without more specialized schooling.
I've spent years meditating on the female - never did figure them out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.