jim1986

Double Shot, I appreciate the advice. "Education is one thing; actually working is quite another. Working isn't just DOING shit, either--you have to have the right attitude and seem like a good fit in the current team dynamic" This is precisely why I, and many other thinkers are so upset with the system. Two authors of books I have read, Jeffrey J. Selingo and Anya Kamenetz point out the failure of higher education forcing a "One-Size-Fits-All" pathway onto students in terms of telling them that their particular education is the authoritative end all be all, without looking in the mirror and evaluating how well their curriculum keeps up with the demands of society. Additionally, the ASA posted a couple of articles that showed survey data which indicated that Sociology departments need to start addressing the issue of providing training and teaching of non-academic jobs to students. This may require some snobbery reduction and efforts to get people to realize their full potential by embracing ways to translate their academic disciplines into skills that may attract employers. For instance, someone with knowledge of how underlying statistics shape buying behavior in certain demographics could be quite valuable to people in market research. Instead of turning into bleeding heart liberals who want to change the world, let's enable people to help themselves FIRST, by earning good incomes. Now I'm rambling again. But the gist of my point is that this is why I think we need to attempt to have conversations about the future of higher education, and we need to do it with a higher sense of urgency than some of the professors at my Universities have had.

I did find the Adrian article interesting. It's part of a new consumer-based mindset movement taking places in terms of paying for education. It's too bad our society does not put more pressure on other institutions to do things like this. Hopefully, other universities will follow suit in efforts to be more competitive, and eventually the "College on credit" mentality will disappear because of better informed families making better decision. Sigh...if only I knew better when I was young. I guess I'll make sure to inform my future children not to fall prey like I did. That is, if I can ever afford children...

SuperMod, this is a very sociologically relevant topic. Please don't use my back round to put me down or insult my intelligence. As thinkers, we need to see certain issues as part of global nationwide problems that will affect our economy and society at large. Social conditioning, bad advice from counselors, and slick marketing tactics have lead many students down an academic path to nowhere. The alienation begins when many students graduate with a degree, and no job, only to move back in with mom and dad. Meanwhile, the alienation continues as they accept low wage jobs (like myself in retail) out of financial need to try to pay off extremely unfairly priced tuition. We've disenfranchised an entire generation of people by creating a generational gap between the baby boomers that got social security and retirements/pensions, and the millenials that got debt and low paying jobs. Since older people tend to vote more often (sadly young people don't do that enough), legislation designed to help students such as pell grants, loan refinancing, and what not, continue to get blocked. In the mid 2000's, the Feds tried to create a system that better informed students and their families about what was going on with students while in school and after they graduate but it was dismissed after intense lobbying by private colleges. Shocker. So what we ended up having was several institutions tout "Our graduates enjoy a mean income of $65,000 a year after graduating!" Instead of breaking it up by major, they just put up meaningless numbers to get people's money. This is deception. This is taking away the basic rights of people. Thomas Jefferson and Richard Nixon both said that noone should be barred from obtaining a rich education because of money. I don't see any efforts being made to adhere to these ideologies. The student loan bubble will burst, and once again send our nation into another recession. Not only that, but if something isn't done soon, we're going to have a lot of underemployed and unemployed people. These things can lead to family disputes/blaming, feelings of failure, hopelessness and alienation, depression, and in some cases, suicide. So please don't undermine what I believe to be the worst crises the United States stands to face in the next 25 years. Because this is a nationwide ponzi scheme.

By the way,I'm raising needed awareness about a relevant issue; blacks and women voters earned their rights by doing that as well. But it all started with complaining.

I'm going to channel my complaints into something constructive, as you all should do. Before this country collapses into chaos.

It was more like 170 now that I think about it. Still....100 isn't that many? Who on earth could have entered into this world during 80's prepared for such drastic changes, that they had zero control over? Does it not bother anyone else that the job market is so bad because we don't create enough labor, while at the same time, we make no efforts to control our ever growing population? Instead, we surround our youths with mixed messages: You NEED the next Iphone or tablet. You NEED an Xbox One. Our entire lives were engulfed in this. What about savings, retirement money, and transparency pertaining to student loans, and the job market in relation to the major we picked? Seriously, greed has taken over this country. I don't mind people making money, but there are some industries where it absolutely should never be the driving force, like healthcare and education. '

