It would be sad if it weren't so funny.
The sheer ignorance of basic economics of these spoiled brat children (I used to live in Milwaukee and Marquette is a private, hoity toity school) to demand job fairs include worthless majors is only more empirical proof that;
1. Economics needs to be taught not only more, but better at the high school and college levels.
2. Guidance counselors better start doing students a favor and instead of telling them what they want to hear, tell them the realities of the labor market.
3. These are entitlement-mentality children who think they can major in what is essentially a hobby and think they are somehow going to get a job
4. We need to increase the voting age to 30.
I would go into a tirade, but it will be shorter to just link to this, and this, and this.
The moral of the story;
Never hire anybody from Marquette...well...at least the liberal arts majors
16 comments:
You neeed to learn how to use s semicolon properly.
I agree with your point. However, I must say I knew a lot of people that had these sort of Liberal Art Degrees. Many went on to have successful careers in areas such as sales. A lot of companies require a degree to get hired, but they do not really care what kind of degree. They want someone that can read and write. The company will teach you the person how to sell.
Ugh! Those pretentious liberal arts majors at Marquette have no clue what's good for them. But we are more intellectual thinkers and know what's best for them.
Hilarious, I needed a good laugh. What a perfect way to inaugurate my first day of classes. Well, off to study calculus and physics....
Anonymous, if the Supreme Court hadn't outlawed employer-administered IQ tests (wait, I thought the legislature was responsible for legalizing and banning things, hmm) then people wouldn't *need* to spend four years and $100,000 on an expensive IQ test to show employers they can hack it.
Not to mention that a lot of the successful liberal arts/humanities majors have those all-important contacts.
Anon:
Sales, at least for the time I tried it out, required a bit of knowledge of numbers, percentages, and return on investment. (Well, the sales jobs that would pay enough to live on required that.) Retail sales does not provide a living wage.
But, good point overall. I often disagree with the Cap't on the college degree posts. I do see a value for things like Art History majors, and African American studies. I do not believe that dozens of graduates a year can realistically expect to make a living in those fields, and that is the reality the Cap't is talking about.
Instead of trying to force the job market to conform to the student's chosen majors, the students need to realize that pursuing their hobby will not result in an early retirement the overwhelming majority of the time.
I read that Marquette school article, and I think they should follow up on some of the suggestions presented. They should have companies come to the career fair to discuss the resumes, and provide tips that will better position the liberal arts majors for a successful career. Things like:
1. Find out what companies are hiring, and what skills they are looking for.
2. Change your major to one the industry is looking for
-- or --
3. Memorize the phrase "do you want that supersized?"
Ottawa Watch: you need to proofread your posts.
Why hire a college grad and teach them how to sell when you can just hire an experienced saleman who is now a member of the 10% unemployed? Besides, these kids are too good for sales jobs. The article complained that the radio stations weren't hiring for on air talent - only sales reps!
BTW - I couldn't help myself, I had to comment on their story.
Anonymous @ 6:35am -
As a student at Marquette reading the editorial, I had the same thought initially: that employers welcome and value a wide array of majors and certainly opportunities are available for those in liberal arts. The editorial even recognizes that companies often just want any major, but the writer is unhappy because they are "financial or medical entities." The problem with this editorial and these people in those majors is that they are unwilling to accept that they might not actually have a career in philosophy, women's studies, or the like. They, instead, believe it is the job of Career Services to present employers in the fields of their majors. In this time, that's asking Career Services to create jobs out of thin air! The saddest part about this is that while the article notes that the job market is awful there is no recognition that majoring in something else would be a smarter and more logical option. The writer mentions that there is expected 2% job growth in communications....yet he/she doesn't acknowledge that a change in majors may be the best solution but rather asks Career Services to give students confidence in the job market anyway! It is a complete and utter denial of reason!
CBMTTek -
Regarding the suggestions made to Career Services such as bringing employers to the fair to talk about resumes and the skills they are seeking....
Career Services already does that. Many students (especially liberal arts) seem to be under-utilizing the services that are provided on a consistent basis to all majors and students at the Career Services office. The Career Fair is just one widely-known event that happens to not cater to liberal arts majors. There are other opportunities to work those issues out outside of an event that exists for students to find employers that are currently hiring.
One of my friends was a history major. He got a job in some sort of a trading post with the NorthWest Company. I'm sure he would be equally qualified to drive a mule train.
In my experience, guidance counselors can only advise students to be successful at the things which they (the counselors) have been successful at. So... getting into a liberal arts college, graduating, and landing a job in a school counseling office.
Kids, don't ask the counselors how to be successful. Ask successful people.
It's not like the data saying "nursing, accounting, finance and engineering" are growing fields was hidden. It was laid out in black and white before I went to college 20 years ago!
But hey, I like Qdoba, as well as the game store and Hobby Lobby. Someone needs to fill those jobs, too.
Because I'm too busy producing useful things, like high-quality pharmaceuticals. Yes, I make drugs for a living. I love my science degree!
I confess that I left a post over there about the problem not being Career Services not getting liberal arts recruiters, but that students aren't intelligently selecting degrees and subject matter based upon the demands and needs of employers.
It is amazing how many BAs in liberal arts programs are serving coffee at Starbucks or working a clerks in stores.
I don't think this is an issue of these kids not knowing economics, as it is an issue of these kids not ever learning that some career paths have limited job opportunities, many of them limited to teaching that subject. Since there's so little demand for these services, the pay sucks. They're more than welcome to major in those subjects, but they should also major in something where there is more ample demand, a la business, accounting, computer science, pre-med, biology, chemistry, etc.
Unless these guys want someone to magically create demand for those jobs, in which case there's no hope for these kids.
Oh yes, with a liberal art's degree you may finally satisfy your career desire by working at Reb Lobster, TGIF Friday's, Ruby Tuesday. Most liberal art degrees are worthless. It seems that college has become the rite of passage no matter what a person studies.
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