Tip for those coming late to this or any other long thread: you can provide the thread’s URL to ChatGPT and ask it to summarize the thread for you.
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I can’t remember if I’ve said it already in this thread, but I believe that anytime there’s a narrative of “Everybody needs to study X, that’s where all the jobs of the future are going to be!”, then that’s a signal that you probably need to not study X.
Like, we’re seeing it play out right now in comp sci (particularly the software side), where a combination of coders having coded themselves out of jobs by creating LLMs and heightened supply of comp sci graduates is resulting is a poor job market for computer scientists.
And before that nursing was presented as a guaranteed job with a good salary, and yes, demand remains strong in healthcare, but healthcare administrators have used the increased supply of nurses to wreak havoc on the working conditions of nurses, pushing a large portion of them into involuntary part-time or contract/gig work, reducing the value of that degree.
Before that, K–12 teaching went through something similar, only to have an oversupply of teachers result in a degradation of job security and the ability of administrators to create a less pleasant work environment.
And so on.*
Basically, don’t believe the hype.
*Including my field, postsecondary teaching, which was presented as a sure thing for those who could last their way through a PhD even when I was an undergrad in the early 90s, well after the job market had collapsed in many fields.
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FWIW, and I know it ain’t much, but UPS was offering seasonal driver jobs for $38.00/hour and seasonal driver helper jobs at $23.00/hour in the SF Bay Area.
If a recent college graduate needs a “temp job,” why not check out UPS in your area. Although the recent grad would have to be able to lift semi-heavy (50-70 lb) boxes. 
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Unfortunately this is cost prohibitive for many. This isn’t an option for my kid graduating in May.
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There are many doctors who are choosing to do fellowships after residency because even jobs for doctors are not as readily available as they used to be. And especially if a spouse is in the picture and relocation would be hard.
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lol - I was just telling my kids that I had a friend my senior year of hs who took a seasonal job at UPS as a package handler in one of the warehouses in Philadelphia. $8 an hour - we were like wow! He passed out the first night from exhaustion the work was so strenuous. He went there right after school on an empty stomach.
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Didn’t the Ford CEO recently say that they can’t find enough auto mechanics and they start at $100+ - maybe while looking, also taking classes at local tech colleges to hone up on some versitile skills that will not be overtaken by AI.
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As parents helping your kids navigate a tough job market, there is a lot to consider. Some advocate any job is better than no job and lobby for grads to take jobs unrelated to their fields, or even jobs that don’t require a degree. On the other hand, research has shown that the quality, pay, and relevance of your first job are strong indicators of how much you’re likely to earn later in your career and your career trajectory. Everyone is going to land in a different place on the continuum of “any job” versus “the perfect job.”
I’m fortunate my kids graduated into a better job market than the current cohort. With hindsight, if I were dealing with a soon to be new grad, and if I could afford it, I would give them some time to try and find a job that relates to or advances their skills in their desired career path. It’s reasonable for them to want to work in the field they studied. There are plenty of ways enhance their skill sets while they apply for jobs. Unemployed time doesn’t have to equal wasted time.
Part of my hindsight… my youngest was an overachiever through high school and college. He was burned out when he graduated from college. He took a significant gap between college graduation and his first job. I wasn’t approving at the time, but he was an adult and I wasn’t funding him. Turns out it didn’t hurt him. When he got his first job, he was fresh, ready to work and be that overachiever he’d always been. He’s successful and most importantly happy and fulfilled in his career. I’m glad he ignored my advice. There is no single correct way. There are many ways to succeed.
To all of you with recent or soon-to-be grads, good luck. It is undeniably a difficult time to be looking for entry level jobs.
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This is an over simplification. Becoming a qualified auto mechanic takes years. My friend’s son is at a Ford plant making $20 an hour as a mechanic. Before that he was working at a local dealership for about three years.
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Well, I believe the CEO was stating it is a good career and jobs are open and starting at a decent salary. Not saying you can go to local tech college and learn auto mech in a semester - but you can probably get a job somewhere to apprentice in that field outside of a dealership and move up. Just thought I’d share what I heard.
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Funny story. My roommate and best friend worked as a plumber’s assistant during the summers when in college. There was one day where he was digging a trench and the home owner came out and chatted with him. When asked what he did, my friend said he was a college student. The homeowner asked where, the local CC? No, he said Yale. The homeowner immediate went to his front door and yelled to his wife to “come out and see the Yale man digging a ditch”.
While not directly on point for post college graduation jobs, I note my roommate graduated from Harvard Law and was a very successful senior partner at a well known BigLaw firm. In the modern era, my S worked as a busboy in a local restaurant during HS. He said that was a frequent topic in his interviews in a good way. He is with a BB IB these days in NYC.
There are a lot of traits and soft skills that employers like to see of entry level workers who worked in fields that have nothing to do with the job opening at hand. Lot to be said for working at McD’s flipping burgers in HS.
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A post to say there’s hope.
