College Grads Buried in Student Loan Debt, but Unwilling to Give Up Luxuries

Well, I can speak Chinese (was my major), have excellent communication skills, pretty decent work experience, and I am virtually unhireable. I don't know what these "young" people are doing right, but I never got the memo. This country and economy are total dog (*)(*)(*)(*) compared to what they used to be. All I want is to LEAVE and never come back, but I can't find a job, of any kind, to get some income coming in.

I just went through 5 pages of craigslist ads, and I am unqualified for every single position. In the modern economy, you better have the same damn job throughout your life, or you are absolutely screwed. My resume is fine, I have decent experience, my skills indicate very high general ability, and I simply cannot find work. I've tried temp agencies, warehousing, food service, and none of them call me back or send me an email.

I agree with everything you said in the second paragraph. Unfortunately, America is now a joke of a country.

 

Japan is putting an end to degrees than end in "studies." The reasoning is how much the government now is paying for education and it shouldn't pay that kind of money for college educations that do not clear provide a social benefit.

"A June 8 letter from Hakubun Shimomura, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, to all of Japan’s 86 national universities and all of the nation’s higher education organizations asks them to take “active steps to abolish [social science and humanities] organizations or to convert them to serve areas that better meet society’s needs.” The call focuses on undergraduate departments and graduate programs that train teachers, and includes the areas of law and economics."

To back up the request – which was made “in the light of the decrease of the university-age population, the demand for human resources and the quality control of research and teaching institutions and the function of national universities” – the ministry pointed to the financial support it provides the schools in the coming fiscal year.

This focus on bending universities to serve “areas which have strong needs” (and the implication that social science and humanities can’t help in that regard) are of a piece with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic ideas, or ‘Abenomics,’ that focus resolutely on direct and immediate industrial and employment benefits, argues an editorial in The Japan Times.


http://www.socialsciencespace.com/2...ry-says-to-axe-social-science-and-humanities/

Why should taxpayers pay for someone to learn Asian philosophy or political correctness?

 

A billion people know Chinese and probably a hundred million of them also know Chinese. So what do you think that is a notable job skill?

Learning - of itself - has NO value to anyone else. The question is learning skills and obtaining abilities that other people need someone for.

 

But ability does. This EXTREMELY over-inflated emphasis on credentials is one of the dumbest things that has ever happened to society. A person with an IQ of 130 is simply better than someone with an IQ of 110, in terms of their ability to learn and understand what is going on in the workplace. The vast majority of jobs can be learned on the spot. Unfortunately, the SCOTUS has banned the use of aptitude testing in employment, so they have to use these silly signaling devices we now call degrees. If many of these employers were halfway intelligent, they might realize that they should place a premium on people who are smart, as opposed to those who simply have a little "experience."

So I shouldn't be able to find work anywhere? Is this how the economy works now? Is my skill-set so bad as to warrant being unemployed, indefinitely?

 

and young people should be furious, that they are all suckers for the ideological hacks who are telling them to take out these loans they can never get rid of that will weigh them down for decades to come... but to take this approach "lets blame old people" is silly, because there are a tremendous number of young people who are pushing this ideology that is causing the very problems they then complain about, so this is not the "fault" of old people, young people are pushing the SAME ideology causing this...

the way to solve this isn't to make it "free" or make someone else pay for it... the ONLY solution for this is to go back to what it did "back in the day" educate people and not chase prestige and amenities... going back to just providing education instead of all the frivolous classes and waste of money, a university would cost a third what it does... making it more affordable is the correct solution, but in order to do that it means they will have to forego the ivy league and country club experience they now think universities always have been... they NEVER have been that way until we made the money "guaranteed" and allowed it to flow into these universities who wanted to compete for it, they added amenity after amenity to where they now duplicate amenities numerous times across a campus as it sprawls and consumes the cities they are in... and students are taken on tours to tout and brag about all of it, in order to get them to commit and give all that guaranteed money to the university exploiting them...

thats the only way we solve this, by taking a huge axe to the amenities and waste at universities... I mean if a university can't give you the pre-reqs you need in your FIRST year, and knows they can hold that over your head and make you take all these filler junk classes just to exploit an entire years worth of loans out of you, its shameful... anyone school who doesn't give pre-reqs the first year, should lose ALL federal and state funding until they resolve that problem, so students can graduate early or on time... this entire topic just pisses me off, and your attempt to pass blame is even more annoying, because you're still dismissing the REAL problems, by finding someone else to blame, as if young people aren't playing a critical role in perpetrating this scenario and keeping it alive... but hey, if keeping classes like "soap operas and the impact it has on womens rights" is really THAT important to you, perhaps you can afford to keep paying for your ideology and point fingers at others...

