Tough times for first time job seekers

[REWahoo]

Be thankful you aren't a 2020 college graduate:

Around the world, young people armed with new degrees, diplomas and professional qualifications are struggling to enter the workforce as the pandemic pushes the global economy into recession. COVID-19 has thwarted hopes of landing first jobs - important for jumpstarting careers - as employers cut back graduate recruiting plans or even revoke job offers.

U.S. careers website Glassdoor says the number of jobs advertised as “entry level” or “new grad” was down 68% in May from a year ago.

Pandemic wrecks global Class of 2020's hopes for first job

DGS#1 graduates from college this month and has been unable to find an entry level job. Unwilling to [-]give up college life[/-] live at home with his parents and two younger brothers, he and some friends in a similar situation rented a house together to keep monthly rent around $500 each. He found a job as an "assistant manager" in an upscale vegan ice cream shop, where with tips he will probably make $18 to $20/hr working 30 hours a week. He will also continue working part time as a driver for a grocery delivery service.

While it pains me to see him facing these headwinds immediately after graduating, I can't help feeling some pride and admiration for his initiative and resolve in making the best of a bad situation.

 

[strobot]

I'll be honest with you, it's been like this for a while. These days it is best to learn a trade (unless it is STEM related). I just finished my Masters and it is a nice piece of paper for my wall, that's about it.

 

[njhowie]

I'll be honest with you, it's been like this for a while. These days it is best to learn a trade (unless it is STEM related). I just finished my Masters and it is a nice piece of paper for my wall, that's about it.

Masters in what? What was the reason for investing the time/effort to obtain it? Start a business in your field of expertise - now is the time to do it, while others are failing, in anticipation of the rebound which will eventually come.

Most smart people are actually much smarter than they give themselves credit, they just need to go for it. Is there risk? Absolutely. However, no risk = no reward. If you're simply trekking in to the office every day (or saddling up to the computer at your desk at home) just collecting a paycheck from megacorp, then you'll do ok, but probably not superb. If megacorp (or whoever current employer is) is not giving you credit for the Masters, then find someone who will. Nobody is going to make it happen for you besides you.

 

[HF63]

The days of finding a nice job w/decent pay and benefits is long gone.


Just like in Mexico it pays to work for you only in any kind of trades or services.


My friend a mechanic just left his garage to become a Mobil Mechanic and so far no regrets.


You work long hours and you know you are keeping that dollar.

 

[OldShooter]

... These days it is best to learn a trade ...

Yes. Over a decade ago I was talking to a contractor friend who was doing some work on our lake home and he commented that he was encouraging his sons to go into the trades. He said that some plumbers in the area were already billing $150/hour. Out in the weeds!

Anyone willing to work with his hands can do well. As more and more of us are "above" such work we will pay more and more to those who are not. And there are a lot of nice jobs; CNC machinist comes to mind.

The other thing going on here is a serious logical flaw in the idea that if you get a college degree you will make more money. While that is true in the rear view mirror, why would we think that increasing the supply of college graduates will proportionally increase the number of high paid jobs available?

 

[njhowie]

... why would we think that increasing the supply of college graduates will proportionally increase the number of high paid jobs available?

It's not thinking that the increasing supply of college graduates will drive an increased number of jobs. It's the outlook that we will have a continuing growing/expanding economy that over time has moved from low wage blue collar jobs like manufacturing to higher wage white collar and services.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Yes. Over a decade ago I was talking to a contractor friend who was doing some work on our lake home and he commented that he was encouraging his sons to go into the trades. He said that some plumbers in the area were already billing $150/hour. Out in the weeds!

Yep. My Dad owned a commercial HVAC company and did very well for himself. This was after many years of working "good jobs" but getting screwed over multiple times (union issues at an airline, furloughs, 4 months in the hospital after getting burned by an exploding AC compressor) and he finally decided at 47 years old that any meaningful success in his w*rk would be up to him. So, he went out on his own and did great. When he started, he purchased a single box of business cards and through the next 15'ish years he had no advertising, no signage and he *never* had a lack of work. I still have that box of business cards and it's still about 3/4 full. He told me that his only regret was not charging more, because he certainly could have. In 1988, his very reasonable rate was $65/hr.

 

[OldShooter]

... It's the outlook that we will have a continuing growing/expanding economy that over time has moved from low wage blue collar jobs like manufacturing to higher wage white collar and services.

There's no particular reason, though, to believe that this job growth rate will match or exceed the college graduate growth rate. Maybe it will, maybe it won't, but it is IMO uncorrelated. We'll see. ...

 

[njhowie]

There's no particular reason, though, to believe that this job growth rate will match or exceed the college graduate growth rate. Maybe it will, maybe it won't, but it is IMO uncorrelated. We'll see. ...

The same was said back in the 1980's when kids coming out of high school were majoring in Computer Science as undergrads.

There are no guarantees and nobody knows what will happen down the road. However, a college degree in a hard science has proven to be a valuable investment over time.

 

[MuirWannabe]

While it pains me to see him facing these headwinds immediately after graduating, I can't help feeling some pride and admiration for his initiative and resolve in making the best of a bad situation.

I think you should admire him for this. It was likely not the easier choice for him to make. He could be sitting around on his arse. And it probably bodes well for him in the future as things change and opportunities begin to open up. Congrats on having a GS with some good character.

