Any parents out there who paid $200K+ for college, kid did great, and now can't find job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in government, and I was surprised to see people with humanities degrees from T30 universities taking positions in my division that I would have thought were "beneath" them, for lack of a better term. Or maybe "underemployed," to use yours.

A year later and they've moved into analyst and research positions.

Because humanities majors with just an undergrad degree aren't as marketable.

But with a few years work experience, they can prove themselves and ability to write and problem solve and move into better positions. They have to market themselves

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife graduated in 2010 with a degree in English from University of Virginia with ZERO experience and never had a job in her life. She took off one semester in her senior year and attended as many technology conferences as she could even though she knew nothing about technologies other than powering on/off her Apple macbook. Many of the conferences let her in free of charge, I guess because of her good look, and she made her "networking" there. At one of those conferences, she met my mother, who was an SES in the federal government at the time, over lunch and they quickly became friends. My now wife told my mother that she was looking for a job so my mother picked up the phone and called one of the government contractors that reported to her and asked them if they were willing to hire someone with an English major for technical writing documentation. They of course said yes and paid her a salary of 80K per year. When my mother left the government for the private sector, she took my now wife with her and promoted her to Technical Project Manager (TPM) and her salary went from 90K to 150K. I met my wife at my mother's Christmas party and the rest is history. My wife is now a SVP at a F500 company through one of my mother's friends. It is about connections. YMMV.

The point here is that technology companies need English majors too, not just Engineering and CS. OP's kid needs to go to technology conferences and meet people and it will definitely help. He/she only needs one person to say yes and go from there. Most of the time, it is the English major people that do well in technology companies. Someone needs to manage those tech people.

OP—

This is the post you should share with your child.

—DP

You mean to tell her that she can get a job through nepotism? What if nepotism does not work out?

Reading comprehension fail. OP's wife and mom were strangers when they met. OP's wife got her job through networking!

Sorry not OP, PP. But you know what I meant.

No, apparently you don't know what nepotism means. What OP Wife did was NETWORKING. It's something everyone needs to learn, especially LA/Humanities majors. It's how you find better jobs, more exciting positions that pay better than entry level grunt work.

[Anonymous]

Bottom line: social skills is what gets you jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in government, and I was surprised to see people with humanities degrees from T30 universities taking positions in my division that I would have thought were "beneath" them, for lack of a better term. Or maybe "underemployed," to use yours.

A year later and they've moved into analyst and research positions.

Because humanities majors with just an undergrad degree aren't as marketable.

But with a few years work experience, they can prove themselves and ability to write and problem solve and move into better positions. They have to market themselves

In other words they might have to be “underemployed” for a while

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most top colleges have really strong career centers, for every major, but you have to go to them, they're not coming to find you

Nah, when I was in grad school the jobs put posters with interview slots on the wall. I went downstairs and scheduled 4 back to back interviews. I got 4 solid job offers paying over 80k each, in 2005.

They put paper on the wall in 2005 and anyone just signed up? They didn't even do that in the 90s. There was screening. By 2005, recruiters were setting things up online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife graduated in 2010 with a degree in English from University of Virginia with ZERO experience and never had a job in her life. She took off one semester in her senior year and attended as many technology conferences as she could even though she knew nothing about technologies other than powering on/off her Apple macbook. Many of the conferences let her in free of charge, I guess because of her good look, and she made her "networking" there. At one of those conferences, she met my mother, who was an SES in the federal government at the time, over lunch and they quickly became friends. My now wife told my mother that she was looking for a job so my mother picked up the phone and called one of the government contractors that reported to her and asked them if they were willing to hire someone with an English major for technical writing documentation. They of course said yes and paid her a salary of 80K per year. When my mother left the government for the private sector, she took my now wife with her and promoted her to Technical Project Manager (TPM) and her salary went from 90K to 150K. I met my wife at my mother's Christmas party and the rest is history. My wife is now a SVP at a F500 company through one of my mother's friends. It is about connections. YMMV.

