<p>My D worked for a pharmacy chain in college. That chain has a promotions plan for current employees and several of her co-workers have moved up to corporate in truly excellent positions with great salaries, benefits and prestige. They had to pay their dues first and degrees were required, but many people in top positions in those chains came up through, and every employee who does a good job expects to be promoted because it’s not a rare thing. At the corporate level, retail is simply, well, a corporation.</p>
<p>
I’m not sure what you stated is generally true. In retail there are all kinds of jobs as ‘oldfort’ indicated including many most of us don’t think about or see - the HQ and backoffice positions. Not all of them are likely to be available to all people working at the company. I’d expect someone with a college degree to be more likely to be promoted into management than someone with a HS degree (or maybe not even that). I’d also expect the person with the college degree to be more likely to be promoted to other types of jobs within the company. Not everyone is on the same level so while people without the degree can be employed there in some positions, other positions might require the degree.</p>
<p>A major retailer like JCP, Sears, Nordstom, Walmart, Home Depot, etc. not only has the warehouse people, sales people, put the clothes on the rack people, but also department managers, store managers (a high level position for the manager of a store of the size of a typical Sears for example), regional people, and headquarters people including managers, buyers, accounting, IT, marketing, logistics, facilities management, HR, etc. and many of these positions might be difficult to get if one doesn’t have a degree - i.e. the guy in the warehouse with no degree is probably less likely to end up in one of the higher level professional positions than someone who already has a college degree.</p>
<p>Part of it comes down to whether the individual is keeping an eye open for those other opportunities and working on moving from say, a sales clerk, to say, an HR or buyer, or other position.</p>
<p>My 24 yo D is a talented fashion designer and has illustrated 4 published books. She works in Soho NYC…as a waitress in a cafe. I am delighted for her! She pays her rent and expenses while finishing school (Parsons BFA) and her employer of 4 years respects her and her work enough to accommodate her school schedule as well as is now providing her a 6 to 12 month “leave of absence” while she is living and temp-working in London trying to decide what next (if she goes back to NYC her job is available). </p>
<p>Any honest work, in my opinion, is good work. If OPs D can manage her expenses, I say be thrilled! Especially in this economy. :)</p>
<p>I understand this is not what you envisioned for your daughter, especially given her academic achievements. However, I think that in the long run her degree will benefit her career (in addition to her college experience being worthwhile in and of itself.) Try to remind yourself of the great contacts she’s developing and what positive impressions she’s created already.</p>
<p>Your daughter is to be commended for her positive attitude and work ethic. I have a relative who did not finish college, yet believes that working retail is some how “beneath” her. She has not worked at all in over three years, mainly because she believes she should be given jobs for which she does not meet the minimum requirements. She’s finally going back to school, but it’s likely to take her six years to finish. I don’t know what sort of job she will eventually land, given the long gap in her work history. OTOH, your daughter has demonstrated all manner of qualities that employers look for and is likely to do very well. As others have mentioned, most jobs are found through networking and your daughter has been building relationships with people who can help her throughout her career.</p>
<p>We shall see how this all plays out. I should probably just be happy if she can she can support herself in the current economic climate.
I don’t see her being able to advance any further in the company without moving to another state , which I doubt she will be willing to do
I am happy that she is near her cousins, sister and people she connects to more so in our little town.