 

[Time2]

Yep, my son recently graduated with a chemistry degree, he has applications out but so far doing is maintenance and serving type work in a restaurant/retail outlet. He's living with us, which I'm enjoying, his presents has got me motivated to do a lot of projects around the house. I'm also correcting one of my regrets when he was growing up. I didn't teach him to do all the mechanical things that I don't have a second thought tackling.
Since he moved in, we have poured a concrete slab, put in a sprinkler system, disassembled a pontoon boat, cut aluminum for an awning, fabricated a hand brake that interfaces with his computer for to use on his racing simulator, he's been working with the drill press, band saw, belt sander, radial arm saw and skilsaw, he did a little welding, we changed brakes on two vehicles and checked them on a third. Hopefully I'm making up for time wasted.
Here's a picture of the hand brake for his racing simulator, it momentarily locks the rear wheels to help the back end slide around corners. Copper tube handle, bicycle hand grip, spring from pump pressure controller, microswitch from a defective microwave, pcb removed from a used keyboard and wired to output a spacbar push. PCB cover from a bicycle patch kit. Not an original idea, but we were a little more creative (frugal) with our parts (mostly parts I already had) and we made it so he can mount above or below the desk. We had a lot of fun colaborating on it.

 

[Retch The Grate]

Here's a picture of the hand brake for his racing simulator, it momentarily locks the rear wheels to help the back end slide around corners. Copper tube handle, bicycle hand grip, spring from pump pressure controller, microswitch from a defective microwave, pcb removed from a used keyboard and wired to output a spacbar push. PCB cover from a bicycle patch kit. Not an original idea, but we were a little more creative (frugal) with our parts (mostly parts I already had) and we made it so he can mount above or below the desk. We had a lot of fun colaborating on it.

That;'s a really fun looking project.

 

[harley]

I'm not sure this is all that different than what happened to the 2009 grads. It was a really bad job market for a few years, but over time it worked out OK for most of them. At least in my personal experience. This is another ugly time, and it might throw them a bit behind the curve, but over their lifetimes it will probably just be a blip. I hope.

 

[Dawg52]

When I graduated from college in 1976 the job market was considered tight. I interviewed with several company reps on campus but didn't have a job secured when I graduated. I remember being somewhat depressed. But luckily a couple of offers came through a month or two two after graduation. I do feel sorry for current graduates as it can be depressing and stressful.

 

[brewer12345]

I'm not sure this is all that different than what happened to the 2009 grads. It was a really bad job market for a few years, but over time it worked out OK for most of them. At least in my personal experience. This is another ugly time, and it might throw them a bit behind the curve, but over their lifetimes it will probably just be a blip. I hope.

I was thinking the same: this reminds me of 2009. My friend's son has a post graduation job lined up as a civil engineer, but his start date keeps getting pushed back. I am hoping they won't just kill the job offer. I remember this stuff happening in 2009 as well.

 

[Aerides]

My niece is a HS graduate, and was miserably disappointed at all she missed. However, even she "got it" when I said, it could be worse - you do NOT want to graduate from college into this. So now she has 4 years to study (whatever that looks like) and hopefully jump on the early part of the next upward climb.

 

[misanman]

Our oldest grandson graduated from college this spring and found a good paying job in his field right away. I guess he must be somewhat of an exception. Recently his boss asked him if he knew any other possible candidates and he recommended his former room mate and the room mate started last Monday.

We know some others that don't seem to be making much of an effort job search wise, believing that there isn't a job out there for them.

 

[Rianne]

My DN has not graduated from nursing school and has a job at Northwestern U. Medical Center. When she graduates, she will have a great job in a dangerous environment. Her brother, my DN with an IT/Business degree as of May, was preparing to start his new job and was put off until Dec/Jan. Recent grads should do something/anything to show they're earning and resourceful.

 

[RE2Boys]

Any job seeker needs to network and be very flexible.

Back in January my son started his last semester of college and one of the requirements was a 150 hour internship. Having sent three summers as grunt labor with the local school district, primarily assigned to the school's IT department, he approached them to see if it would be possible to spend some time observing as an un-payed intern in addition to his regular class schedule in the coming months. Two weeks later they asked to meet with him to discuss further and to his surprise, they offered him a full time job if he could start the next week as an IT tech (his major is Management Information Systems. They had been looking for an additional tech for some time. So for three months he worked full time, was a full time student, completed his internship, and graduated in May with a full time job. He's looking at this as an entry level job to gain relevant experience but would like to move into a job that involves more coding opportunities. He's a quick learner and has become the school districts video streaming person, along with coordinating the migration to a newer email system, and there are always chrome books and laptops in need of repair, and helping staff/teachers use software. Not the job he had planned to be seeking but close enough for now. It's about a 6000 plus student district.

 

[eytonxav]

It was very difficult as well during the great recession. DS looked for 5-6 months after graduating college before landing a decent job.

 

[blueskyk]

WhenI graduated from college it was a terrible job market (early 80s)- I majored in mechanical engineering and that year recruiters did not even come to campus. Someone handed me a book called “What Color is your Parachute?” It turned out to be a godsend. It was full of creative ways to assess skills and explore what it is you really like doing. It also had a lot of creative ways to pursue employment. The book is updated every year and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for employment.

No doubt this is a terribly difficult time to start a career but experience has taught me employers are always looking for good people who can help them solve a problem.

OP, your DGS sounds like a great catch.