Job Prospects for ‘24, ‘25 Grads and beyond?

Parents Forum
2567

Agree with this. On THIS forum, many consider/ target high paying positions or professional degrees after college. For those who talked about business owners, back in the day, many of us with professional degrees had private practices. So we were small business owners. But nowadays practices are largely owned by hospitals or conglomerates. Regardless, they are still desirable careers for many. But even if this forum skews professional, it is important to remember that one’s first job is not likely their only or last job. And the twists and turns that so many take in their career progression makes at times their undergrad degree less important.

As an example, a friend’s daughter’s profession is placing individuals in specialty corporate positions. I asked if she was an industrial-organizational Psychologist as that is a part of what they do. Nope. Her daughter had no advanced professional degree. Her undergrad degree is in fashion. My DH was talking with friends about job prospects right now and mentioned that there is a significant shortage, and very increasing demand for electricians.

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2568

The forum demographic does skew heavily toward families with higher income parents. Parents often want to see their kids do better than they did, and the kids often feel the same way. When the parents’ income is $200k or $300k or more (but they complain about not getting enough financial aid to afford their kid’s college), a large percentage of professions’ income levels feel like “downward mobility”. I.e. if the parents’ income is in the top 5% or so, that makes most professions look undesirable if “income level or living standards better than parents’” is an explicit or implicit criterion.

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2569

My earlier reply was deleted, so I’m not certain how much detail I can state on this topic. I’ll only say that I agree that this forum is not a good representation of the general population, and as such the general population of new grads and their parents often emphasizes a different type of post college job/career than the thread posts. While parents’ income contributes, there are other factors including type of college attended.

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2570

We are higher income parents, and that actually makes me less concerned about earnings for my daughter rather than more concerned. What is the point of us being more well off if she can’t pursue something she is interested in rather than just chasing the highest paying career even if she would hate it? I did not grow up with money and am wealthier than I ever imagined I would be. The idea that my wife and I worked so hard to get us here, just so my kid could grind away chasing money in a career she otherwise doesn’t want is baffling to me. Her being better off than me does not mean having more (or even as much) income it means having freedom to choose a career that suits her. I often find well off people’s obsession with earnings counterproductive in terms of quality of life.

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2571

I get it and don’t disagree. Mine had a desire she wouldn’t get hired for, especially in the current environment. But she didn’t meet qualifications - working with refugees. So she’s teaching…refugees.

But I do draw the line at earning at least enough that it costs to live. Maybe not on day one because I didn’t…but eventually (like within a year).

2572

Kate, that is outstanding news. My son’s best friend graduated in 2025 and is back in school in a program similar (but different) than your son at Clemson. He has dallied in different aspects of the industry but hasn’t done the “next step” work that would ensure him employment at the next level.

What your son has accomplished at his age is really great. Learning this industry from the ground up is going to benefit him a lot if he remains in the field. Him learning how to communicate and empathize with tradesmen today will make him a much more efficient project manager when the time comes.

My step-father was a sometimes general contractor and I learned the business first from a financial angle as a high school senior learning how to do his business taxes (on paper, reading the tax pamphlets) while I was applying to MIT and GA Tech for Aerospace Engineering. Then, after leaving college, I went out with him on jobs, though I never really worked for him much. But the experience with my step-father helped later, as a side hustle for me when I hired tradesmen to repair properties I bought cheap and/or managed. You son sounds like he is at the beginning of a very rewarding self-journey.

I’m very happy for him. You have a lot to be proud of him

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2574

That’s a really interesting breakdown. It makes sense that top earners skew the mean, but the steady employment rates across business fields are reassuring.

2575

Oh, man, that whole piece gives me agita.

Perhaps that’s why it’s called bulge bracket.

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2580

I’m not sure where this thread is going, but it feels kind of all over the place at the moment. So I guess I’ll keep up with that theme :sweat_smile:

First - random gift link to a WaPo article today titled “Jobs that earn six figures without going to college (and why they are rare)” https://wapo.st/4rt8h0Y (it IS a gift link, it might make you put in an email, but then it will let you read it without a subscription).

Of course, this forum is for folks who are going to college, and generally the graduates thereof, so it’s not really on point. But I think the argument it’s making - that you can make a good living but not an immediate amazing living - is relevant to some of what we’ve discussed here.

I also think, part of what’s getting us off topic, is the discussion of ROI and whether that’s good or important or valuable. I think that’s a very personal decision, and really not one for debating when we’re talking job prospects. I will tell you (and I’ve said it before on the threads about going to a “lesser” but less expensive school) - graduating from law school with no debt was an amazing gift. It made it so that I could pursue very different job prospects than my peers, because I didn’t have loans to pay back. In that sense, I feel like my parents set me up very well for success, and I’m trying to do the same for my children, to give them the opportunity to pursue whatever career fits their skills an interests and passions.

