Guy working at Subway with a bachelor's degree; is this the new norm?

[Tziva]

When I worked retail, we had multiple people in my store that had bachelor's degrees (including myself at the time), and not one but two people with graduate degrees. Granted, that was in the early 2000s around the time of a recession when people took what they could get, but it's really not that uncommon for recent grads even today.

[twiddler]

"all this silly rocket stuff serves no purpose, we're never going to get off the planet" - The people criticizing the JPL before we achieved orbit. There's nothing useless about learning things.

I mean, we're talking over the internet. Things that were once considered novelties.

I'd have to agree. I attend a lot of startup events and seminars for leisure and what people trying to pursue tech don't realize is that the entrepreneurs innovating and succeeding are most commonly those on the cusp of their respective fields. These aren't people who learn to make money--they learned because they loved learning. They pursued a Ph.D in physics and it just so happened that their love for mathematics, physics, and computer science came together such that their side project, basketball analytics through machine learning, was a viable and very lucrative product.

People want an easy road to money? Genuinely love the edge of the fractals of mathematics and science. At the moment, the guys who genuinely loved the scope of computer vision and AI are some of the most employable and highly paid individuals in the world despite the misconception that they were wasting their time learning esoteric topics 10 or 20 years ago.

[MacMathan]

Last factory I worked at, one of the janitors claimed to have a PhD, and seemed intelligent enough I just might have believed her. In a lot of places the job markets are still meager or nonexistent.

[Wyrt]

tl;dr societies should get rid of useless studies, or limit them heavily

Yes, because sociology, economics, psychology, linguistics, history, political science, education, etc. are all totally useless.

[I Push Buttons]

I work in the mail room of a law firm for $12 an hour. I have two bachelor's degrees. Granted they are useless liberal arts degrees, but ye.

I pursued both at the same time and graduated with honors and a nearly perfect GPA. I planned on going to law school, but my disability left me the butt of every joke and excluded from most things throughout my life. As such, by the time I was graduating I had little in the way of a network, few faculty friends, none of which knew me well enough to write any letters of recommendation, and almost nothing in terms of extra-curricular stuff. AKA no chance of getting into any respectable law school.

So that dream died and I was left with two degrees that are not only worthless, but probably a detriment to my resume.

[Deleted]

See thread title.

I live in Portland, Oregon. I haven't been going to Subway often lately (once every few months) but I stopped into the one near my apartment recently and I noticed it's the same guy working there each time I stop in. He's friendly and we strike up a conversation; the subject of grad school comes up and he tells me that he is in the process of applying to MFA programs. Apparently he has a bachelor's degree in the social sciences from the University of Oregon.

I didn't think I was that out of touch but holy shit. Bachelor's degree and working at Subway? Is this the norm now, or is this guy really aiming low with his job search? Wondering as it's been a few years since I graduated from undergrad (although not THAT long ago).

Not trying to shit on the guy for working at Subway, but he seemed intelligent and claims to be educated (at a fairly decent-ish state university); if this is the job market that grads are walking into then this is extremely depressing.

Well yeah, the guys without Bachelor's are working their asses off in some factory or storage building.

[garr21]

Yes, because sociology, economics, psychology, linguistics, history, political science, education, etc. are all totally useless.

Oh no they are not useless, but how many jobs are going to hire you?(be real with me) like i said the problem with most of the people who do these think its going to get them a 100k a year job off the bat. And then just end up working at Mcdonalds because they had no back up. A plummer has more chance of getting work than a fresh college student with a history degree. There is always a broken pipe somewhere that needs a plumber to fix it.

[Lens Hunter]

I gave college a shot when I was in my early 20s, wasnt my bag. I dont really have any desires other than just being a good person to those around and enjoying my life. Im a delivery driver (one of my favorite things to do in the world is drive) and Im very comfortable.

[Deleted]

First of all OP, yes, this is the new norm in many western countries.

