Jobless grads: What they would've done differently

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(MoneyWatch) The employment figures look bleak for recent college graduates.

According to a new survey from Rutgers University, only 51% of young grads have full-time employment and many are working at jobs that don't require a college degree. Another 20% are in a graduate or professional school.

Students who graduated in 2009 or later are earning a median salary of just $27,000. That's $3,000 less than students who earned their degree before the recession. With an oversupply of eager young workers, employers can afford to be chintzy. Only 37% of employed grads were earning a salary at their first job while nearly all the rest have worked for hourly wages.

Advice from college grads

How can current college students avoid the fate of so many recent grads?

When asked what they would have done different, 29% of grads in the Rutgers survey said they would have pursued more internships or worked part-time in college. Students who completed at least one internship earned a salary that was nearly 15% higher. Sixty five percent of students who completed internships said college prepared them either extremely well or did a pretty good job in preparing them to get a job, compared with 44% of those who did not intern.

Twenty four percent of grads would have started looking for a job much sooner while they were still in college. Thirty seven percent of grads said they would have been more careful about selecting their majors or would have chosen a different one.

Among grads who would have picked different majors, here are the ones they favored:

Tellingly, only 23% of grads believe they can have a successful career with just a bachelor's degree. Nearly two-thirds think they will need additional education or have already gone back to school.

[1stlttightwad]

The best thing the current college grads could have done is not fall for the Obama hype 3 1/2 years ago..Hopefully they will not make the same mistake twice and remember that Obama hates people being too successful and demonizes the very businesses that the grads need to hire them. From everything I read on many news sources is that the grads have indeed wised up and will no longer support Obama.

[warrottjr]

I graduated with a batchelor with honors in 1981. I had a black mark on my record and was worried that no one would hire me. So I started going to the campus placement office in my junior year. I took the job search as seriously as graduating. The placement office gave me a lot of training for looking for a professional job, including videotapes mock interviews and critiques. Then when I started my senior year, I signed up for campus interviews with every company which might hire my major. I went to 60 campus interviews. From the 60 campus interviews, I received 12 follow-up plant trips for a second round of interviews. From the 12 plant trips, I received six offers. My first offer was from the Patent Office. I said to myself: "Thank G-d I got a job!" I actually went to work for Shell Oil with the second-highest starting salary in my class.

[nohater]

you need a good masters degree in a good field to be competitive. with just a 4 year degree others will pass you up in no time. who would you hire a 4 year degree in business, computer science or an mba, masters in a good field? get into the best university you can qualify for and avoid for profit colleges, univerities.

[hypnotoad72]

And the desire to work for 50 cents an hour with no vacation time, sick time, long hours, unreasonable/inhumane conditions and quotas, etc...

But anyone who says "unions have too much power" are right. They do. I also looked at the calendar and noticed it is not 1975 anymore back when unions had far more people and influence, and even I would agree they did have too much power... but things have swung too far in the opposite direction and unions are still lambasted, despite their very small presence in 2012...

[vernique3]

Capitalism is an excellent economic system for corporations and the wealthy but sucks for the workers.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

Agreed. However, modify it a little -- a la Social Democracy -- and you've got a win/win situation for everyone.

[hypnotoad72]

"Those who own the gold define its value".

Replace "gold" with "jobs" (and then watch as they spin to make scapegoats that serve solely their purposes...)

Or any other word, for that example...

I'm not against capitalism, but I am definitely not a fan of corporatism (plutocracy/oligarchy).

[hypnotoad72]

So many in STEM despite it all...



Pathetic.

And, in any civilized society, there is no such thing as a wasted course... still, what we value as a society speaks for itself: Cheap labor and pirating patents. Anyone who wants to disagree with me simply hasn't bothered to do their research yet...

And anyone knows that one can have an educated public or an uneducated one - it's wages that determine prosperity and, oh, the value OF the labor done... people say workers are sloppy, wasteful, and lazy, but nobody looks at those who MAKE the rules...

Obama claimed we need more educated people, especially in STEM:

http://techcrunch.com/2007/11/26/qa-with-senator-barack-obama-on-key-technology-issues/

Romney would rather say he won't put money in peoples' pockets and loves to fire. (Look it up, don't be lazy)

One helps the country and the other doesn't.

I'm far more inclined to side with Obama, despite no longer being so enthusiastic. He's spent much of his time compromising, long after his "opposition" kept saying they want him out, etc. Usually it's better to work with who will work with you and not work with people who would stab your back the moment you turn it.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

Obama's better than Romney, but Buddy Roemer is better than both. Vote for Buddy.

[hypnotoad72]

KnowerseekerReturns -

I glanced at Buddy's beliefs - seems to be good, but I need to know more. That aside, I won't disagree with your post, certainly regarding the pecking order between Romney and Obama there...

[inletbeach]

It is the educators' fault for making up courses and majors that have no economic value. Industry makes goods and services that people want to buy. That is where the jobs are, always have been, and always will be. Teaching Shakespeare has no economic value in the internet age. Information is now free to all who know where to look, and not by sitting in a classroom taking notes and tests. Learn a useful skill.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

"Teaching Shakespeare has no economic value in the internet age." -- Never thought about it that way before.

[hypnotoad72]

Tell that to Christine O'Donnell:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/03/christine-odonnell-tea-pa_2_n_705050.html

That degree in English won't get her as far as her media exposure otherwise would...

Also, how do YOU define "useful skill" and assuming we agree (maybe we will) I might have information (with cited references) that would prove you wrong despite it all? I mean, we're told we need more people in IT field, but we have more unemployed IT people than we do H1B imports... (computerworld.com) So much for the IT field...

[Martha12345]

All those Music History majors are sucking butter milk about now.

[hypnotoad72]

Laugh all you want, but one way or another you will be affected. You won't be laughing then.

Or don't you understand basic Christian values of compassion, forgiveness, etc?