Post Grad Employment Blues

“Will analyze postwar European literature for food!”

Graduation time approaches, and for many the outlook is uncertain, to say the least.

Yale research says that students who graduate into a recession are likely to continue to face the negative effects from that recession, including higher unemployment and lower incomes, in some cases even 15 years after graduation.   USNews Money Page

I graduated from a state university in 1987 with a degree in video production and an English minor. I searched around and found a video editor job for $10 an hour, and thought I had MADE IT! I struggled to make it in the big city (of Cincinnati!) I had good times and bad, always had to decide between which bills I would actually pay this month, etc. Times were tight, but I never said to myself, “This isn’t FAIR!”

But that’s just me. 1987 was a pretty good time to graduate from college. But I very much remember my high school commencement speaker saying, in 1982, “Times are hard. There are no jobs!” So, I may or may not have an idea of what grads are going through these days. The stuff I read is that new grads are facing 50% unemployment. The stuff I hear at Starbuck’s is, basically, “I have a degree, and they don’t want to make me management the first day and pay me $60K a year, which is BOGUS!!” And I ask myself, “Do kids still say bogus?”

Anyway, read the article noted above. It talks about post-grad expectations – students’ and parents’ – and how those can be so very different. Check it out.  And let us know… are you a recent or impending grad? Is your kid one? What do you see? What are your expectations? Let us know!

Cinco de MindField Update: a $50.00 winner has been selected. We are waiting for confirmation and we will announce soon!