Older son thought he had it made when he graduated in ‘22. Started right in to a marketing job he was offered from an internship. 9 months later, laid off as company funding dried up. He looked for a marketing job hard for two years. Two years. Thousands of applications, many interviews, several final round interviews. Nothing. This May he got a marketing job again. Loves it–the company, the people, the work. In the two years in between he worked retail to pay the bills and got his MBA (something he’d planned to do eventually anyway). So while he feels a bit “behind” some of his peers, he has a grad degree he wanted and built sales skills he needed through his retail job. The stress of those years is real for him and it’s changed him in some good and some tough ways. But he did it.
Second son is a ‘25 grad. Sports operations is his field. Talk about highly competitive. But he’s working a few part time jobs right now to earn money, is lucky enough (his words) to be able to live at home, and the jobs he’s working are connected to his field so he can play them up on his resume. He knows it will be a slog but so far has his spirits up and keeps on fighting.
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Yes, dealers are short of mechanics - especially diesel mechanics.
But that’s not a low barrier to entry job and it’s difficult on the body, so the lifespan is short.
When I walk the store with a General Manager, every store will have the guy you don’t talk to - because he’s billing 18 hours in an 8 hour shift. He’s focused. In automotive, while you pay by the hour, each item has a billing time - so people can easily over perform - and some dealers are billing $300+ per hour, so yes, you can see a tech making a lot.
But I don’t surmise the average can’t find a job person can simply roll into a mechanic’s role.
And most are going to start at oil changes - not high end stuff.
It is a lucrative alternative, like other trades, for someone who chooses that route long term.
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But don’t the same studies show that those who can’t find initial jobs fall way behind, because then they are competing with fresher grads.
It’s funny - kids go to college, the world is looking great and all have their hopes. And then they hit reality.
Choosing which college to attend is a difficult task for many - choice.
When you are in a good job market like my son was, it’s difficult to pick which job - which when you think about it - you have multiple people that want to employ you - so it’s tough - choice - but is there really a bad decision?
Today, while the situation is similar to a good job market - for example, do you take or turn down that first job, because many are concerned there may not be a second job, they jump in. But even in a good market like 2 years ago, these kids all have a first offer - and they have to decide, take it or keep going. So the risk assessment a person does might be different.
Just like choosing a college, there’s no right answer that covers everyone. But I do think the longer the wait goes on, the more desperate kids become to find anything. And I do think the longer you way, the harder it becomes.
I wish luck to all - which is why I post some of the information/listings that I do - such as Stellantis looking to hire big. Whether it’s entry, I don’t know.
Thanks
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Somewhere up thread (probably a few months back.. not searching for it now!) I posted a link to an article about how well students at these types of colleges are doing wrt jobs.
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There is a big push in my community for exposing high school students to apprenticeships and trade jobs. But since we are on a college board site, I’m going to assume that most people who have kids looking for full time employment, and are participating in this thread, aren’t going to pivot to the trades.
That said, one of the new cohorts in my D’s company’s ELDP program worked as a line operator for two summers because he couldn’t get a mech e internship. Her company fell all over themselves to hire this student. The ability for new engineering hires to work well with hourly folks is a huge plus in manufacturing. A new line operator at my d’s plant starts at $48K/year but with overtime, they can be making north of $75K. Full benefits too and plenty of room for advancement.
Sometimes just getting your foot in the door can be really helpful. (That’s how I got my first job - I temped for the company answering their phones while their receptionist was on vacation. I was hired a month later and had a great learning experience there. Within a year I was doing exactly what I was hoping.)
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Yes, and that is why your career success has a lot to do with your luck in graduating school into a good or bad job market.
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Oh, I know. (Though for certain fields and degrees, TAships and fellowships are a thing.) But in an economy where people are basically throwing it all against the wall and seeing what sticks…
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Not the same - but my son wanted to work at a car company (like dad) and couldn’t find an internship after first year - and he took a job doing mobile car detailing - where he learned about perfection, customer service (the guy with the $100K car paying a few hundy wants it to look sharp), etc.
He said it was discussed during his various interviews - automotive and otherwise.
There are many tangential roles - that give you discussion points.
Back in the day, driving the Wienermobile was a cool thing. Not sure if they still have that job - but imagine the discussions that take place in interviews when driving that pops.
I was in television for a very short stint at a well known network - even for my current job, many years later, unrelated to tv, it came up and in various interviews.
it’s ok to do different things, related, tangentially related, or unrelated - there’s always something you learn and to talk about - especially if that role is unique.
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WhereMyDogs@ says that there are six of them, so there may not be that many drivers needed for them.
Sometimes, the tangential roles become unavailable along with the targeted roles. For example, a new 2009 graduate in civil engineering, architecture, or construction management may not have found much in tangential roles (e.g. construction labor, construction supplies, building trade apprenticeships, real estate agency, other real estate services, etc.) because the demand for such went down along with demand for civil engineers, architects, and construction managers.
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