Is the government regulating, and surplusing, people out of jobs?

[Mauser KAR98K]

I have to ask this question as I'm going on for a month looking for a better career with my degree, and risking a skill I have to not be my last option.

I had gone back to a driving job back in May. I left last month after living on the road was costing half my income, getting hauls that were short (though the company did keep me moving), had to get a CPAP machine that also cost me to rent and made me feel worse from what I was "diagnosed" with, and the company I was working for was pulling some shading practices to keep me from getting a quarterly bonus (giving me late loads and not forgiving them on an ETA battery scale).

Now I'm back to competing with all the new undergrads looking for a better career to settle down with, be home every night, not looking for a place to park to sleep, and overall make good on the time and effort of my degree. Every position I have a applied for wants experience, yet where do I get it? The jobs I did get interviews for were door-to-door insurance salesmen, or telecom/cable providers with a "management" job in a year to two, all based on commissions. (Honestly they seemed like pyramid schemes).

If this is the American dream after college, then it is a nightmare. I can't sell assets I have due to people not wanting to buy, and I have just missed my second student loan payment. Even minimum wage jobs can't support my debt, and also assist my mom in hears and the house.

What I have: a B.S. in History. I was aiming to pursuing a teaching career, go back to school and get my license, but now that is far off as the state has changed requirements and the program I would have to attend in order to get it. Instead of a year or less to get it, it is now required I go and get a Masters in a field I don't know a thing about and pay graduate tuition rates. I'm having a hard time justify $20,000 more (even if it puts me on a higher pay scale) for a public teaching job. I know that long careers equal time to get on your feet, but I'm not one to stay in debt for long periods of time.

With this said, looking outward, a job that could help me with the skills I have could help me, but the cost of living, and the requirements that the government (companies for the mean time but the mandating seems to come from Uncle Sam) have pushed me out of it. It is income, but it won't help me get where I need to be, and really where I want to be. But I am also back to bumping around a very saturated worker pool thanks to the idea that everyone should have an education. Unfortunate for me, I started school to get my degree on the trail end of the 2008 recession (summer of '09). Along with a metric ton of others.

I'm not making this post as an excuse to my current situation. It's just my observations tell me I'm up against something else besides being a brand new undergrad.

[SteyrAUG]

All I know is that a LOT of people who had money to buy guns regularly for 10 years are now watching their expenses. And so am I.

[Alpha Sierra]

I'm going to be brutally blunt, in today's economy and employment climate your history degree was a complete waste of time and money. Sorry about that. However, stop trying to throw good money after bad.

Manufacturing, despite the popular opinion of people (including the press) who know next to nothing about it, is not dead in this country. In fact, it is hurting for people.

What is dead is the idea that you can go into an unskilled mfg job at 18 and retire at 50 with a bass boat, huge truck, and cabin by the lake.

In order to make it in mfg today, you need a technical skill but not necessarily one that requires a bachelor's degree. Skills such as advanced welding, PLC and automation programming, CNC machining, and inspection/metrology technology can be bought for a whole lot less than a college degree and jobs are waiting to be filled. Jobs for which there are no contrived government "standards" to meet (unlike teaching) and where union membership is almost completely a thing of the past (unlike teaching)

[.46caliber]

Frickin tapatalk

[.46caliber]

I came out of school with a Fine Arts degree, talk about useless degree in this economy. I was fortunate to find a creative job where the degree was useful but not directly related. I feel your pain.

I've got two friends with History degrees. One works with me, and is finishing his Master's so he can teach at the collegiate level. The other has a nice job at one of the Federal Archive facilities here in the area.

There is more than one way to use any particular degree to your advantage. Though I'd love to see more of folks like us on the forum in teaching, its a hard road as Alpha pointed out.

Though mass manufacturing isn't what it used to be here, there is still a need for skilled trades as Alpha also pointed out.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[BufordTJustice]

I'm going to be brutally blunt, in today's economy and employment climate your history degree was a complete waste of time and money. Sorry about that. However, stop trying to throw good money after bad.

Manufacturing, despite the popular opinion of people (including the press) who know next to nothing about it, is not dead in this country. In fact, it is hurting for people.

What is dead is the idea that you can go into an unskilled mfg job at 18 and retire at 50 with a bass boat, huge truck, and cabin by the lake.

In order to make it in mfg today, you need a technical skill but not necessarily one that requires a bachelor's degree. Skills such as advanced welding, PLC and automation programming, CNC machining, and inspection/metrology technology can be bought for a whole lot less than a college degree and jobs are waiting to be filled. Jobs for which there are no contrived government "standards" to meet (unlike teaching) and where union membership is almost completely a thing of the past (unlike teaching)

I agree. And im still paying off my B.S. Which is applicable to law enforcement.

Stop the bleeding and enter a trade. Even an Hvac tech or a plumber can earn a very decent wage.

The student loan bubble is about to burst when defaults become common place and the government starts garnishing wages to get their money back.

[Crow Hunter]

I have to ask this question as I'm going on for a month looking for a better career with my degree, and risking a skill I have to not be my last option.

I had gone back to a driving job back in May. I left last month after living on the road was costing half my income, getting hauls that were short (though the company did keep me moving), had to get a CPAP machine that also cost me to rent and made me feel worse from what I was "diagnosed" with, and the company I was working for was pulling some shading practices to keep me from getting a quarterly bonus (giving me late loads and not forgiving them on an ETA battery scale).