Sociology is considered a "Soft Science" definitely, but I think the job market being so bad is part of an overall societal ill. My dissertation will discuss strategies for looking at how liberal arts degrees are taught in other countries, and how they are implemented in such a way that talent and real world experiences manifest into transferable skills. Experience-based functional learning should address ways in which liberal arts majors can tap into their true potential by making use of what colleges SHOULD provide them with: connections with local communities and individuals in their field, internships, and more help crafting meaningful publications. By the way, I aim to make a few myself, since I'm so disgusted with this country throwing millenials under the bus. Liberal arts degree holders ARE valuable to our economy, we just need to put more funding and care into the programs (instead of building a lazy river like Boston University, or a Starbucks in the library like Bradley). Noone once talked about the differences in expected income/job prospects by major when I was at the young age of 18, so any implied blame on me in the above mentioned statements are to me, completely dissmissable. I agree that engineering and math majors enjoy better job outlooks after school, but come on, not everyone has the aptitude to do that. And in order to build up our EXTREMELY weak middle class again, we need to equip EVERYONE with the skills they need for success. Now, who is this professor I should speak with? Is he on this website? I don't go on here very often, so I am unfamiliar.

I've applied to over 100 employers for entry level quantitatve/qualitative research and interviewer positions and have only gotten one interview. One place expressed interest in me then said that my lack of project management would inevitably lead me to struggle. A little rude assuming that, especially considering that I was in school for 6.5 years doing just that! Applying to jobs other than research positions is what I consider to be an option. Today's youth is finding itself having to settle for things completely unrelated to their studies out of financial necessity, rather than career preference. It's sad really. I don't know a single person my age doing anything remotely related to their field except one person, who is enrolled in a PhD program. So trust me, I had a dream to get involved in human behavior or market research, but it never materialized. What a jip. I hope all the private institutions and banks end up getting the whistle blown on them for taking 18 year olds money and providing them nothing in the way of preparing them to be able to pay it all back. We need to call these people out. I held up my end of the bargain, now where is my job?

That's awesome. So I'm basically stuck between being overqualified for some entry level positions, and unqualified for others. Noone warned me about this when I was in college.

juju, A few things to say here, I'm still not sure what overqualified means. If someone has experience, wouldn't employers be happy to hire them? BTW I've been told by several employers that I lack the experience needed. And by that logic, wouldn't retailers reject me then? Secondly, I worked as a research assistant conducting secondary research pertaining to recidivism rate reduction by means of the wee ones live-in nursery program. I saw that you mentioned some non-profits work on achieving that. Any off the top of your head that you can think of specifically? I'd love to poke around that my area for an opportunity in that. Lastly, my ideal job would be in the field of social science research, be it qualitative or quantitative. I've applied for entry level interviewer, research assistant and research analyst positions but that dream never materialized. I admit that most of my research experience is rooted in academia (literature reviews and powerpoint presentations), so I've applied to University research opportunities but they never even interview me despite my qualifications.

It has been almost two years since I have graduated from the University of Indianapolis with a Master's Degree in Sociology and despite my efforts, I have been getting the same results. I have a BA in criminal justice as well, so I've been taking tests to move up in the app process for police departments, but I am not a good standardized test taker, so I keep failing the tests, or I score high, but not high enough to be considered for an interview. I feel embarrassed and ashamed when people from high school come into whatever retail store I end up temporarily working in and see me bagging items or running a register, while they probably are making good money and are married with a house. Even though my peers (especially in my generation) are not doing something directly related to their degree, they found SOMETHING. I seem to be stuck in retail. Despite my shortcummings, I still think that with my experience as a research assistant for an independent research firm, an RA for the University of Indianapolis conducting independent research, and office experience being an intern for a senator, and brief experience being an ethnographer for a market research company should all amount to a back round that would qualify me to become an administrative assistant at least right? Nope. Just the other day, I got shot down for a position doing that for a community college. The position was filled, without me even getting an interview. I feel like I was told by everyone to attend school, and to get as much experience as I could and that still isn't enough. I feel as though there was pressure put on me to aim high in terms of academia and complete my degrees, yet I was not afforded the resources needed to map out a long term perspective. There was no life coach there to help me carve out a career related to social science research methodology or criminal justice administration. There were no introductions made for me by professors as a way to make connections in major metropolitan areas. Career counselors proved useless in terms of advice, as they just told me to put my academic experience on my resume, which I later found out that employers don't care about. Does anyone have any advice for me? I feel like I'm in a rut, stuck in my parents house with no savings or retirement plan, and a ton of student loan debt. I feel like I have noone else to go to as far as career advice goes, and I can't figure out a way to gain valuable experience without going back to school AGAIN (btw I have applied for soc phd programs as a last resort for the fall of 2015).

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics can be useful for quick numeric answers, but sources like this can also often give you a generalized looking glass. I was hoping to gather some different personal experiences, since my personal experiences have not at all matched up with what I saw on that website. An open-ended view from multiple perspectives may help shed some light on my question here. Thank you for the link though.

