What Should I Do For A Job?
Recently, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a jump in the unemployment rate to 10.2%.Some economists think we could be looking at 10.5% by early next year.
Given these grim forecasts, how do you counsel recent college graduates and others entering the job market for the first time in this employment climate? Is there any advice or strategies you find particularly useful?
I graduated with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Economics. I don’t know what use the BS degree would have in today’s world. I think something useful like carpentry or plumbing might have greater value. Unless you have a specific degree, and you are graduating from college, I’d probably stay in academia for an MBA or a masters in something geared to education.
I’ve noticed that a lot of jobs in this country can’t be automated and are being done by boomers. We are retiring. We are tired of working. We are looking forward to Mexico with our feet in the sand. Those boomer skill sets will be lost unless we find some way to pass the knowledge on. Furniture needs to be sold by manufacturers to retailers at trade shows. Have you noticed how old the peddlers have gotten to be? I have a friend who is a furniture restorer and refinisher. He’s retiring! where do his customers go for the same skills. Truck drivers deliver the goods in this country. Who is going to replace the aging drivers? Every long haul truck has a sign on the back that says, “Drivers Wanted!”
My advice is to find one of these guys or girls and beg to have them take you on so you can learn their business and buy it from them when they retire.
Here’s another suggestion: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is headquartered iin Arlington, VA. Here are some of their recent/current research projects:
* The Auto Car– vehicles that drive themselves or can take over based on observational cues.
* Thinking Computers– Projects such as P.A.L. (Personal Assistants that Learn) attempt to have computers anticipate our needs
* Trauma Pod– automated medical treatment on the battlefield
* Artificial Limbs– would be indistinguishable from real ones
* Advanced Solar Power– could reduce the need for soldiers to carry batteries
* Wakefulness– a nasal spray that would keep people awake for days, without deleterious effects
Hook up with the Defense department and start working on some of the new technology that will lead this country out of this depression.
Good luck. You have seven months before the big day. When I graduated, I became a stockbroker and worked in the financial industry for almost 30 years. I should have learned to build houses!
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Mike Landfair
Like you Mike, I tend to think knowledge of a trade such as plumber, electrician, builder, is of more value right now, because those type of people are always needed.
On the other hand there are a lot of plumbers, electricians and builders out of work right now.
I have a lot of teachers in my family. Teaching is a government job, therefore it has a little more security, but every one of the teachers in my family, says they would not advise anyone to go into teaching right now.
WO, they may be out of work, but many are getting old. I|t is important to have a skill. You may be right about teachers!