It takes a BA to get hired as a file clerk or a courier

From today's news: It Takes a B.A. to Find a Job as a File Clerk - Yahoo! Finance

It's what I've been telling my teenage kids for the last few years.

 

Unbelievable! In the future a $30,000-$45,000 will be the salary that will appear "rich". I have friends and family members who own bachelors and even master degrees working at Walmart or Target. Heck, I got lucky to find a job that required a bachelors degree last week and the starting salary is $15.00. It's a billing collector position. I gave my two weeks notice at a job who also required a bachelors degree in medical billing and the pay here was $12.00, I did this for two years. I would think Medical Billing would be at least $17+ an hour. I don't see this economy getting any better. Thank God I don't have any student loan debt, however.. I do have children and it's hard putting food on the table when the wife is currently unemployed. But I am managing.

Sorry for giving my life story guys, I just felt like this article had my name written all over it, LOL!

 

See Diplomaism by David Hapgood in 1971. Things have only gotten more so.

 

RubyMan187, you are a hero. The most important and often unrecognized kind; a man who remains faithful to his family and does his best to provide. I'm sure the bill collecting would not be the most fun job, but you do it. My hat is off to you.

__________________________________

 

YES more and more jobs require a bachelor's degree - even very low level jobs. With the rising cost of education and the lower pay many of these jobs offer, I suspect there will be some necessity for change in the near future. Just not sure what that change will be.

Unless you get a degree in a medical/technical field, it seems the starting pay is ridiculous. Several of my classmates started in $12ish per hour positions with college debt that ate at least 1/4 of their monthly income. How can you live off that? Just isn't practical.

 

But it is the same everywhere. Germany you also have to have high degrees to get the simple jobs, and UK is not any better. And then you get grad jobs that pay minimum wage. At least the student debts in Germany and also UK are much less than in the US. But as demand determines price, no wonder they can pay so low wages in times where 1701 people apply for 8 jobs at a coffee chain... (Costa Coffee job applications top 1,700 at new store in Mapperley, Nottingham - Mirror Online)

Suddenly the idea to reduce work hours for everybody to give more people a job does not seem so ridicoulous anymore...
A 30-Hour Working Week: Could It Happen in Germany?

 

Thank you very much SurfDoctor. I always inspire your posts, especially regarding Liberty University. I am highly considering LU for my MBA. Thanks brother! God Bless!

 

You would be surprised how many people I work with who have good paying office jobs with no bachelors degree. Some of them are working on associates degrees part time while working. The degree is not the only way to get your foot in the door. These people started off with entry level positions and it doesn't take long to stand out among your peers in an entry level position. They made a name for themselves and within a few years moved into a higher paying, more professional job. The point is that they understand our business, work hard, and have a customer service mindset. That will get you a good salary over a degree any day in the real world.

 

Supposedly one of the biggest studies on "diplomaism" involved letter carriers (= "mailmen"). They are a good choice for study because (1) they all work for the same employer -- the Postal Service, and (2) the Postal Service has detailed employment records going back decades.

If you go back several decades, it was common for mailmen to be high school dropouts -- apparently no one thought that the lack of a high school education was a drawback for this job. And the idea of a college-educated mailman was considered laughable. Why would you spend years in school, at a cost of thousands of dollars, for a job that involved carrying sacks of mail on foot?

But today, virtually all mailman do have high school diplomas, and the younger ones commonly do have college degrees. And this is not because the job requires more education today -- it's only because there is more competition for the job, and more education makes you a more competitive applicant.

So we now have the best educated mailmen in US history. Unfortunately there is no evidence that this actually improves mail delivery.

 

At the risk of demonstrating Sayre's Law, let me say I think our postal service is the finest in the world. And it is NOT one of the most expensive.

British study says U.S. Postal Service is the world's best - Feb. 6, 2012

 

Lump of labor fallacy gains political support every so often.

 

In the state of new york, you need a master's degree to become an accountant (CPA). My father is an accountant and got his CPA with only a high school diploma and some accounting classes.

 

Definitely accounting too! In my mind that fell under technical in the sense you go and learn a specific skill then apply it in the job market. Accounting is supposed to be one of the hot jobs right now. If only I liked numbers more. lol

 

I agree with the others - you're resourceful, and definitely a hero, doing what he has to do to look after his family. Kudos to you, RugbyMan!

As a former bill-collector myself - darn near 30 years, now long-retired - may I offer you a bit of well-meaning advice. Try not to "take the job home with you" in your head. That can be hard. I was a successful collector - hey, the job paid my bills for a long time - but I never mastered "not taking it home." Over a fairly long time, I found the work CAN be personality-changing, if you let it. So don't do what I did - don't let it! :smile: Stay you, RugbyMan!

Anyway - I'm glad you're working and yes - indeed you're a hero. I'm sure you have all the smarts and drive it takes to get 'way above the base rate you're starting at. And I'm sure you're going up the ladder - and won't be dunning people for anywhere near 30 years!

I wish you every success in whatever you do!

Johann

 

duplicate post -sorry.

Johann

 

Ah I haven't logged in awhile, sorry for the late response. Thank you very much for the kind words, you know I appreciate it a lot. I will keep everyone on this forum updated on my new job. Starting a new job is never easy, but I know I can do it! Thanks again guys!