The point here is that technology companies need English majors too, not just Engineering and CS. OP's kid needs to go to technology conferences and meet people and it will definitely help. He/she only needs one person to say yes and go from there. Most of the time, it is the English major people that do well in technology companies. Someone needs to manage those tech people.

OP—

This is the post you should share with your child.

—DP

You mean to tell her that she can get a job through nepotism? What if nepotism does not work out?

How was it nepotism? The woman networked at a conference.

He met the woman at his mother's party AFTER all that happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Huh. No. We paid $55k (total, not per year) for my daughter's degree and she's had no issue finding well paying, full time employment. But we also thought about job prospects and that kind of thing BEFORE, y'know, signing the check and her picking a major. People who don't do the tiniest bit of legwork upfront on majors, job outlook, etc. and then act all "surprised Pikachu" face when they find out that, surprise surprise, their/their kid's expensive English degree doesn't just automatically result in offers for $70k jobs get no sympathy from me.

OP here. So grateful for all of the helpful suggestions and wisdom offered in this thread. In response to the poster I'm quoting here...There is another wrinkle to my kid's story. The kid is TUTORING online & in-person and making $60/$70 per hour and $70-$80K/year as a "temporary" gig. Kid is highly rated and really good at it. So this English major earns the money without having a boss and a commute...BUT...

TUTORING isn't a "real" job/career asset in the traditional sense that will be an investment for the long term, is it? That's the problem. It's not like building a career as a professor or an employee working for an institution. The kid makes as much or more than some full-time teachers or professors, reporters, CBS production assistants, etc! It's unexpected and a bit confusing. But kid gets tired of the prospecting/rainmaking of tutoring, sees it as temporary, and is having a challenging time getting a regular job with an institution for half the pay. Doesn't make sense does it?! It's a stumper. But isn't getting a real job best for the long term? What am I missing here? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife graduated in 2010 with a degree in English from University of Virginia with ZERO experience and never had a job in her life. She took off one semester in her senior year and attended as many technology conferences as she could even though she knew nothing about technologies other than powering on/off her Apple macbook. Many of the conferences let her in free of charge, I guess because of her good look, and she made her "networking" there. At one of those conferences, she met my mother, who was an SES in the federal government at the time, over lunch and they quickly became friends. My now wife told my mother that she was looking for a job so my mother picked up the phone and called one of the government contractors that reported to her and asked them if they were willing to hire someone with an English major for technical writing documentation. They of course said yes and paid her a salary of 80K per year. When my mother left the government for the private sector, she took my now wife with her and promoted her to Technical Project Manager (TPM) and her salary went from 90K to 150K. I met my wife at my mother's Christmas party and the rest is history. My wife is now a SVP at a F500 company through one of my mother's friends. It is about connections. YMMV.

The point here is that technology companies need English majors too, not just Engineering and CS. OP's kid needs to go to technology conferences and meet people and it will definitely help. He/she only needs one person to say yes and go from there. Most of the time, it is the English major people that do well in technology companies. Someone needs to manage those tech people.

OP—

This is the post you should share with your child.

—DP

You mean to tell her that she can get a job through nepotism? What if nepotism does not work out?

The post was not about nepotism but NETWORKING.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife graduated in 2010 with a degree in English from University of Virginia with ZERO experience and never had a job in her life. She took off one semester in her senior year and attended as many technology conferences as she could even though she knew nothing about technologies other than powering on/off her Apple macbook. Many of the conferences let her in free of charge, I guess because of her good look, and she made her "networking" there. At one of those conferences, she met my mother, who was an SES in the federal government at the time, over lunch and they quickly became friends. My now wife told my mother that she was looking for a job so my mother picked up the phone and called one of the government contractors that reported to her and asked them if they were willing to hire someone with an English major for technical writing documentation. They of course said yes and paid her a salary of 80K per year. When my mother left the government for the private sector, she took my now wife with her and promoted her to Technical Project Manager (TPM) and her salary went from 90K to 150K. I met my wife at my mother's Christmas party and the rest is history. My wife is now a SVP at a F500 company through one of my mother's friends. It is about connections. YMMV.

