<p>Last week at work, I met a recent grad of MIT’s MBA program who related his inability to land a job despite an excellent GPA. (His claim is that he has little experience and every company wants at least 3 years.) This young man was visiting a high school friend who works in my office. His friend got his job because both his parents work at this prestigious institution. He himself is completing a summer internship and is now considering the National Guard in order to get benefits. (Being a patriot, he said he would have done this anyway but is acting on it faster than he would have otherwise.) While we talked, I couldn’t help wondering if the debt he has incurred is worth it. Perhaps, big state U with a concentration in accounting would have been a better choice; certainly, it would have been a lower debt burden. </p>
<p>It’s a tough time to be 23 even if you’re well educated, but remarkably, there are some incredibly supportive parents out there who are ready to provide a soft place to land in a difficult times.</p>
<p>I feel it’s important for kids to get jobs that make them self-supporting–even if the job at the moment is “Pizza Hut” and self-supporting means “in a shoebox apartment”–not only because work experience is a good thing, not only for the sake of their parents, but also for their own sake. It’s hard and scary taking that step to live on your own, but also exhilirating and empowering. That shoebox apartment may be small, but by God it is YOUR shoebox apartment that YOU chose, supported by YOUR job. Awesome feeling!!</p>
<p>If a kid just can’t afford to move out, well, then he just can’t afford to move out. But if it’s that he can’t move out and live in the style to which he’s become accustomed in his parents’ house . . . well, he should move out anyway and downgrade his expectations. It won’t hurt him to eat ramen for a bit.</p>
<p>(Obviously I mean “downgrade his expectations” within reason, not “eat out of a dumpster and live in a cardboard box.”)</p>
<p>Listen! That creaking sound you hear is American society stratifying.</p>
<p>“Upward mobility” is is a thing of the past. If your parents were “comfortable”, you will be worse off.</p>
<p>The very poor who manage to scratch out an education will be better off than their parents. The very rich will reap the benefits of their parents’ resources and connections.</p>
<p>Everybody else gets manipulated with a small hand tool.</p>
<p>One thing that is not taught to children; the job search process is a degrading assault on self worth designed to get the best applicants to work for the least money.</p>
<p>My 25 year old has three apartment-mates. It’s hardly “her own place,” but in the sense that it’s not her parent’s place, it is. She’d love to have her own apartment, but I don’t see that in her immediate future with her current job, if ever. She is self-supporting, however, and she has a savings account that she’s created over these last couple of years. But she couldn’t make it without living with friends. The situation has pluses and minuses, but it beats living with mom and dad.</p>
<p>from all i have read unemployment is higher as you go down the education ladder - highest for HS dropouts, higher for HS grads then AA and tech school, higher for AA than for BA, and higher for BA than for advanced degrees.</p>
<p>Maybe its different for the young. Or maybe our esteemed news media don’t find stories about unemployed folks with little education sufficiently sexy?</p>
<p>“It used to be that students attended an instate university and went to work after getting a BA, instead of automatically thinking of grad school/private colleges.”</p>
<p>As far as I can tell the numbers attending instate publics havent gone down. I am not sure about the percentage going to grad school.</p>
<p>Parent of a psych major here - you know the major many consider nearly impossible to find employment with. Doesn’t seem to have been a major problem. D had lots of interviews and even a few jobs to chose between. Wanted to stay in the area of her college (turned out to be a good thing since employers recognized the caliber of student graduating from there) and was able to start a job (with benefits!) after about a month of looking. Not really high paying but so much more than she was making during the school year. Not a real high cost kid anyways - shares an apartment, spends like a Scotsman (thrifty ) and has started paying off loans early as well as socking some away in savings.
As far as the living on your own aspect - I never did myself, partly because I always had 2+ dogs in tow. Living with others can be a really good option. One house was composed of postdocs and the dinner conversations were always stimulating and intellectual. Was a great way to meet other single working people as well.</p>
) and has started paying off loans early as well as socking some away in savings.