I just heard some troubling news from NPR today. It seems that now, even bio-medical scientist students are now training for jobs that don't exist. What caught my attention was also the fact that it was one of the few articles NPR posted NOT related to campus rape haha. They mentioned that 50% of bio-medical science work is being done by students for free or very cheaply. I know this is not related to sociology, but I figured if bio-medical PhD holders have such a bleak job outlook, how bad is it going to look for Soc PhD holders? I'm planning on visiting UIC, UC, and probably a couple of other schools in Indiana or possibly Michigan with PhD programs in sociology. I don't have great GRE scores, but I do hold a Master's Degree in Applied Sociology, so I'm hoping that will weigh heavily into their decision to admit me or not. But before I commit to 5-7 more years of higher academia, I would like to get some people's two cents on the job outlook here. Since for whatever reason, we decided to cut so much funding in public schools, will it be hard to find Soc programs with good funding? And by that, I mean enough funding to get me the work experience I need to be marketable in the work force. Too much of my experience is rooted in academia, and at this point, I'm convinced that employers don't care about academic experience (for the most part at least). Should I just pursue a career in non-profit work or human services, or should I commit to the PhD idea? Let's be realistic here, will the outlook for a Soc PhD holder be any better than it currently is for this Soc Master's Degree holder? I'd appreciate your thoughts!

Just seeing if anyone else here besides myself has seen this documentary. It's pretty eye-opening and informative. Just wanted to get other people's opinions of it.

I posted an entry entitled "Alternatives to a Phd" and for whatever reason, only one person replied to it. I thought it would make sense to get people's opinions, and even helpful information pertaining to alternatives to putting yourself through 5-8 more years of school. You hear people talk about how bleak the job market can be, how higher education is such a gamble, and how many think it is a waste of time. I understand that it's important to having all the pros and cons of life decisions, but I'm really no longer interested in what NOT to consider for a career. Alternatives to obtaining an undergraduate degree is typically seen as vocational/trade school, or moving your way up in food service or retail. But those of us who have a bit more education only find information about getting more education. Is this just the typical "Oh well" mentality, in which complacency takes over, instead of problem solving? Doesn't anyone have a say in regards to what people with Master's Degrees can/should consider instead of going for a phd? Why isn't this information more readily available?

Thank you. I will try and look further into it.

Thanks Prone. I have looked into employment with the CB, but that was a while ago. What do you mean by info sessions, and how would I go about attending one? Are there details listed on the website?

Marx because to this day, we're still experiencing everything he predicted in terms of exploitation of the proletariat on the part of the bourgeois. I mean look at what happened this season during black friday, need I say more?

Hi Everyone. First time poster here. I'm guessing this kind of topic probably comes up a lot, but I would greatly appreciate some advice here. I've found myself in the typical chicken and egg experience situation. I recently received an MA in Applied Sociology with a concentration in Research Methodology. I was also a research assistant during this experience. I decided that market research was my ideal field. I took a marketing class, gained some limited experience working as a field research assistant for a market research company, and have been really trying to land an entry level job as a market research analyst/assistant somewhere. I have sent my resume and cover letters (after having spent countless hours critiquing/editing them) out to hundreds of employers (including universities for Research Assistant positions, where my academic experience may be more applicable). I have come to a point where I just don't even know what to do anymore. I got a BS, asked a professor what to do with my life and was told to go to grad school. I did that, thinking I would have gained the experience I need to land a job that will pay enough for me to start paying off my crippling student loans. Nope. I've missed the deadlines to apply to get into a phd program for this fall, so I'll have some more time to toss out more job applications, but I'm guessing that I will likely be laid off from my temporary job, and remain unemployed as employers continue to overlook my qualifications because I don't fit their exact niche. I asked my professor from grad school if he had data pertaining to what other recent graduates in my program were doing, and how they fared in the job market but he said for the most part, he did not have access to that information. Here's my question: What on earth have people with sociology degrees been doing with them? Should I opt for the phd program and hope that some future publications (provided I am accepted) can finally lead to my first real job? If so, is there a certain path/field I should look into whilst doing so that will increase my chances at finding steady work? What about an alternative path? Should I just keep plugging away at employers? Should I spend more time searching in certain sectors such as non-profits? Should I take on the dreaded unpaid internship, or find any way I can to gain valuable research experience? I'm to a point where this whole process has been stressful due to the uncertainty involved in career preparation. I feel like educators never really told me how to make use of my knowledge, and I don't want to end up just another phd candidate, once again competing with hundreds of others, many of who are just as, if not MORE qualified than me. What should I do here guys? By the way I appreciate anyone and everyone taking the time to address a young and almost clueless recent graduate's problems.