The point here is that technology companies need English majors too, not just Engineering and CS. OP's kid needs to go to technology conferences and meet people and it will definitely help. He/she only needs one person to say yes and go from there. Most of the time, it is the English major people that do well in technology companies. Someone needs to manage those tech people.

OP—

This is the post you should share with your child.

—DP

You mean to tell her that she can get a job through nepotism? What if nepotism does not work out?

Reading comprehension fail. OP's wife and mom were strangers when they met. OP's wife got her job through networking!

Sorry not OP, PP. But you know what I meant.

What did you mean?

Networking is how people get jobs throughout their careers. It’s how everyone I know has moved up.

[Anonymous]

Has your kid tried applying for federal government positions? It's not the most glamorous, but there are entry level positions where hiring managers would love to have someone who can communicate well. The training and on-the-job learning is often the easier part for a manger if they can get someone who is eager to learn, and put in the effort.

Check out the recent graduates programs: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/students/

You'll see a lot of engineering and science positions, but there's currently a writer-editor and program analyst position listed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh. No. We paid $55k (total, not per year) for my daughter's degree and she's had no issue finding well paying, full time employment. But we also thought about job prospects and that kind of thing BEFORE, y'know, signing the check and her picking a major. People who don't do the tiniest bit of legwork upfront on majors, job outlook, etc. and then act all "surprised Pikachu" face when they find out that, surprise surprise, their/their kid's expensive English degree doesn't just automatically result in offers for $70k jobs get no sympathy from me.

OP here. So grateful for all of the helpful suggestions and wisdom offered in this thread. In response to the poster I'm quoting here...There is another wrinkle to my kid's story. The kid is TUTORING online & in-person and making $60/$70 per hour and $70-$80K/year as a "temporary" gig. Kid is highly rated and really good at it. So this English major earns the money without having a boss and a commute...BUT...

TUTORING isn't a "real" job/career asset in the traditional sense that will be an investment for the long term, is it? That's the problem. It's not like building a career as a professor or an employee working for an institution. The kid makes as much or more than some full-time teachers or professors, reporters, CBS production assistants, etc! It's unexpected and a bit confusing. But kid gets tired of the prospecting/rainmaking of tutoring, sees it as temporary, and is having a challenging time getting a regular job with an institution for half the pay. Doesn't make sense does it?! It's a stumper. But isn't getting a real job best for the long term? What am I missing here? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Has she researched the parents of the kids she is tutoring? I wouldn't be surprised if some work in fields that may be of interest to her and hire English majors. If they think she is doing a good/great job with her kids, I don't see any reason she couldn't try to reach out to parents letting them know that tutoring is not her "career". Probably easiest if she is tutoring HS kids where there is a natural end to her tutoring of the kid.

That said, don't waste their time. She needs to have some vision of her future vs. having zero direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh. No. We paid $55k (total, not per year) for my daughter's degree and she's had no issue finding well paying, full time employment. But we also thought about job prospects and that kind of thing BEFORE, y'know, signing the check and her picking a major. People who don't do the tiniest bit of legwork upfront on majors, job outlook, etc. and then act all "surprised Pikachu" face when they find out that, surprise surprise, their/their kid's expensive English degree doesn't just automatically result in offers for $70k jobs get no sympathy from me.

OP here. So grateful for all of the helpful suggestions and wisdom offered in this thread. In response to the poster I'm quoting here...There is another wrinkle to my kid's story. The kid is TUTORING online & in-person and making $60/$70 per hour and $70-$80K/year as a "temporary" gig. Kid is highly rated and really good at it. So this English major earns the money without having a boss and a commute...BUT...

TUTORING isn't a "real" job/career asset in the traditional sense that will be an investment for the long term, is it? That's the problem. It's not like building a career as a professor or an employee working for an institution. The kid makes as much or more than some full-time teachers or professors, reporters, CBS production assistants, etc! It's unexpected and a bit confusing. But kid gets tired of the prospecting/rainmaking of tutoring, sees it as temporary, and is having a challenging time getting a regular job with an institution for half the pay. Doesn't make sense does it?! It's a stumper. But isn't getting a real job best for the long term? What am I missing here? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Has she researched the parents of the kids she is tutoring? I wouldn't be surprised if some work in fields that may be of interest to her and hire English majors. If they think she is doing a good/great job with her kids, I don't see any reason she couldn't try to reach out to parents letting them know that tutoring is not her "career". Probably easiest if she is tutoring HS kids where there is a natural end to her tutoring of the kid.

