I have been trying to weave one interesting fact into my writings here lately, but have not found a great segue for doing so. Therefore, today, you will be overtly, and non-sequentially, entertained with my proclivity to seek statistics which “back up the news.”
Today’s headline about the drop in the newly unemployed is good, I guess. I tend to look at this cynically….after all, we’re boasting about how few jobs were lost, yet the number is not small at all. I guess it’s all relative.
But herein gives me a chance to point you in the direction of one of my favorite statistics: Unemployment By Educational Attainment.
You’re smart, so I won’t interpret this data for you, but I will highlight what is most interesting to me: Unemployment among those with a Bachelor’s Degree or higher is at a mere 4.9% (Nov. ’09). Show this stuff to any aimless students in your household; Perhaps it will provide some motivation.
Working for a mid sized engineering company, we have slowed down, but not stopped. We continue to get new projects due to the talented people I work with, based upon their education and dedication to getting the job done correctly. Self initiative can not be learned in school, and the reward in doing for yourself is more than enough reward for successful people. Determination and work ethic go a long way in a career.
Good point Josie about trying to motivate an underacheiving student. Although missing a class or two, or dropping out of a class happens to us all, it is what we do about the obstacles that build character.
I am curious as to why you believe the reason new engineering grads are unemployed is because they’re aimless? Although I understand your perspective, there are unemployed civil engineering graduates out there like my husband and I, who do not fit into your analogy.
We are both recent civil engineering graduates from an ABET accredited university. However not in the traditional sense. We worked full time while attending university part time for five years, but we were starting to get really burned out after all the 80 hour work weeks and decided to move and attend university full time to complete the degree. He graduated Summa cum Laude with a GPA of 4.0, passed the EIT, has twenty years of construction and survey experience and he isn’t getting any job offers. I graduated Magna cum Laude with a GPA of 3.74, passed the EIT and have sixteen years of experience. Of that – four years in heavy civil construction, ten years in surveying and two years of office management experience. I have been applying for entry-level positions in civil engineering predominantly in my top two preferences, construction management and transportation design. However I have also sent out resumes for a variety of other disciplines including traffic, water/wastewater and hydrology. After submitting online resumes to more than 90 positions nationwide over the last six months and an additional 25 to Canadian firms, as I am able to work in both countries, I have only had two local interviews. One was with a water/wastewater engineering firm and one for an entry-level municipal position with a nearby city. I was not selected for either.
Without any feedback from these companies, as many require submitting your resume through their online application, we are unsure what the problem is. When I began pursuing this degree I believed, erroneously, that my previous experience would be an asset. As well we intended to return to the firms we were with most recently, however due to the economic downturn they have had to lay people off over the past year and a half. So even if I had stayed working for them and continued pursuing this education part time I would have been without work in Jan. 09.
I would appreciate any advice you might h ave as to why I am not finding work. However I can assure you it is not because I am aimless.
Judy: I am sorry to hear that the job search has been frustrating you. I understand how you feel. Also, I want you to know that when I invoked the term “aimless students,” I was referring to high schoolers who are not yet sold on continuing their educations. I can see now that my intentions were not very clear.
I would be interested in your feedback to this post: http://redmondsearch.com/blog/job-searching-get-out-from-behind-the-computer/ It’s some of the best advice I have in this market. Good luck to you.
I have stopped looking and have become apathetic… GPA is worthless… I graduated summa cum laude… Pretty much you get an education because you like learning… getting a job is a different animal and story…