 

Sadly, what were you thinking when you majored in a foreign language? You basically limited yourself to an interpreter or very specific teacher. I'm not surprised you're having trouble finding a job. What were you thinking? A friend of a friend grew up obsessed(borderline fetish) with Japanese culture and ended up moving there and has taught English for quite a while. No idea how well he does but he went where the jobs were.

Or is this all a joke because you just fit the exact stereotype or the naive student with a semi-worthless degree.

Chinese + Business on the other hand would probably be golden.


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But what good are you to a marketing dept, finance team, sales office, unless they have a Chinese foreign component? Most HR reps will look at Chinese and think WTF? Only a Chinese company that hs an office in the states would care. Look there.


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The young people are doing exactly what their parents and most of society told them to do. Employers would rather hire someone with a feminist studies degree than someone with work experience and demonstrated ability--that is actually the world we live in. If you don't believe me, go look at job listings and note how many of them are not jobs that should require a degree but do because they can. A 22-year-old know-nothing with a degree gets a job before someone with work experience and evident ability to do the job. I wonder how many people on this very forum have or will tell their children to "get a degree," no matter what. I bet it is the majority.

I completely agree with your last two paragraphs, but you have to realize that employers are culpable as well. It's not as if they are stepping up to the plate and asking themselves if they really need someone with a degree to do the job--they are requiring degrees for all sorts of nonsense. I have 100 college credits that are worth nothing because I don't have the degree, despite the fact that I have good job experience and a demonstrated ability to think at a high level. Because most of these (*)(*)(*)(*)heads who work in HR were pampered little kids themselves, they assume that not completing college means one is dumb or has other issues, instead of the very common problem of having financial difficulties while in school.

This entire situation was created by baby boomers, and it simply isn't the fault of the young. In terms of the work required to get a degree, even in feminist studies, the young are jumping through more hoops than the older generations had to. Do you know how much of a joke it is to be able to get a job out of high school and end with a good career in management? That is EASY, and yet the baby boomers like to talk about how bad-ass they are. Really, they are the most privileged generation in the history of the country. We are not the pampered ones, they are.

The economy is in the (*)(*)(*)(*)ter and will continue to be there for many people. No amount of training, even in "useful" areas, will change that because the reality is that there aren't that many good jobs to go around. We are stuck in a situation where there are too many people chasing too few jobs.

Whatever solution our stupid country comes up with, I am sure it will constitute yet another financial barrier to entry, just as we currently have, and most people who aren't fortunate enough to grow up middle-class will get shafted. Oh, and we will continue to ban IQ testing in employment, just to make sure we value money over merit.

 

My original track was law, and I was double majoring in economics and Chinese. I was also considering the federal government, but apparently I am ineligible to work for them (I discovered that, conclusively, after I was already committed). Teaching would be an option, if I had the degree and certification. I MIGHT be able to get by without the degree, but it is much riskier and by no means guaranteed. The certification is $2500. Considering the fact that I will be homeless in a matter of weeks, I am in no position to go back to school or get this certification.

That is what is so stupid about the current system. A (*)(*)(*)(*)ing marketing degree? Chinese is about ten times harder than any of the subjects you mentioned. I can learn how to do just about anything quite quickly. There are very few jobs I couldn't learn on the job in short order. Sorry, but the average idiot getting a business degree is hardly more qualified than I am. This is the logic of the current marketplace. Our people are so *******n stupid that they place no premium on thinking ability, only credentials.

All I know is that I am becoming more unhinged every day, and I will go to jail before I am homeless, which is imminent.

 

I put myself through college and finished debt free. Of course, I had to go into the military to do it, but it was a good experience for me and would do it again if I were in the same situation.

My little brother finished school in 4 years with a double major in Business and Education with a soccer scholarship and some student loans. He has paid them off and has his Masters now. He has been teaching economics and business software in our old high school since he was 21. He is 46.

My brother and I both gave up a lot of luxuries to finish college. It wasn't easy, but it was doable and I don't see why kids today can't do the same. My 22 year old has 2 years of college under his belt and is in the USAF. He's doing what his old man did to succeed. He is taking classes even while he is deployed to the middle East.

 

Not everyone grows up with such a clear path to success. The military is a HUGE advantage that is not always available. Numerous other factors go into it. Your son benefited tremendously simply by having a father--men who grow up without fathers are at a massive disadvantage. I don't ever expect conservatives to understand that hard work and ability don't always pay off, but it is true. Millions of people die in obscurity every year with no chance in hell--they did not fail because they lacked work ethic. Simply living in America versus Africa is luck. Having money growing up is luck. Having two parents is luck, and the list goes on and on.