That said, don't waste their time. She needs to have some vision of her future vs. having zero direction.

Why doesn't your kid look to open a tutoring business then? They could develop a marketing plan and social media posts, and use that to demonstrate success to future employers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh. No. We paid $55k (total, not per year) for my daughter's degree and she's had no issue finding well paying, full time employment. But we also thought about job prospects and that kind of thing BEFORE, y'know, signing the check and her picking a major. People who don't do the tiniest bit of legwork upfront on majors, job outlook, etc. and then act all "surprised Pikachu" face when they find out that, surprise surprise, their/their kid's expensive English degree doesn't just automatically result in offers for $70k jobs get no sympathy from me.

OP here. So grateful for all of the helpful suggestions and wisdom offered in this thread. In response to the poster I'm quoting here...There is another wrinkle to my kid's story. The kid is TUTORING online & in-person and making $60/$70 per hour and $70-$80K/year as a "temporary" gig. Kid is highly rated and really good at it. So this English major earns the money without having a boss and a commute...BUT...

TUTORING isn't a "real" job/career asset in the traditional sense that will be an investment for the long term, is it? That's the problem. It's not like building a career as a professor or an employee working for an institution. The kid makes as much or more than some full-time teachers or professors, reporters, CBS production assistants, etc! It's unexpected and a bit confusing. But kid gets tired of the prospecting/rainmaking of tutoring, sees it as temporary, and is having a challenging time getting a regular job with an institution for half the pay. Doesn't make sense does it?! It's a stumper. But isn't getting a real job best for the long term? What am I missing here? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I believe it was mentioned earlier, but why not go into public school teaching? Your daughter obviously likes it and is good at it. In all the large MD counties, starting teacher pay right out of college with a bachelor's is near $60k, with rapid salary increases, great benefits, and summers off. Unlimited advancement opportunities to move into "management" as an assistant principal, then principal, or in the central office. And she can still do tutoring after school and on weekends. The world needs great teachers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh. No. We paid $55k (total, not per year) for my daughter's degree and she's had no issue finding well paying, full time employment. But we also thought about job prospects and that kind of thing BEFORE, y'know, signing the check and her picking a major. People who don't do the tiniest bit of legwork upfront on majors, job outlook, etc. and then act all "surprised Pikachu" face when they find out that, surprise surprise, their/their kid's expensive English degree doesn't just automatically result in offers for $70k jobs get no sympathy from me.

OP here. So grateful for all of the helpful suggestions and wisdom offered in this thread. In response to the poster I'm quoting here...There is another wrinkle to my kid's story. The kid is TUTORING online & in-person and making $60/$70 per hour and $70-$80K/year as a "temporary" gig. Kid is highly rated and really good at it. So this English major earns the money without having a boss and a commute...BUT...

TUTORING isn't a "real" job/career asset in the traditional sense that will be an investment for the long term, is it? That's the problem. It's not like building a career as a professor or an employee working for an institution. The kid makes as much or more than some full-time teachers or professors, reporters, CBS production assistants, etc! It's unexpected and a bit confusing. But kid gets tired of the prospecting/rainmaking of tutoring, sees it as temporary, and is having a challenging time getting a regular job with an institution for half the pay. Doesn't make sense does it?! It's a stumper. But isn't getting a real job best for the long term? What am I missing here? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Well entry level jobs for writers are notoriously low paying. That is something your child should have anticipated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Define underemployed.
English major here but I graduated before the publishing industry was decimated which helped me. Always worked in tech-related writing, initially for technology trade publications and later in competitive intelligence for the tech industry.
Great field but not easy.
I would not recommend the major today unless the student wants to write or teach. Or pick a second major (e.g. something business-related).

40 years ago I majored in Psychology but minored in Business, because I knew I would face to parlay my degree into a paycheck.