<p>Please don’t post inflammatory political opinions about the worth or drawbacks of any of the jobs this post may bring up. </p>
<p>My idea here is to look at pay for cyclical industries.</p>
<p>Fifteen years ago a BS in geology (heck, decades of experience in geology) wasn’t worth much. Today’s payscale is pretty impressive.</p>
<p><a href=“Explorer”>Explorer;
<p>Our kids remember the hungry years and aren’t impressed.</p>
<p>What other job paths have been so up and down?</p>
<p>I don’t know about pay scales, but when H entered college (1979?) petroleum engineering was a high-paying, high demand field in the US. By the time he graduated, the bottom had fallen out and there were no jobs for new Petroleum grads. He had to return to college for a second BS. Now I’ve seen that Petroleum is again hot.</p>
<p>Not to be nit picking, but… seems entry level to get a job is Masters level, deeper in the article it stated:</p>
<p>Digging Deeper
The 0-2 year experience levels showed a small increase – average salaries for that category were up 6.2 percent.</p>
<p>“Recently graduated bachelor level geologists had a difficult time finding work,” Ayling said, “and the few that did worked for lower salaries, depressing the overall average.”</p>
<p>He pointed out that a master’s degree is the “working degree” for petroleum geologists, and also noted that in the average salary by degree for the 15-19 year experience group was nil this year “because there weren’t any bachelor’s geologists in that grouping to chart.”</p>
<p>Back when I got my BS, a masters was considered the entry level degree.<br>
I’'ve always been a dollar short…trying to get hold of the day late part.</p>
<p>Sylvan, exactly what I wanted to talk about…
Many of my classmates went into aeronautical engineering based on Boeing’s future.
Graduated with no job prospects.</p>
<p>How do we advise our kids when we admit things are in a huge boom and bust?</p>
<p>^If we’re trying to look at a particular sub-area, such as Petroleum Engineering for example, then we could stress the importance of flexibility and having as broad a base as possible while still getting a specialized degree. H got a second degree in civil/environmental. He has used BOTH degrees in a career where he has done a lot of work in environmental remediation, often of petroleum contaminated sites (gas stations, etc.). He has parlayed his technical writing ability into management positions. </p>
<p>BIL also graduated with a Petroleum Eng. degree and has been very successful as a mechanical engineer specializing in medical devices. Flexibility, management skills, writing skills…And don’t put all your eggs in one basket.</p>
<p>I don’t recall the context, but I once heard a Mechanical Engineer give a talk about his career and how many different positions he had held. It really is arguably the most flexible of the engineering disciplines.</p>
<p>We know a kid who got a degree in aeronautical engineering & wanted to be a pilot but then the airline he hoped to be hired in (where his dad worked) went bankrupt. He went back & got another bachelor’s in EE & now has a job with Boeing in LA, where he just bought a house with his folks’ help.</p>
<p>Our S got a degree in EE & has not been able to practice it so far yet. His salary isn’t fantastic but has scheduled promotions & raises until he reaches the target level. He’s getting experience as a project manager & I’m guessing he’s doing pretty well at it. He still wants to do some engineering, so we shall see.</p>
<p>Know another kid who wanted to be airline repair tech but couldn’t get a job after graduating Emery Riddle. Ended up going to law school instead. As usual, lots of kids who don’t get the jobs/careers they expected end up in law school. Some get jobs after that & some keep searching & owing.</p>
<p>Computer science graduates faced very cyclical job markets in recent decades. The cycles ranged from raging hot in the late 1990s to career-destroying in the early 2000s, back to rather warm today.</p>
<p>Civil engineering and architecture had their boom in the early 2000s, followed by the bust of the late 2000s until now.</p>
<p>College students starting as freshmen now should be aware that the job markets could be significantly different four years from now when they graduate.</p>
<p>A colleagues son just graduated from U Montana with a degree in geology. He had several job offers. He took an entry-level job w/ a mining company in Colorado. She says the pay is alright but the weekly stipend (tax free) he receives for living on the job site is excellent.</p>
<p>D has mech E degree, 3 interviews out of god only knows how many apps at this point. She specifically chose mechanical figured most flexible, perhaps it makes you jack of all trades master of none in the eyes of employers.</p>
<p>the caveat, at this point in Mech Engineer field, all want over 5+ years experience. Even with Masters, not much out there.</p>
<p>Journalism. Being a trained investigative reporter used to be worth a middle class salary; now, with newspapers dying right and left, well… it’s not exactly cyclical.</p>
<p>One of the least cyclical degrees is an accounting degree. My grandfather (mom’s dad) was an accountant and my mom says she doesn’t remember anything of the Great Depression growing up in the 30s as her dad had a good job.</p>