In retrospect, I never should have gone to law school. While I’m sure that the education helped me - in the same way that I think a liberal arts education helps generally - by making me a better thinker and writer and perhaps creative problem solver, I’ve never practiced. I didn’t have to go to law school to get the jobs I’ve had, I could’ve gotten an MPP, MPA, or MPH - none of which I knew existed at the time I was graduating college. So my goal has been to give my children the space and grace to figure out what’s out there, and what they want, and how to get there.

As it so happens, both my boys chose career fields that are reasonably likely to have pretty clear college - to - job career paths. I sometimes worry that they locked themselves in too early without taking the time and space to do that exploring. But no path is ever closed, you can always pivot if you’re willing to do the work to make the pivot.

And in the “what about my guys” vein - thank you @EconPop for the kind words re: my college sophomore. He’s a hard worker, and I think will be a good colleague and someday supervisor, because, of my three guys (counting my husband) he clearly has the highest Emotional IQ. He has his moments (he’s also the biggest smart@ss sometimes) but he’s a good guy, who I think people will want to work with and for someday. As it turns out, he now HAS gotten the second offer from his summer employer for a job in a different aspect of the company for this up coming summer. He’s excited and I’m excited for him.

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2581

I was thinking of this thread the other day as I was thinking of how grateful I am that jobs for music performance grads are (relatively) plentiful.

When my DS entered conservatory in 2020, it was the start of 2 years of closed performance halls due to the pandemic. Such a scary and dark time for musicians who of course have limited work from home options. It has taken awhile for orchestras, ballet and opera companies to rebuild to pre pandemic levels. But it seems live performances are back and opportunities abound.

My son and his cohort seem to be thriving! While it is always competitive for jobs, they seem to be all working in performance and gradually building great careers.

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2582

It looks as if there is stress in some parts of finance. A lot of kids want to go into private equity either right out of college or after a couple years. That industry is going through structural changes as discussed in the below article. Something for the kids to think about: ( I can’t seem to get a gift link, and I am not allowed to post a pdf)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-09-24/private-equity-jobs-lose-appeal-as-carried-interest-payouts-shrink

Summary:

Garrett Werner quit the buyout business to run his own company fitting equipment on trucks, trading a sport coat for steel-toed boots.
The private equity industry is in the doldrums due to higher interest rates making it harder to resell companies and return cash to investors, causing dealmakers to miss out on personal windfalls.
Some private equity professionals are leveraging up to borrow against future expected carry and hard assets like vacation homes, while others are quitting to become entrepreneurs or jumping ship for rival firms.

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2583

Something for ALL of us to think about. PE has bought out hospitals (with all of their clinics and satellite operations) and then gutted patient care from the inside out. We’ve all read about health care “deserts”- but these are towns and regions with a full service hospital where indeed- it is a desert. The local news had an awful story last night about a young woman who died at a PE owned hospital. She went to the ER with a broken ankle and ended up dead two days later. The ER attending (not on staff) prescribed one painkiller. Then she was moved while waiting for the Ortho consult, and a contract nurse ( not on staff… just an RN who was called in) prescribed a different painkiller. And then the Ortho (guess what, not on staff) prescribed a third- this time dilaudin- and that was that.

These hospitals that run on fumes are EVERYONE’s problem. The PE firms have stripped any assets which can be sold off, eliminated those pesky employees who cause so much trouble and need benefits, and just contract out cleaning and sanitization, nursing and patient care, the medical team, etc. Why have labor be a fixed cost when you can adjust your staffing levels on a weekly business?

The issue of the 23 year olds who might not make 7 figures by the time they’re 26? I think society can handle that.

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2584

All what you say is likely true, and there is probably a different side to the argument that no industry wants to be subject to cost cuts — some justified and some not , but I am not discussing the public policy issue here. I am only saying people going into PE, or those going into IB with the intention of then going into PE should be careful.

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2585

Agree 100%. The one lesson that today’s finance students don’t seem to be learning is that a tree doesn’t grow to the sky. Even recent downturns- 2008/209, Lehman/Bear Stearns-- they believe that was ancient history.

You are wise to note that even a “bullet proof” industry is not…

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2586

And, in fact, that a “‘bullet proof’ industry” may in fact be the most at risk.

We see this currently with comp sci—students were told it was a golden ticket, and so they flooded into it, and now it isn’t.

A couple decades ago it was real estate (on the financial and legal sides, as well as becoming realtors)—students were told it was a golden ticket, and so they flooded into it, and now it isn’t.

Before that it was nursing—students were told it was a golden ticket, and so they flooded into it, and now it isn’t.

Before that it was K–12 education—students were told it was a golden ticket, and so they flooded into it, and now it isn’t.

Before that it was law—students were told it was a golden ticket, and so they flooded into it, and now it isn’t.

Et cetera, et cetera, sic semper erat, et sic semper erit.

(It’s almost like the system has some incentive to “fix” labor shortages by encouraging impressionable kids and their families to create an oversupply in labor-friendly sectors. But I digress, I suppose.)

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