Why? Because of two things:
1. The universities are treated like profit corporations. They are not made to get an adequate number of people on the market and have them be able to find a reasonable job in the first year, they are made so that they lure as many young people with false promises to cash in.
How many times do you hear that university X tells you how it's almost guaranteed that you'll get a job after going there? It's not, and that's why they say "almost" and not "surely".
You might say that with the information we have today, people should know better. But we're speaking of teenagers who are easily influenced. They don't understand how life tricks you yet as they have not encountered this much. So they believe the promises of the universities and go there. By the time they realize the truth, they're almost done with university or done already. And while they may have learned something new... they are severely unprepared to enter the job market on anything buy shitty jobs.

2. People. People like the ones in this thread. You see, people make fun of this guy for having followed a social sciences bachelor's degree. They don't care that teenagers are more easily fooled. They don't care that, in the end, universities are the ones that put out so many graduates like they're making tin cans. They don't care that the education system is flawed. They just blame the person that had no clue and was fooled. They're blaming the victim for the faults of the educational system.
It's not the teenagers' fault that universities lure them with false promises.

[garr21]

First of all OP, yes, this is the new norm in many western countries.

Why? Because of two things:
1. The universities are treated like profit corporations. They are not made to get an adequate number of people on the market and have them be able to find a reasonable job in the first year, they are made so that they lure as many young people with false promises to cash in.
How many times do you hear that university X tells you how it's almost guaranteed that you'll get a job after going there? It's not, and that's why they say "almost" and not "surely".
You might say that with the information we have today, people should know better. But we're speaking of teenagers who are easily influenced. They don't understand how life tricks you yet as they have not encountered this much. So they believe the promises of the universities and go there. By the time they realize the truth, they're almost done with university or done already. And while they may have learned something new... they are severely unprepared to enter the job market on anything buy shitty jobs.

2. People. People like the ones in this thread. You see, people make fun of this guy for having followed a social sciences bachelor's degree. They don't care that teenagers are more easily fooled. They don't care that, in the end, universities are the ones that put out so many graduates like they're making tin cans. They don't care that the education system is flawed. They just blame the person that had no clue and was fooled. They're blaming the victim for the faults of the educational system.
It's not the teenagers' fault that universities lure them with false promises.

Make a hashtag then mate prehaps then you can go on a crusade to save the idiots from themselves. try #gotdegreebutaMCjobiswaitingforme

[Cuppy]

Sure is. Did you honestly think we can run the world with 8billion people being bankers? If you think about it, you start to see massive flaws in the current system :>

[Deleted]

Yes, because sociology, economics, psychology, linguistics, history, political science, education, etc. are all totally useless.

That's why I said "or limit them heavily". But some should just cease to exist.

[DJ117]

Bsc in social sciences haha. That is a worthless hippie degree that gives you no opportunities.

[lordjust]

i'm just curious to hear what you think Universities are there for then? i know it's for higher education but beyond that i believe it is their intent and purpose (besides acquiring profits) to help students go into the workforce.

Trade school helps with the hands on approach, but universities help with professions that require much more theoretical concepts and advanced concepts (Talking about STEM primarily).

A universities job is to help you get a job in research and education. I don't know exactly what kind of schools you have in the US but in Germany for higher education we have universities and universities of applied science that have more focused approach to get you ready for normal jobs. It's a mix of college and univiersity.

Here in Germany a bachelor's degree is more often than not worthless. It only takes 3-4 years and you learn very basic stuff. You have to have a master's degree and you have to have it in something usefull. At the moment our jobmarket is flooded with people that finished high-school or have a bachelor's degree. They're overqualified for the jobs they can get and underqualified for the jobs they want and the jobs where we need people. On the other hand we need a lot of nurses, or have open jobs in the building industry where you don't need a degree at all. Finish middle school and that's it.

[Draco-Onis]

Yes, because sociology, economics, psychology, linguistics, history, political science, education, etc. are all totally useless.

