When you graduated college, did most of your friends get jobs straight away?

[Anonymous]

Suprise, those that majored in idiot degrees aren't getting enjoyment opportunities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Suprise, those that majored in idiot degrees aren't getting enjoyment opportunities

employment

[Anonymous]

2002 grad. I would say 65% went onto professional jobs, and about 20% went to law school. I personally didn't have anything lined up, and ended up bartending for a year. Started my professional career in 2003 in a sales job (English Lit grad).

[Anonymous]

2003 - I was already temping, didn't have a job. Some of my friends even with practical degrees (computer programming, etc) didn't find jobs right away.

[Anonymous]

1983- I didn't know anyone who didn't either have a jib or a grad school acceptance upon graduation.

[Anonymous]

Job

[Anonymous]

Yes, when I graduated in 1987, my friends and I all had jobs lined up. We were earning salaries in the low $20k's, but were able to live pretty well on that amount, and without any help from our parents. We all were expected to fend for ourselves at that point, and as a result, really appreciated everything we had because we had to work to earn it.

Most of my friends who were also in the IT field started their careers and then went back for MBA's a few years later, because of the financial assistance their employers would provide toward the degree.

[Anonymous]

When I graduated from a top 10 law school in 1986, everyone other than the bottom few had jobs lined up. Most of us in the top half of the class had no trouble getting jobs from big law firms. This was a few years before the ridiculously high 150k starting salaries for associates, but getting a good job was pretty easy.

I now work at a top 10 law school, and the students there face much different circumstances. Most tell me they need to be in at least the top third to feel reasonably confident that they'll have a job upon graduation. The top students are doing very well, but being in the middle of the class is no longer a guarantee of job security. In some ways I do feel that our generation had it easier than the kids of today.

[Anonymous]

I graduated in 2000 and almost everyone I knew had a job lined up. I went into consulting and the base salary then was $50k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1996 grad - MIS degree from Business School. I had a ton of opportunities, and so did all of my friends.

Yes, those were amazing times. I remember hearing a radio ad for part-time workers at the local school cafeteria. A radio ad! I graduated in the late 70s into stagflation and then survived the dark recession of the early 80s. I always expected the job market to be bad so the 90s were a completely different world for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I graduated from a top 10 law school in 1986, everyone other than the bottom few had jobs lined up. Most of us in the top half of the class had no trouble getting jobs from big law firms. This was a few years before the ridiculously high 150k starting salaries for associates, but getting a good job was pretty easy.

I now work at a top 10 law school, and the students there face much different circumstances. Most tell me they need to be in at least the top third to feel reasonably confident that they'll have a job upon graduation. The top students are doing very well, but being in the middle of the class is no longer a guarantee of job security. In some ways I do feel that our generation had it easier than the kids of today.

While placement via on-campus recruitment has suffered at the top law schools, it has been eliminated at the lower-ranked schools. There are at least two dozen class actions pending concerning law school marketing and placement-disclosure practices, the ABA is hastily rushing to do the legal-minimum to shape up some of the reporting requirements, and the overwhelming majority of new law school grads have no prospect for law-related employment whatsoever. We all had it easy by comparison.

[Anonymous]

1983 grad of top liberal arts college. I eventually got a job that led to my current career. All my friends were employed in decent jobs, although perhaps not in their field. Most went on to graduate school in a few years. My first job paid $14,000/year. I worked as much overtime as I could and at a certain point of OT we got dinner and cab fare. That made a difference. But I lived pretty well - group house with cheap rent and main expenses were social activities.

[Anonymous]

I graduated under grad in 1990 and people had problems getting jobs. That is why I went to law school -- no job.

[Anonymous]

Suprise, those that majored in idiot degrees aren't getting enjoyment opportunities

I don't know; I might rather hire an art history major who can spell and punctuate than a business major who cannot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I graduated from a top 10 law school in 1986, everyone other than the bottom few had jobs lined up. Most of us in the top half of the class had no trouble getting jobs from big law firms. This was a few years before the ridiculously high 150k starting salaries for associates, but getting a good job was pretty easy.

I now work at a top 10 law school, and the students there face much different circumstances. Most tell me they need to be in at least the top third to feel reasonably confident that they'll have a job upon graduation. The top students are doing very well, but being in the middle of the class is no longer a guarantee of job security. In some ways I do feel that our generation had it easier than the kids of today.

While placement via on-campus recruitment has suffered at the top law schools, it has been eliminated at the lower-ranked schools. There are at least two dozen class actions pending concerning law school marketing and placement-disclosure practices, the ABA is hastily rushing to do the legal-minimum to shape up some of the reporting requirements, and the overwhelming majority of new law school grads have no prospect for law-related employment whatsoever. We all had it easy by comparison.

PP here. I know, I'd advise anyone pursuing a law degree nowadays to only go to a first tier law school, unless you're certain you'd be okay with hanging out a shingle to practice on your own straight out of passing the bar.