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boutons_deux
05-20-2011, 05:16 AM
Graduating college? Good luck!

New report offers a depressing statistical snapshot of the job outlook for recent grads


Throughout the country, college students are busy celebrating their graduation. However, it's an open question whether their hard work -- and considerable expenditure -- will help them find employment. A study published yesterday by Rutgers's John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development paints an unencouraging picture of their chances in the current job market.

The report, titled "Unfulfilled Expectations: Recent College Graduates Struggle in a Troubled Economy," is based on a survey of 571 students from the classes of 2006-10. Here are some of its most compelling statistics:

Of students graduating betwen 2006 and 2010, only 53% are employed full-time (21% are attending graduate or professional school).

The median salary for students from the classes of 2009 and 2010 is $27,000 a year -- $3,000 less than that earned by their "pre-recession" counterparts from the classes of 2006 and 2007, who earned a median salary of $30,000 in their first jobs.

Students who did internships during the course of their degrees earn a median salary $6,680 higher than those who did not.

The difference between starting salaries for men and women is over $5,000, with men earning $33,150 and women $28,000.

39% of students from the classes of 2009 and 2010 earned "a lot less" than they expected in their first jobs (the figure for the classes of 2006 and 2007 is 28%).

Those with a regular salary earn over $10,000 more per year than those paid by the hour, whose median yearly pay is $25,000.

3/5 of graduates used "personal connections" when looking for a job (compared to less than 1 in 3 who used "college placement offices").

51% of graduates had found a job within two months of leaving college (nearly 30% had arranged employment before they graduated). 75% had found employment at the two-year mark.

Only 52% of graduates surveyed accepted jobs for which a four-year degree was required.

58% of graduates aged 22-25 "are receiving some form of financial support from their parents" (29% say their parents help pay for housing). Nearly a quarter say they still live with their parents.

58% say they were not well-prepared for the job search by their universities.

Among recession-era graduates (classes of 2009-10), 43% say they are "not working in the area they trained for."

48% of students who are "satisfied with their decision to attend college and graduate with a four-year degree" nonetheless say they would be "more careful" choosing a major if they were given another chance; 47% say, looking back, they should have "done more internships or worked part time."

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/05/19/graduate_employment_report/index.html

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The financial sector sucks up the Best & Brightest with starting salaries $75K+ and bonus, diverting the talent from productive jobs into bullshit casino that created the above disaster for college grads.

Halberto
05-20-2011, 10:59 AM
What a waste of time. Who is actually surprised by these statistics? It would be more interesting if they showed what majors are struggling for work.

jag
05-20-2011, 11:37 AM
What a waste of time. Who is actually surprised by these statistics? It would be more interesting if they showed what majors are struggling for work.

I don't think those stats would be very suprising either. It's not about just going to school, it's about what you actually learn while you're there.

I'm not sure why recent graduates with degrees in Entrepreneurship, Psychology, Art History or Sociology are surprised they are having difficulty finding work. Unless they get their Doctorate and go into research, they'll find themselves competing with tens of thousands of other people in their city with the same exact degrees.

Wild Cobra
05-20-2011, 11:39 AM
Supply and demand.

The excess of college educated vs. the jobs requiring the education make it cheaper for businesses to higher.

MannyIsGod
05-20-2011, 01:33 PM
Don't give a shit till I see the breakdown of majors. I feel no sympathy for the asshole who just spent 5 years getting a psychology undergrad, does not go to at least get a masters, and then complains about being umemployed.

scampers
05-20-2011, 01:36 PM
There's too many people getting liberal arts degrees and not nearly enough getting science degrees. And then, those who do get a science degree get it in Biology which is one of the worst possible you could get without moving to graduate school. This is what I've noticed at my University and among friends anyway.