Sometimes a good reality check here on CC is just what I need …although it seems like I read about more how someone else’s child got hired before they graduated and making fantastic salary :D</p>
<p>If it makes you feel any better my college grad son ended up driving a cab for a year and a half to make ends meet. He lives in a small college town and could not find any job after graduation. He has now gone back to school for another undergrad degree, as his major (history) did not seem to lead to any jobs. This time he is working on a degree in public policy, and may need to go to grad school to get a job in that field. Not the way it worked when we were young, is it?</p>
<p>I don’t think I was ever turned down for a job I applied for when I was his age. These are tough times.</p>
<p>actually, when I graduated in 80, I wanted to stay in the college town I was in for personal reasons, and despite all kinds of honors and high GPA, the only job I could get was shelving books in the grad library.</p>
<p>I don’t know when that time was that was easy to get a job, but i have never lived it.</p>
<p>Op, I get your diappointment. If she had stayed at a retail job post hs, she could be even higher up in management there by now without having gone to college. I worked in retail before. i was pretty embarassed by it at the time, since I had a BSN and couldn’t find a job in my field. Some of my coworkers were laid off engineers, teachers, accountants, paralegals and plenty of hs drop outs too. It was easy for the semi smart ones to advance, which even I did, but a retail managment job doesn’t always pay much better than minimum wage. Also the top retail management jobs are VERY VERY competitive. The longer I was there the more difficult it seemed to get out. I did feel stuck there and as if now my destiny was to stay a min wage retail employee when I had ( or so I thought?) potential to have done better. </p>
<p>As for working holidays, which you mentioned twice… That is something you have to do in MANY fields. Many. Even ones with 7-11 years post hs studies. It is part of being an employee or part of the work force. Time off for every holiday is for the independently wealthy, school children, and those in a few fields.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is the thought to keep in mind – count your blessings! There are a lot of moms who’d give just about anything to be in your shoes.</p>
<p>lje, wihth her college degree your D has the option of getting an MBA and moving up the ranks in retail or whatever field… without - she will have NO such option - a BA or BS is a pretty much a pre-requisite for a master’s degree. </p>
<p>(Sigh… My younger is employed by an NGO - she barely makes enough money to make the ends meet, but she is getting so much more out of her job than $$$. As long as she comes back home in one piece, I’ll be happy. The older kiddo is a med student… and will be pennyless for a while)</p>
<p>My new college grad S has a job that has that has nothing to do with his college degree.
By the time he graduated, he had decided he wasn’t interested in pursuing work related to his major. Evenso, we don’t consider his college education to be wasted. </p>
<p>He’s working for a very small specialized company with about ten employees. S is the only one with a college degree…including the owner. I don’t know that he loves it but he’s not the kind of kid who’s gonna love any job. He does seems pretty proud of himself for getting a real job. The pay is good. The benefits are good. It’s good experience and a way to make contacts in the industry. It doesn’t bother him or us that it’s not a “college degree” job. We’re just happy that he’s working and saving money to get out on his own.</p>
<p>Ije- I don’t know if many of these responders know that you own a small business, and are more than acquainted with working in retail.</p>
<p>You wanted a different path for your daughter- valid feelings.</p>
<p>Perhaps she’s enriched and enjoying living in a college town, and hopefully enjoying her job.</p>
<p>lje – Your daughter is approaching the age where you can no longer keep her on your health insurance, so she will need a full-time job with benefits.</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with that job being in retail. Even if her particular position does not require a college degree, having a degree will work in her favor if she moves up a promotion ladder or switches to another line of work.</p>
<p>This is general economy direction, not any fault of particular graduate. It will get only worse, it will not improve in few years at least, but I forsee that it will not happen, period. Nobody is replacing people who die, retire, got laid off for non-performance, lucky working are very streatched and at the same time are very thankful for their luck, they will not quit even if they have to work twice as much for the same money. I say that it will get worse because the cost of each employee will get higher, so businesses will be even less likely to get new employees. On top, working force is getting older and people are staying longer past retirement age, they simply are afraid to retire (at least this is how I feel).<br>
So, grab any job, and do not forget to say your "Thank you"s waking up every morning, in a middle of the day, going to bed and at every other opportunity. Your D., OP, is very very lucky!!!</p>
<p>Well! Mom, she’s working. That is huge these days. </p>
<p>Secondly, someone with a high school diploma does NOT go right into managing a store. They have to learn the ropes. Whereas, having a degree, she is already qualified because presumably she can organize, manage, troubleshoot, plan a project and carry it out and even be creative. Those things are the value in a degree. She might even like the company and move into mid and upper management. Or, she might take that experience and have a very positive slot in her resume.
