Unemployment rates soar among college graduates

This archived article was written by: James Justice

Published in the April 10, 2013, an article titled, “For young workers, a steady job is hard to find” was published on money.msn.com. This article is about the economy for the young college graduate, 18-34, and the problems they face when entering the job market. While this article articulate many reasons for the high unemployment rate among young college grads, I don’t think they expanded enough.
First: According to public policy organization Demos, “about 45 percent of the nation’s unemployed are between the ages of 18 and 34… about five-million workers.” While this is a staggering number, most, if not all, Demos do not count “underemployed,” which is taking a job under the wage you’re worth, or not doing work that makes use of your skills or abilities, and a term called “discouraged” workers, that is where the unemployed stop looking for work.
If you count these two, according to Demos, the number almost doubles to about nine-million workers. That job you’re so excited about, there’s probably about 100 to 1,000 other people excited about the same job.
Second: People are not going into fields that are hiring. Caterpillar, makers of large equipment, is begging for mechanics, literally begging. It’s a four-year degree that you have to go to “Caterpillar College” for. The starting salary is $50,000, with five-years experience and the salary jumps to $200,000.
Welding: welders are one of the highest paid technical professions and no one wants to major in it. I know a guy that works in Wyoming as a welder for FMC, he’s 24, has three-years experience and made $170,000 last year. Yes, it’s hard work, but it’s worth it to go into these fields.
Third: Some of the bachelor of science degrees colleges and universities offer either do not pay well or there are not a lot of jobs available in those fields. If you major in communications, sociology, psychology, theater, art, or one of about 100 other higher education choices, those degrees are limited in the amount of money you will make. Unless you plan on going into a graduate-degree program, you may have a wonderful life working in the hotel cleaning or fast food industries while earning a bachelor’s degree. These are not bad jobs, but don’t expect to work in your chosen field. And guess what? People are needed in those industries to make the economy run efficiently… so do it.
Fourth: Many people 18-25 don’t know how to work. Yes, there are some of you that are hard workers, but not as many that should be. For some, your entire life you have been coddled, you were told that you are as good as anyone else; you’ve been told that no matter what, you will win.
What gives people the ambition and knowledge to successfully work an eight-hour day? Some, like me, get disabling diseases and are unable to work. But I am going to college to get a job so that even with my disability I can become a productive member of society.
Today, there are people too lazy to work, to show up every day on time and work the whole day. They do not even know the dress code in finding a job. Some show up for job interviews in clothes they wear every day; jeans and a t-shirt that may not even be clean, but at least it doesn’t smell. They prefer to sit all day and watch television or play video games. They want the good life given to them on a silver platter. You don’t have that work ethic of going to work no matter what you feel like, never missing a day because the job needs you and you need the self respect that the job brings.
The American dream is all about coming to this country with nothing, working hard, and ending with everything you desired. This is still possible, but you have to recognize what is needed to be able to achieve this wonderful idea of prosperity.