Economics degrees means wall street and banking you can also get you MBA into a number of specific branches. Education it can be argued that it's because of the pay but we badly need teachers you won't have trouble finding a job, why do you think they are useless?

[Zelorra]

Because a piece of paper automatically makes you a candidate for premium jobs. Oh, wait...

[Deleted]

Economics degrees means wall street and banking you can also get you MBA into a number of specific branches. Education it can be argued that it's because of the pay but we badly need teachers you won't have trouble finding a job, why do you think they are useless?

It seems that no amount of degrees can teach you understand sarcasm or irony.

[Danner]

See thread title.

I live in Portland, Oregon. I haven't been going to Subway often lately (once every few months) but I stopped into the one near my apartment recently and I noticed it's the same guy working there each time I stop in. He's friendly and we strike up a conversation; the subject of grad school comes up and he tells me that he is in the process of applying to MFA programs. Apparently he has a bachelor's degree in the social sciences from the University of Oregon.

I didn't think I was that out of touch but holy shit. Bachelor's degree and working at Subway? Is this the norm now, or is this guy really aiming low with his job search? Wondering as it's been a few years since I graduated from undergrad (although not THAT long ago).

Not trying to shit on the guy for working at Subway, but he seemed intelligent and claims to be educated (at a fairly decent-ish state university); if this is the job market that grads are walking into then this is extremely depressing.

A company or workplace want to hire people that know the skills they need. They cannot afford training you. They are generally better off not hiring, than mis-hiring someone without the skills they need. In this kind of reality, you're never going to get a job based on a university diploma alone. For a company to hire you you need to show that you have the skill. A relevant degree is one way, but rarely enough on its own. A non-relevant degree means you're not even going to make the rounds of interviews. No matter how clever you are.

A bachelor in a social science is almost never going to give you any marketable skills towards a company. There are some exceptions (the people making dictionaries really really care about your linguistic studies if you are to join them!), but those kind of jobs are exceedingly rare. Most of the time, this means you're left with very limited options after graduating.

• Take any job, aim for something better over time. You need to eat and pay the rent. That's the sub-way job in a nut-shell. Nobody really want to work at minimum wage, without being able to use their knowledge. But the demand for social sciences is what it is. Having food on your table beats not having food on your table.
  
• Get a job in the public sector. The requirements for profit is lower in the public sector, and hirings are usually more about formal qualifications and diversity practices than having the correct skills. IE, if the government want a IT guy running the local courthouse computer systems, the public sector is usually required to hire the guy with the highest formal qualifications, even if they have literally no experience with computers. Getting around these limitations is an endless source of bureaucracy in the public sector, on how they can formalize the skill requirements and get the right person for the job without technically breaking any rules. But it also means there are hiring windows where you might not expect it.
  
• Become a teacher. By the old proverb: "If you can't do, teach". Almost all my teachers after grade school had this kind of qualification (probably the ones at grade school as well, but I don't know). It's literally the main job you can get with a social science degree.
  
• Strike it out on your own. It's the hardest route, by far. Most people fail at this.

The main difference between the 1950s and now is that more people have the opportunity to undergo higher education. It means the workforce is, on average, more capable than in the 1950s. That's a good thing IMO. But the demand for Professors of Archeology is not higher than in the 1950s. If you want to get a job, study for something marketable. Generally, that means real sciences.

[Slant]

Not trying to shit on the guy for working at Subway, but he seemed intelligent and claims to be educated (at a fairly decent-ish state university); if this is the job market that grads are walking into then this is extremely depressing.

No, this is just the job market for social sciences. If you have a decent engineering degree, you will get picked up by companies with a red carpet.

[Ravenblade]

My sister in law had a similar issue finding a job after years of studying archaeology and historical sciences finishing with a master degree, after 2 years of intensive job search she now manages an real estate office in Berlin. My brother studied geology and vulcanology and despite high graduation he ended up as system programmer for web platforms. For some jobs it's enough to have "some degree" of a type which just dictates your income class in the end.