Again. At least she’s working and trying. She’s not sitting home whining about how unfair life is.</p>
<p>I more then understand the feelings, as a parent our biggest hopes are that our children will go out there and knock them dead and the common perception is you work hard in school,. go to college, get a good job and advance, whether in that company or moving on…it is what a lot of people did do in the past and many prob will still do, but given the economy and also changing realities, it isn’t always going to be that path. </p>
<p>I agree with another poster, one thing to look at is the idea that somehow college is ‘wasted’ if you don’t ‘do anything’ with the degree. Among other things, that turns college into a job training program alone, when hopefully college taught them a lot more then that, that the other courses, interacting with other students, doing things, all helped them grow. This comes up a LOT with music students, about kids who get music performance degrees, about 'what will they do with it if they don’t become musicians"…and the answer is a lot:).</p>
<p>I also will add that in jobs that don’t require a college degree, someone with a degree can do better then someone without the degree, assuming the person does well at the job, shows initiative, etc, they can end up ‘moving up’ where a HS graduate may not, because they have the degree and elements of any degree can help, besides the piece of paper. </p>
<p>Plus she may get experience there, run into something similar in another company, and that and the background of the degree gets her a new job, it happens all the time. Someone with a HS degree who has worked in a retail store, maybe become an assistant manager, might have a hard time making the move into another kind of manager in another company, whereas someone with the experience and the degree would. </p>
<p>So it is never ‘lost’ or ‘wasted’, good parts of it are out there. One bit of advice for your D and others is to look at your background and instead of saying “this would be good for X, Y and Z”, cast a wider net and look at “what in my background could make me think I could do that job”. The old “What color is your parachute”, which today I am sure classifies as a moldy oldy, was predicated on that very idea (and it is still worth reading)…when you go into any job, the sum of who you are, your background, hobby, interests, personality, view of the world, education, all play a role.</p>
<p>Right and right ! She never was one to sit around feeling sorry for herself. At the moment, she is just there part time supplementing her income but her manager ( who actually knew her from when she worked there back in college ) is plugging for her to get hired as a manager. She is the kind of person that gives 120 % at everything , and it has been recognized at her places of employment , so I WILL be glad if she gets an offer and gets the opportunity for health benefits too…and MiamiDAP , I fear that you are right in your predictions 
If we knew then what we know now, she would have chosen a more lucrative major</p>
<p>"If we knew then what we know now, she would have chosen a more lucrative major "
-Sorry is one thing, learn from mistakes another. Everybody in their lives make mistakes. The difference is in a fact that some learn from them and others do not. I have changed my proffession in my 30s. I was in engineering and never liked it, basically endured 11 years of working in a field and hoping that my attitude will change and it never did. So, I went back to school, to CC (had a family, H. working full time, kid at very difficult teenage years), graduated, got my first job in a field (IT) in the very economically depressed area at the time when local unemployment was about 16% (Carter years) and has been very happy since then. Several employers has paid for the rest of my education all thru MBA. What did I loose? Yes, I was in school until I was 40. However, it was a great fun, more entertainment than anything else (graduated with Magna Cum Laude though, after that many years in college who would not, especially after being in engineering). Since it was mostly fun and companies were paying, decided to continue, went for MBA and dragged my H. (engineer) into doing the same. At some point of time, all 3 of us were at college, we paid only one tuition - for our S. I have worked full time all the time, have changed several jobs, enjoyed them all and currectly at my job #9. It has been such a fun that I have no plans to retire (in addition to be afraid to retire). I will not be able to find any other activity as entertaining as my job and very many in IT will tell you the same.<br>
I like to brag. However, the purpose here was to say that nothing is cut in stone, you can change many things in your life. No matter what economy, your previous decisions, previous education and various experiences, you are still in control of your life much more than it looks on a surface. Dreaming is a good thing. Actively pursuing your dreams is the best approach in life. Feeling sorry has never worked for me. Changing my profession in my 30s was NOT the biggest change in my life that I have actively and successfully pursued, it was not the most risky one by any measure either. Just go for it and never look back except for learning from your past!!!
And your D. is doing just great with what is available for her now. She might decide to go back to school to obtain more marketable skills or she might decide that she enjoys her current job. She is still very very young!</p>
<p>
Oh I laughed when I read this. Reminded me of a short conversation I had with my daughter earlier this year.
her “Mom, why didn’t you talk to me about majoring in something I could get a better paying job in?”"
me “I did - remember those “what do you do with a XXX major” conversations?”
her “Oh yea, I never listen do I”
me …</p>
<p>OP: What was your daughter’s major in college ?</p>
<p>What are her interests ?</p>
<p>Did she eye any particular career path during college ?</p>