I like to scan the job postings on craigslist. I notice that the employers seem to demand a lot for very little pay. This one listing is an example.

A security guard position with a minimum bachelors degree plus three years experience for 16 bucks an hour. Supervisor, Security Personnels

Is it worth the cost of tuition to get the degree and then work for less than 16 bucks an hour to get the three years experience to advance to a position of 16 bucks?

 

It depends on what the bachelors degree is in. Science degree will cost you more then other due to the extra lab fees etc. Most jobs that say min. bachelors degree doesn't expect a specific degree just the mere fact of having a degree. So it really depends on what that degree is in.

In all honesty, people now are going to have to have a bachelors degree. Whether or not you feel like it's worth the fees debt etc to get those degrees, experience alone is not going to be enough to get a job pretty soon. Especially when you consider all those that are getting Masters now due to the recession, that will eventually mean that people will need master degrees to be hired on for a job eventually. How far that is out, I dunno, but I can easily see that happening when my kid has to worry about it.

To employeers though, the paper chase means more then just the degree and the knowledge that goes with it, but it's about you working til you finished a job even in areas that don't have a direct (or even indirect) application for what you are doing or have an interest in doing.

Bottomline is I don't think that there is much choice in the matter unless you do something along the lines of a trade school.

 

I agree Kyle...not exactly worth the $50k in debt for an extra $2 on the hour.....

As far as Medschool, somethin of that nature, sure, its worth it.....But a degree for a security position? Thats a tractor/trailer load of BS...

My GF seems to think a pice of paper garuantees a stable job....Then again, she's never worked a true job either....Boy oh boy...Can't wait till reality hits...Like a ton of bricks.....

 

$16 per hour? I think most folks with a degree are able to double that without much trouble, then triple etc.

FWIW, jmobservations--security work is notoriously low paying.

Stop thinking "hourly".

Again, FWIW, I have always been "annual" when it came to money, but circumstances have put me into "hourly" for the last few years. $15-20 per hour ain't enough. You have to aim higher, and a degree is the primary way you do that.

So now lets hear from all the highschool dropouts that became millionaires on a ranch or in a plumbing business. Both of you, speak up.....

 

2 degrees, 1 master, 20k and that was going back forth when diesel really got high, I finished everything in 2009 so those figures aren't from your grandpa's day.

It all depends on how you do it.

I wouldn't say that, but I would say it's a growing requirement for jobs. It used to be if you got a law degree or your CPA you would have been secure in your job (or had a good state/government job), but even that isn't the case anymore.

 

I'm a firm believe in education, but you would be surprised even at that. I know people that graduated summa in accounting (in of itself not a hard degree, but they pile on a helluva work load that makes it hard) from UAH (a very high ranking business school) and get paid $17.50. Oh and they are hourly too working for a national company at the corporate HQ.

Since it's an employeer's market, I don't think that's exactly the case anymore. People with years of experience and degrees are now getting paid at what recent graduates would get. Some don't even get the job, because they don't want people with yrs of experience, because they want someone that they can "mold".

 

The idea is to be more secure and have more options. I had to move down stream but I know several guys who moved up stream--they had degrees. And I've know lots who hit the ceiling because of no degree. Right or wrong, that's the way it be.

If you can do it now, do it. It never gets easier, and you need to continue your education one way or the other throughout your career.

 

Happened to my grandfather. Everyone wanted him to have the job, because he knew how to do it, but he lost out to a recent graduate that had a degree.

The degree itself doesn't mean that you know what you are doing. You get what you put into it, but the mere fact of having that piece of paper opens up more doors then not having it.

However, there is still a good bit of luck involved. You have to put yourself in a position to take advantage of that luck (have degrees, be friends with the right people etc), but luck does play a part. That's why have the degree isn't a sure thing of success, but it does make it easier for you to take advantage of chances to be successful.

Absolutely, you should always try to learn and grow no matter what stage of life you are in. In fact, working the brain by learning, going back to school even in retirement has shown to help fight off neurological issues that plague people late in life.

 

****ty part is guys...I have my permenant Surface Miniers card, temp underground miners card, and CPR cert., along with a bunch of paperwork from highschool.....And still have no luck....

 

What employers are looking for :...........A 20 year old guy, with 20 years of experience, who will work for minimum wage and no benefits.

 

I thank GOD seven nights a week that I'm a military retiree and now a USPS employee. The days of a good paying job without a degree are coming to a close.

A degree doesn't make one smarter, just more educated. But, it shows that you have the ability to learn and retain information and it shows your level of commitment.

Additionally, a degree requirement is an automatic deal breaker for a huge percentage of job seekers. It clears the aisle for the employer to pick what he/she would consider to be the best candidates without having to personally cull them from the ranks.

24 years of military experience did very little for me when I was in the job market. I had tons of military schools, on line courses and college equivalents and most employers seemed unimpressed.

It didn't even matter to them that I didn't require their insurance(s). Times are tough my friends.

If one is in a position to get a BA or masters, then do it.

 

I`m all for education but it is not mandatory to get a job. Look here, I make six figures and I did not go to college. My wife has a double major and a minor from Texas A&M and she is not even working in the fields she went there for. She does not make as much as me but she brings all the benefits home, which is fantastic.

 

There are very few fields left with that ability. The days of being like Louis L'Amour are none existent unless you get really really lucky.

One field I'm involved in I don't have a degree in, the other field I do have a degree. That's value added and trust me it does count and you will notice it. Providing that you chose a marketable degree. English lit. isn't going to do much good for you. Accounting will. A JD degree will, art appreciation won't etc. You do have to choose one a good one to follow.

tseekins, my brother in law is a ex navy and that has helped him out a lot particularly with the level of clearence that he had while on the sub. Now this is for work in Huntsville and that town has a lot of government contracts too, but it has helped him get a job in the private sector that does have connections with the government. He didn't do my dad a whole lotta good though after vietnam, but that was also a very different time as well.

 

To the o.p....no I would not get a degree for that kind of money. I would think a security guard would make that but a supervisor I would think more than $16.00

 

I just really don't think so. The job landscape is changed too much. There really has to be a big change someone that alters employer's mentality to things and I don't see it happening. I can envision a couple of areas where it would happen, but I just don't see it actually coming to fruition.