College Graduates Entering the 2009 Job Market

So maybe you or a loved one either have just graduated or are about to graduate from college. What's your advice?

If you're like so many out there, it probably goes something like this: "Run, do not walk, to the nearest grad school."

That is certainly music to the ears of our places of higher learning! "Ah, we get to charge 'em up the wazoo for a couple more years."

And for what? A Master's degree with no work experience that now places them in even more massive debt, has them wanting higher salaries to pay off that debt, and instead of being young and ready to be molded, has them older and less moldable?

I know, I know. There are certainly some professions...like Library Science, for instance, in which you just can't even think to touch foot inside the building anymore without the prestigious Master's. (Let's not get started on that ridiculousness.) But by and large, most of us don't need a Master's degree in order to be employable (much less to be successful), even in a tough economy like we have now.

I feel bad for college grads. Their professors, who think that academia is the only place in America to represent the true thinkers, keep telling them to go to grad school or else be subject to a life out there with the masses. Their parents, who are afraid their kids will never find a fantasy job and be able to support themselves lavishly out in the big, bad world, keep telling them to go to that happy, safe place, grad school. And the media, who thinks it has its hand on reality, keeps telling them that grad school is their only option or else they will end up doomed to a life either on the streets or, worse, stuck in some cubicle somewhere never to come up for air.

But is it true? Is grad school the only, best, safest option?

Well, let's see, what do we end up with...a lot of now mid-to-late-20-somethings back at home, ever thankful for free accommodations and deferred student loan programs. Wow, lucky them. Instead of having a few years to pay down their college debt and build some income (and maybe even, dare I say it, savings) before they marry and have kids, they now are doomed to starting families with nothing but a Master's degree under their feet, massive debt, a mortgage in their near future, and virtually no work experience. And let's not forget that they need to start saving for their kids' college tuition in utero. Gee, that's nice.

I've spent a lot of time watching the job market, in both good times and bad, and there is one thing I know for sure. There is never a better time to find a job than when you first graduate from undergrad. Period...recession or inflation...either one.

Bottom line: Companies like hiring people right out of school. They come with less baggage. They are perceived to be more willing to learn (not sure that is always true). And they will take less money and be less of a drain on health benefits programs.

Furthermore, all those issues that plague middle managers and older workers looking for jobs: job hopping, employment gaps, age discrimination, unmarketable skill sets, layoffs, firings, and so on, are a nonissue for college grads.

So I say, stop pushing these people into grad programs they aren't that interested in anyway. (I mean, what happened to the days when grad school was for the crème of the crop, the really serious ones who were passionate to be philosophers and educators and researchers, not just lukewarm runaways trying to escape the inevitable?) And start giving them the truth: "You need to work sometime. Might as well be now."

I know this may be a shocker, but you can always go back to school. I know, because I did. And boy am I glad that I waited. Was it difficult holding down a full-time job while attending classes at night? You betcha. Did it take a long time? Yep! But I had most of it paid for by my employer, I managed to avoid incurring debt to pay for the rest of it, and I went into it with a much better idea of what I did and did not want to pursue. Plus, in the meantime, I had a job, paid my bills, raised a child, and took care of my house. It can be done!

Yes, certainly right now there may be fewer positions available, no one is arguing that. And, of course, that makes the job market more competitive for college grads, but gee with everyone else running to grad school anyway....problem solved!

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