I’ve found in recent years that finding a career job is no easy task with the red tape and not quite having exactly what the position calls for. Most jobs I’ve seen open are unskilled general labor jobs. I’ve decided not to depend of companies and job trends and do into business myself, and although things progress slowly, I don’t back.

If I were to do things again, I’d get some vocational/technical trainng and perhaps work for a degree on a PT basis in addition to working with skills learned (assuming such trainng would have paid off) instead of getting my BA on a FT basis and hope that would get into a good career field. It does benefit most people in the long run,and maybe my case is an exception, and I’m not writing this to be negative, but I thing getting a college education should come with warning labels. However, i do recognize skill learned while going to college, and I can say they do help even when I’m not self-employed.

I served in the military w/ honorable discharge right out of H.S.
I lived in Japan for 6 months, lived in the middle east, etc.
I seen the world more than most people.
I started college 3 months after separation from the military.
I earned my bachelor degree in business in 3 yrs taking as much as 22 units a quarter.

I graduated 2009.
I am making $11.50/hr doing H.S. dropout type work.
I cannot find a better job.
I look for a job everyday, as much as someone log on to facebook.
I am mad as hell w/ my qualifications and cannot find a better job.
I want to go back to the military as an officer making 70K instantly,
but I remind myself why I got out in the first place.
I am hired by the fed. gov. w/ a very good paying position, but did not start the job yet due to “budgets”.
I owe a lot of money for college loans.
I know a good friend from middle school that dropped out of h.s. in the 9th grade and is currently making over 30$/hr.
Why am I stuck at an $11.50/hr job.

I have an MFA in film (go ahead, laugh!). I honestly could have gotten the jobs I got without my degree. As it is I’m 30 and still have 65k worth of debt from college.

I would say right off the bat that any art degree isn’t worth the schooling. Take community college courses at most in the specific art you’re interested in, but the degree won’t help you much.

For the health, business, engineering, law, etc industries – yes it’s worth it – because the knowledge you get and the salary for starting jobs and the growth salary you can end up with are great money.

Then there are the grey areas -psychology, political science, education, etc – a lot of these jobs if you look at the medium salary range its not a ton more than other careers you can work your way up in without a college degree. It’s sad that some of these careers make about the same as a fast food service career. I was shocked to find out how much EMTs, teachers, pilots and other careers that are so important to society make.

I do however think that college gives you lots of broad knowledge and a certain life experience and maturity that you don’t get elsewhere mostly.

The bottom line is to do what you love, and take a look at the salary range and ask yourself if its worth the 4 years, debt and career delay start to get the degree. If the job you want requires it when you browse ads, then you have to get it.

If you do want to change your career then a college degree in the field you want to get into might be useful, it depends on the field though.

But when I graduated, it was another story. Suddenly, he expected me to snag a great job. I was never very career-oriented and lacked confidence to enter the working world. But I still love to read and write and play piano and teach music lessons. I always knew what I liked; it just never translated into “big real-world success.” Plus, any job I tried was never good enough for him. So I realized that he wanted me to attend college so I’d get some high-paying job, which is what society tells people to do.

Besides, many college graduates cannot do these things anyway. Many are poor spellers and writers because standards have plummeted. Despite requirements for cultural enrichment, few, after graduating, take in a night at the theater or opera or ballet. Some don’t even read books.