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Value of University Degree Continues To Decline (www.cbc.ca)
BarbaraHudson writes: Following up from an earlier report from Statistics Canada (pdf), the Parliamentary Budget Officer warns that an increasing number of university graduates are overqualified for their jobs. The CBC reports: "Last year, 40 per cent of university graduates aged 25-34 were overqualified for their job. Five years ago, that percentage was only 36 per cent. In 1991, it hit a low of 32 per cent, or less than one out of every three university graduates. The problem is bigger than that, because those young workers spent money, time, and resources to get those qualifications.
...does "overqualified" mean "has a degree but can't be trusted to change a lightbulb"?
Because ya. Holy hell, ya.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
The construction trades are facing a critical shortage of electricians, plumbers and whatever else, as foreign workers had left the country after the Great Recession and older workers are retiring.
So are you brilliant, or a turd? This should influence your decision.
Likely as not, people suffer greatly as honest appraisers of their own self worth, and yet, without some unfounded self-confidence, there is very limited individual success.
We might infer, from that information, that those individuals gifted with inflated self worth are statistically more likely to succeed.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
There are more journalism graduates per year than there are journalism jobs in the totality of the profession.
I blame two things on creating this situation- a college degree requirement or strong preference where it does not actually contribute anything, and a glut of people going through programs in college to get any degree in order to satisfy the unnecessary requirements.
Now that there's a bubble in the number of those seeking college, colleges charge more for tuition. That in turn means students take on a greater debt-load or their families spend disproportionate money on something. Those that do not finish college or can't find the work that they trained for effectively wasted tens of thousands of dollars or more. It also means unscrupulous businesses operating as colleges can collect tuition money so long as they manage to squeak-by with their accreditation, and I'm not entirely certain that the ratio of enrollees-to-graduates factors into accreditation.
I think that we need stronger rules for accreditation and we need employers to stop pushing so damn hard for college-graduates for jobs that do not need them. We also need to be more realistic about the sizes of programs based on the actual growth of fields they train for and to put an end to churning out orders-of-magnitude more graduates than there are jobs. I'm looking at you, music schools, journalism schools, business schools, and your ilk.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
If you're somewhere between turd and brilliant, I guess that means you'd better hurry up and pick one or the other?
I used extremes because it's an easy way to make an argument. But if you're "average", then you should expect average results. Another thing I have learned which ties in to the second part of your comment: It is almost impossible for an excellent person to continue excelling in a mediocre environment. It's much more likely they will become mediocre themselves.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Also depends on the degree you receive. A degree in philosophy or polysci or whatever is not likely going to make you highly marketable. Normally, I would say that you're pretty safe with an STEM degree. However, I attended a conference this weekend that leaves me wondering. One of the speakers was a comp sci prof from my alma mater. The stuff she said sounded more like something I'd expect from a sociology prof. If that's what's passing for comp sci these days, I'd have to question the value of a comp sci degree.
For the record, I'm not a misanthrope. I just dislike people.
linquendum tondere
California has a different set of rules about college enrollment via the community college system.
In California, you only need to be 18 years or older to attend a community college. A high school diploma is not required, though you may have to take remedial courses offered by the college and some majors, such as engineering, may require a GED before you can transfer to a four-year university
http://edsource.org/wp-content/publications/pub10-NoHSDiplomaOptions.pdf
I used to be a CNC machinist. Tool and Die machinists are not representative of the salary you can expect as a college dropout gone tradeschool. You can expect to make $25-30 in a city or $18-25 away from a population center. Most of the people you're selling this idea to are going to become machine operators. It's a hard and competitive industry with razor thin margins and high stress. I'm convinced the 2 years I spent in that industry aged me by 5...
For those not in the know: Tool and Die makers almost universally have white beards and pass on sage advice to the younger generation from their 25+ years experience. You can go through an apprenticeship to become one in a union shop but for the most part: nobody is going to hire someone in to that position who has less than 5-10 years experience running manual machines/programming CNC equipment.
Contrast that you what you can make with a CCNA or doing plumbing: I do not recommend Machining as a viable career choice unless you loved metal shop in high school and want to turn a hobby in to something you hate. The best machinists are usually mechanical engineers who got tired of sitting at a desk.
Most of all, never let your Chinese subcontractor make ANY decisions concerning the product. None. For one simple reason: Chinese education is one of obedience. Thinking for yourself is punished, not rewarded. You are given a task and you are given the instruction how to do it. And you are required to do it that way, and only that way. Doing it in a more efficient way will get you reprimanded because it was not what you were tasked with. Don't think, do as you're told.
This does not really make people question anything odd they come across. Something can be horribly inefficient or even destructive and they will not even think about remedying it. If your design means that the item produced will roll off the belt broken and useless, it will be broken and useless because that's what the design demands. They will not even ask you whether you really want it that way.
This in turn means that they will not consider the "spirit" of an order you give. They will take the order and fulfill it in the way that is closest to the letter of your order without consideration for the reason why you gave it.
In other words, if you want an additional switch in your product, you should specify that it should be on the outside where it can be reached...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.