It's also a myth that college students and grads are just swimming in luxuries. I'm not sure where this idea comes from, but it isn't true.

 

Food for thought. After graduating with a degree you look for a job in your chosen field and find your salary is so low Your loan payment Is more than your monthly salary. So true for many. Ginne Mae won't adjust your payment and the federal laws were changed so that school loan debt isn't included in bankruptcy, one of the only debts not included. So what are your options? There are none. Look it up, google it. The interest on the loan has increased the principle balance while you are a student and not required to make loan payments. You graduate and more than the amount you borrowed and unless your degree affords you a high paying job, your payment is so high you have difficulty paying it. What a crock. This is why we as parents Charged our kids semester tuition. Making monthly payments and paying the balance off at the end of the semester. Not all parents can do this, but please don't let your kids take out loans they will have difficulty paying back. Send therm to junior college for their first two years if need be.

 

Yup. I'll be in default within 60 days and pretty much resigned to never owning a home, having a retirement account, or owning a reliable vehicle. One thing I wish I'd understood in my twenties is that not all years are equal. If you don't build the foundation by the time you are 30 you will never get there--at least not any reasonable approximation of a good life. The biggest mistake I ever made was going to college. I learned a lot of useless information and wasted away as a human being.

I suggest people without support of any kind should avoid college and try starting a business of some sort.

 

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are you sure you're marketing yourself correctly, having a foreign language degree for china is practically a golden ticket in business... are you limiting yourself to certain types of jobs, because on the west coast and east coast in many industries they are desperate for qualified translators, especially if they also have a BA or MBA or experience in that, as many companies are attempting to crack the chinese market and find it daunting to do on their own since they can't find enough people who can translate, so they instead end up hiring chinese firms who specialize in assisting american companies trying to break into those markets, because they learned english...

P.S. if craigslist, is the source you're using for job search, you're likely never to find work for a chinese interpreter... you should be mailing your resume and getting on the phone with headhunters who specialize in skilled trades that are very uncommon, like chinese translation... they usually charge us big bucks to get people for temporary work, like I have hire din the past for year or two projects in other countries, mostly trying to crack india at my latter stages in life, but thats a whole other beast for different reasons and government issues, some which correlate to the chinese government, but thats why we end paying hundreds of thousands for their guys fulltime...

P.S. heck have you ever tried getting hired by the UN or other government organizations that simply follow rosters once approved...

https://careers.un.org/lbw/home.aspx?viewtype=LE

 

My Chinese is not yet at the level where I can translate for a company in an official capacity--I'm probably two years away from being that good. If I had to guess, I'd say I need about a year in China and another year of studying on my own to get to the point where I could be really useful in a business capacity (that is very high level Chinese, and there aren't many non-heritage blondies like myself who can do it). I can, however, communicate using written Chinese and converse fluently in normal conversation. I could translate a high-level document if I had to, but it would be slow and nothing like what a real translator can do--the difficulty of Chinese is hard to explain, and it isn't something that can be learned without considerable time spent in China using the language, constantly.

My main issue is the lack of the degree and time out of the workforce. I'm also not in a position to look for jobs outside the city--I am in extremely bad financial shape. My refined goal was to get certification, teach in China for a bit, save up, and either start a small business or do something like you suggested... Things have not worked out as I originally planned. Four months ago, I thought I'd be well on my way to China by now, but I can't seem to find anything. I've been to three temp agencies, and I am getting nothing. I am not disfigured (lol), interview very well, come off as competent, and it has not been enough. Right now, I am selling my books, writing essays for college students, and living on the charity of my friends to get by. I would temporarily work for free just to prove my worth if I could, but that isn't legal! I HAVE to find a job within the week, or I'm up (*)(*)(*)(*) creek.

 

wait I thought you just got done saying you had a degree in this language... I'm well aware of how difficult this language is, I've been given enough prep work for my travels over the decades in order to greet businessmen we were making dealings with, except throughout asia, where I stumbled like a bad movie to netflix without a dvd release... so you don't have a degree after all? so that whole story is in question now? hmmm, well I guess that changes some things...

well, so I guess your resume becomes your problem now, so you need to pad it, you need to create it from actual experiences, and with a lack of credentials you're going to be hard pressed to get something of worthy notation to a possible paying employer... have you considered a route I suggest to many unemployed people, volunteering... a quick google search came up with countless people seeking volunteers to translate things for them, you could then use them in an official capacity as "proof of concept" in your skills and knowledge, as well as help gain experience yourself... I usually tell people to volunteer at local animal shelters just to show they've been active and contributing something, despite receiving no compensation, it REALLY fills a void in an application and shows content of your character...