Now I'm back to competing with all the new undergrads looking for a better career to settle down with, be home every night, not looking for a place to park to sleep, and overall make good on the time and effort of my degree. Every position I have a applied for wants experience, yet where do I get it? The jobs I did get interviews for were door-to-door insurance salesmen, or telecom/cable providers with a "management" job in a year to two, all based on commissions. (Honestly they seemed like pyramid schemes).

If this is the American dream after college, then it is a nightmare. I can't sell assets I have due to people not wanting to buy, and I have just missed my second student loan payment. Even minimum wage jobs can't support my debt, and also assist my mom in hears and the house.

What I have: a B.S. in History. I was aiming to pursuing a teaching career, go back to school and get my license, but now that is far off as the state has changed requirements and the program I would have to attend in order to get it. Instead of a year or less to get it, it is now required I go and get a Masters in a field I don't know a thing about and pay graduate tuition rates. I'm having a hard time justify $20,000 more (even if it puts me on a higher pay scale) for a public teaching job. I know that long careers equal time to get on your feet, but I'm not one to stay in debt for long periods of time.

With this said, looking outward, a job that could help me with the skills I have could help me, but the cost of living, and the requirements that the government (companies for the mean time but the mandating seems to come from Uncle Sam) have pushed me out of it. It is income, but it won't help me get where I need to be, and really where I want to be. But I am also back to bumping around a very saturated worker pool thanks to the idea that everyone should have an education. Unfortunate for me, I started school to get my degree on the trail end of the 2008 recession (summer of '09). Along with a metric ton of others.

I'm not making this post as an excuse to my current situation. It's just my observations tell me I'm up against something else besides being a brand new undergrad.

I know you are a fellow Tennesseean. Which part? Depending on where, I might be able to point you towards some manufacturing jobs.

I will echo Alpha.

A History degree isn't really going to help you much except in very narrow fields and most of them won't be in Tennessee. I know. I used to want to be an Archaeologist/Anthropologist really bad.

You can make a surprisingly good income if you can find a good manufacturing company to work for or if you would rather, going into the skilled trades are even better especially if you want to work for yourself. Fewer and fewer people want to or are capable of doing their own work and that is really a job opportunity.

On the manufacturing side, if you are in the West part of TN or are willing to move here, I can help you out. My wife is the HR manager of one of the better paying manufacturing employers in the area. If you are around Clarksville, I might be able to help at one of the local manufacturing plants where I still know a bunch of people.

Also take a hard look at the railroad. My brother was working for CSX as a brakeman/conductor and then as an engineer and making VERY good money. Especially considering he never finished his degree. If you aren't married and don't have a family you can clean up. Excellent pay, RR Retirement (instead of Social Security), Union work with lots of overtime. When he put his mind to it he could easily get into $100,000+/year But you do have crappy/wierd hours and long stretches of work without a day off. But honestly it was better work than what I was doing as a engineering manager at an automotive Tier 1 supplier. You HAVE to by law be given 12 hours rest time between shifts. The only catch is that you will have to pay for your training. You will get it back after you work for a while.

IF you can get a teaching gig, you won't reqret it unless you have never worked anywhere else like most of my inlaws. They are all teachers and complain all the time about their jobs. Of course it sucks terribly to be off every time it snows, all summer, several weeks during the year and Christmas. It really sucks to earn enough sick time to retire 1.5 years early by just using all that sick time. My favorite is when my MIL asked my wife to go and do something with her during the week and my wife said she couldn't get off and my MIL said, "Can't you just get a substitute?" Umm... No...

[Eurodriver]

Alpha hit the nail on the head. I started out as a history major in college. I changed after meeting a guy with a history degree who was a school bus driver, even though switching added an extra year to my time. The military doesn't care what degree you have (Lots of Poly Sci - Why try? Company Commanders) but I wanted something I could fall back on. It ended up taking me down a completely different road, but it's all about having a skillset that is needed. Whether that is building something with your hands or sitting at a desk (actuaries) it doesn't matter.

I don't know what your situation is in life, financially, etc. But getting a good degree or skills in a trade is step one in a career that makes money.

Hell, you've got a bachelors. Have you thought about a commission? LEO?

[SomeOtherGuy]

I'll echo the comments on getting into a skilled trade. Many of the trade unions have their own schools and apprenticeship programs. (Yeah, I'm generally not pro-union, but in these fields it's probably good for the workers.) My cousin became an electrician that route, and it has worked very well for him. He's no longer a "union" electrician since he has a full time job at a hospital, but he's using the same skills, and as far as I know didn't take on any debt to get there.

I'm not familiar with the training paths for other trades, but most of them, especially the ones needed for maintenance of existing buildings (like HVAC and plumbing) should be good career options today and in the future. Not the most glamorous or exciting job, but pays better than a LOT of college-degree jobs, and no one is shooting at you.

[ramairthree]

Get an education that truly qualifies you to do something.

Everybody uses electricity, everybody has a car, everybody needs medical care, etc.

I know several people that used tuition assistance to get internet degrees, etc. such as Masters of Health Administration, MBAs etc. and are set up for nothing but to hope the government does not start cutting back on GS jobs. More people coming out of highly reputable brick and mortar Universities with similar degrees than there are jobs and they cannot do anything vs. a welder, auto mechanic, ADN or BSN nurse, etc. where employers cannot find enough people to hire.