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While it has been ingrained in the brains of most high schoolers that college is their compulsory next step, reality has proven that this is not a foolproof promise for a place in the workforce.
With each passing year, the bachelor’s value wavers more and more. That is one of the four-year nature, not to be confused with the popular reality television show. Instead of roses, more and more graduates are getting rejection emails as rewards for their collegiate achievements.
Around the turn of the 21st century, it became common for businesses to require applicants to have a college degree. Businesses that previously had little interest in college education began to add it as a requirement for jobs that did not previously require one, even though the job itself had not changed.
In 2022, the percentage of job postings requiring a bachelor’s degree rose as high as 75%. However, over the last two years, more than half of companies have either gotten rid of or plan to get rid of their college degree requirements for varying positions.
While eliminating these requirements has allowed companies to create a more inclusive and diverse group of applicants, follow-through in hiring still needs to be done. Companies are experiencing a low percentage of success in actually hiring non-degree employees.
To put it simply, degree inflation has ruined the workforce for everyone. The job market has become increasingly competitive and inefficient due to the imbalance of jobs that unnecessarily require college degrees and the number of people with a college education.
The adults around us have drilled the idea into our heads that college guarantees a good job, but employers continue to work to prove them wrong.
Having a four-year college education is no longer enough. A considerable number of employers now also expect applicants to have unreasonable amounts of prior experience before they will hire you.
This raises the age-old question: how does one acquire years of experience if companies are unwilling to hire inexperienced employees?
As a current college student, I find these prospects challenging. It’s disheartening to hear how difficult finding a job is these days. Even after four years of advanced education and thousands of dollars, it’s still insufficient.
While people may claim that this generation is full of lazy kids who don’t want to work, I will point them to the inconsistent job market that has us running in circles. In the meantime, we will have to continue trying to figure out the perfect combination of education, experience, and personality to make us desirable prospects.
Best of luck, my fellow students.
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Stephanie S • Sep 16, 2024 at 5:10 pm
There is an important factor that has not been taken into account in this piece. Holding a degree does not entitle one to employment. Many students here and elsewhere feel like college is a box to check, that if they are physically present in class they deserve to pass, believing that assignment deadlines and constant encouragement to study for exams are mere suggestions. Higher education is not just post-k12 finishing school. Most young people see college or university as a far-off dream, an expensive and time-consuming opportunity at best, and for many more, an unattainable luxury. Many of the parents who encourage their children to attend even if it isn’t affordable are seeking generational uplift. There is also an awareness, often through practical experience, by families and people who make up the impoverished working and lower middle classes that a mediocre tradesperson will usually make less than a mediocre office manager or administrative assistant. The non-degreed positions are often much higher risk of injury and mental/emotional strain, have more challenging hours, and hold the prospect of illness without healthcare benefits because of the nature of trade work and contract work. Though I am sure most would like to, many parents do not encourage their children to go to college – especially if the potential student is a vital financial contributor to their household or if their own financial independence is a necessity.
As dissapointed, distracted, or disgruntled students apply themselves less, sometimes because there is a need or desire to work or take on more classes per semester to “graduate” more quickly, the quality of the degree dwindles over time. Employers have quickly identified the institutions that condone or even encourage this mindset and so have begun to hire more selectively. Finally, 31% of US residents hold college degrees, which isn’t that many as major sectors require degrees (every nurse, doctor, accountant, professor, teacher, attorney, office managers, therapists, trainers, coaches, etc.) leaving the ratio of college degrees among the economically average population relatively low. A lack of job opportunity is likely also impacted by the fact that major corporations with high paying competitive jobs are multinationals and are locating their offices in other countries and a very few select US cities decreasing availability of dynamic and high paying jobs in most regions.
John Wesley White • Sep 16, 2024 at 4:13 pm
I think that the author’s memories of what she was told are distorted by her current frustration. She says, “The adults around us have drilled the idea into our heads that college guarantees a good job.” What the vast majority of parents tell their children is that many if not most “good” jobs require a college degree. There is a giant distinction between these two notions. And the latter still holds true. There is not now nor has there ever been a guarantee of a good job.
As someone who works closely with college students, as an older adult (56), and as someone who finally landed the job I wanted at age 35 (and after a PhD and postdoc), I think it prudent to remind today’s students that many of them have unrealistic expectations of the “real world” (especially as it relates to jobs). Many expect to get a dream job as a 22 year old college graduate (one whose trainings d experiences are still relatively minimal). This is simply not realistic. The best jobs initial requirement is a bachelors degree. The other requirements are time, lots of hard work, compromise, talent, and luck.