so, consider finding unique volunteer opportunities testing your knowledge and skill, and using that to build a professional resume, after all, paying gigs aren't the only things you can put on a resume, its about demonstrating your abilities, proving your accomplishments in this specific unique field, and giving them a reason to let you in the door... should you be unable to find local or online methods in which to use your skill, if you're in a sizable town, consider approaching non-profits who work with the poor, or see if there is a relatively local chinese community organization, which would not only benefit from your ability to help people fill forms out, or translate things for them, as well as give you a DIRECT connection to people whos first language is what you seek to translate and could engage in conversations well beyond what you would experience otherwise, and once again, its another padding of the resume showing your connection to a community organization while practicing your skill...

there are always options and choices in life, sometimes they won't be a google search away or a craiglist ad, seek them out and look to develop them yourself... language can become a commodity and business, if you turn it into one where none currently exist or compete... don't wait for someone to give you a chance, make your own!

 

Lol I wasn't trying to lie. I had about a 100 credits and two semesters remaining, then I left; that being said, my Chinese is actually MUCH better than the average graduate with a degree in Chinese. Yes, that extra two semesters is the difference between penury and access to a subsistence level wage. given how stupid many of the college graduates I know are, I'll never stop marveling at why that credential is so important to people, but it is.

The volunteering recommendation is a very good idea that I will definitely pursue as soon as I'm in a position to even participate in volunteer work. Thanks for the advice--I've never even heard of that strategy, but it is a really good one.

 

Of course you can learn on the job, but why should the employer invest time teaching you what plenty of others already know? That's the rub. That's what college is for, to get the basics and foundation out of the way. Unless you can prove in an interview that passing on you is the worst mistake they could make, what motivation do they have to start steps behind when they don't have to? Chinese simply isn't transferable to any other job unless it's combined with another skill.

Your situation sounds familiar but sorry to say it was probably not the greatest choice. Much like taking African Studies doesn't prepare you for much. How hard any of it is to learn is completely irrelevant.




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While all of that is true, many kids make their lives much more difficult by getting in trouble with the law, pregnancy, or drugs.

Having parents is the biggest advantage I can think of. I saw my parents start with nothing and my mom went to school and finished her degree after my brother and I left home. Dad was self employed and worked me as a kid in his construction crew. He got cheap labor and I got spending money and learned to work.

 

Would you qualify for the military? They look at criminal background, financial background, and would have to do a top secret security background check. My oldest went in to be a linguist. They hosed him and he is doing a different job, but already speaking Chinese is a huge plus and they had a $16k signing bonus for when you complete the language school. My dad's cousin was a linguist for the Air Force and he speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. He is a sharp guy and his kids are well rounded. One of them is a federal agent.

 

Well said. I wish others would realize how important this is and stop simplifying things so much.

I can't join the military because of my juvenile record, though I really wanted to.

Unfortunately, the entire perception of juvenile records being sealed or destroyed is false, and I wish more people were aware of this.

 

I don't blame college grads from viewing that their student loan obligations is a low priority. Our taxes fund every college in the U.S. so it is a rip off that they even charge in the first place. The fact is college has increased tuition to the point that the cost does not produce the outcome for which they can reasonable payback is criminal extortion.

 

if you're that close to the degree and can already demonstrate the skills and abilities required likely for the final classes, there are organizations out there depending on your age that might shoulder the brunt of the cost for you to finish the degree since you were not able to, as well as many unknown programs that universities around the nation provide for just such cases, it will take a lot of personal investigation and digging around and playing phone tag and being passed to countless people within each university since most front-line folks will not know the programs exist or who to transfer you to... but thats also another route to consider if you're that close and skilled...

so in addition to the volunteer work, you also have the opportunity to lean on charitable organizations yourself who might be impressed you're doing volunteer work in the field to demonstrate your passion and desires to make it a reality, which might encourage them to press upon their connections at universities that might be able to pull strings or awards merit scholarships for community work... there is a lot of help out there if you're willing to impress upon them your desires to finish and complete what you started as well as put it to beneficial use for the community... start pulling strings and knocking on doors, there are more free programs for all sorts of situations most people simply don't know about, because its never been a large program, or something that is widely used by most people, but there are programs for those who didn't finish...

P.S. I'm trying to recall off the top of my head the government program that takes people in their 30s and sends them back for "re-education" or sometimes you can plead your case and they send you back to finish a degree you're almost complete on... I'm not sure I donate to so many things its hard to keep them straight but I know its out there, it might vary state by state but it was funded by federal dollars when the university was pitching me to contribute to it since we had a local town lose their auto production facilities... look for it...

 

javis you are really correct most of the books are really stupdily priced like the publisher is in need to pay his Mortgage. Most of the students can't afford the price to buy a new Text book for the reference. Most of them depends of the library books.