College grads: Unemployed and unbowed in New York
For some good weekend reading, take a look at this New York Times piece on the incredible efforts of identical twins to start their careers in New York. The Barry twins are recent graduates of Rutgers and are discovering that college degrees aren’t landing them or any of their friends jobs in the Big Apple. In their case, it is certainly not for lack of effort and imagination, as the article details.
I would wager that both will have their share of offers in a few weeks, given the wide readership of the Times and the character and drive of the 24-year-old women themselves. Originally from Ohio, they send Buckeyes – the state’s trademark candy confection — with their resumes. (That would catch my attention fast.)
Couple of interesting points in the long profile:
-Each twin has college debt of $39,000. I found that amazing since they spent half of their college careers at a public college in New Jersey, Rutgers. Their debt well exceeds the national average even for four-year private college graduates.
-One twin earns $800 a week now as a bartender. I doubt any of the entry-level journalism jobs they are seeking will pay anywhere near that.
-As with my own older children, being broke does not deter them from visits to Starbucks and varied eateries. The twins – and all struggling college grads — probably could ease their money woes if they drank their lattes and beers at home.
It’s a fun piece and a reminder that this recession has changed the game for college graduates.
-
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Guides
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2011 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
20 comments Add your comment
bob
October 10th, 2009
2:13 pm
Ha, this article is clearly written by an older person that doesn’t quite understand what’s happening to today’s youth. $39,000 in school loans is pretty normal. Wait til they have to go to grad school as well. Not sure where your money numbers come from but I’d like to know, would love to see an article on school debt.
Second, $800/week in NY is not something you can live on. Personally, I think it’s stupid for college grads to move to a city as expensive as NY. Agree with the latte/beer comment:)
Mr. Smith
October 10th, 2009
2:58 pm
I have 4 year degree from a state university that practically guarantees me nothing. Thankfully, I am still with a good paying company and job. However, this recession has made me fearful. Any young person just graduating high school would be better off going to a vocational school. Get a nursing degree or become a plumber.
A Realist
October 10th, 2009
3:10 pm
My prediction: Black Market for employment. Under-the-table deals are going to be made. Yes, some say it’s who you know or who knows you. Well, that may be true but it’s all about the dollars. When there’s an opening, the applicant will try and connect with the hiring manager and make them an offer they can’t refuse. Ethical practices? This type of practice left corporate America a long time ago! Unless you have a mom or dad in a high profile position who can make a phone call when you graduate from college, start saving your dollars beacuse you’re getting ready to pay!
Noah
October 10th, 2009
3:24 pm
$39k in loans may be normal but that doesn’t make it a good thing. And there is nothing that says THEY HAVE to go to grad school. Sure, it helps a career but its not required
Even in NYC you can live on $800/wk. While NYC is expensive you are saying that one can’t live there on $41k a year. Sure you can, and many do it on less.
Lee
October 10th, 2009
3:35 pm
Let’s see, you get a degree in Journalism at a time when print media is losing subscribers and laying off folks. Not good.
Alch
October 10th, 2009
4:13 pm
Even the students who graduate from the technical colleges have a very difficult time getting employed in their program of study. Many of them are unemployed; of those who are employed a high percentage is employed outside of their field of study.
CollegeKid
October 10th, 2009
10:52 pm
Plus all of their “ideas” are actually already things that they just changed slightly. I mean, a blog about reasons why they broke up with people is already one of my favorite blogs: http://www.reasonswhyidumpedyou.com. Maybe they’re unemployed because they have no creativity.
lulu
October 11th, 2009
9:01 am
150 job applications between the two of them? In 17 months? That’s like 4 applications a month, each. If that’s the best they can do, that’s pretty slack. No wonder they aren’t having any luck.
invictus mon
October 11th, 2009
9:24 am
I graduated college in May (finished at Mercer University after 2 other stops) and it was a struggle, but I found a job and started in August. I graduated with a degree in political science and got a substantial job in finance. The problem with today’s colleges is that even some of the best schools don’t teach professionalism in the classroom and that is a learned trait. You just don’t show up and pay (in my case 50,000 and I had 2 years on full scholarship) and learn professionalism. Which is what employers are looking for. Not saying these people or others like them weren’t professionals, but most of my buddies from the different places I went have jobs right now.
Good things happen to poeple who make good things happen. The jobs are out there, but you’ve got to apply online and then beat down their door in person. Bring a thank you note with you to an interview and drop it off to the secretary on the way out. Send them a thank you note very time they agree to meet with you. Even if you don’t get the job, there’s a chance you’re going to be working with them in the future in some capacity and they’ll remember that stuff.
All I know is that I’m 23 I’m married to a girl I’ve been with for 5 years, we own a house together with no outside financing, our cars are payed off, and other than student loans and the house we’ve got no outside debt. Why? Make good decisions and be a go getter.
Hope this helps anyone looking for a job right now. Good luck!
Cisinc
October 11th, 2009
11:00 am
My nephew is currently working towards a journalism degree with the hope of a job in sports journalism. He’s spent the last 2 summers (he’s only a junior this year) as an intern at a major sports network. He’s also “made his own job” by putting up a sports website that’s attracting a lot of followers who are interested in the European & Israeli basketball leagues ( http://euroleagueadventures.com )and he’s recently been picked up to write articles for Slam. The morals of this story: a) don’t wait to graduate to look for a job and b) anticipate that you might not get hired by anyone so start building your own job today – be the master of your own destiny.
Mutts R Stupid
October 11th, 2009
1:06 pm
Rutgers is not worth the money they spent, they could have stayed in state, lived at home, and learned all they needed to know about the worthless profession of journalism at the local school. The world is full of unemployed liberal arts majors who think they can write. Spending money they do not have at starbucks is a character defect, these same people are running up debts that they will one day walk away from, while demanding free government health care at MY expense. Repay your debts, deadbeats. Cancel your cable tv, cell phone, internet connection, newspaper and magazine subscriptions and spur of the moment purchases, stop eating and drinking out, and live within your means while repaying your debts.
Snarkysnake
October 11th, 2009
1:09 pm
Boo Hoo.
They need to read a book or a magazine and understand that the world has changed underneath them. Traditional “I write and report and you pay me” journalism is all but dead. Newspapers are closing down just as fast as they can nail the doors shut. In most markets there are no more than a couple dozen real , on air radio jobs (even fewer in TV) and free papers are being destroyed by Craigslist. The AJC has pulled back from most of Georgia to just the Atlanta metro area . Online journalism and blogs have destroyed the traditional journalism business model. These sisters have unproven skills to sell in a dramatically shrunken market. Of course they are unemployed. They can start their own online site or work in some other facet of journalism that doesn’t rely on an obsolete pay paradigm to function.
More hard truths…
Journalism , English and literature grads are LESS than a dime a dozen. They have no real skills to sell to anyone ( Other than Bed ,Bath and Beyond at $9 an hour). The new standard of training involves an advanced degree (M.B.A. Preferred) and some real work experience. The economy will have to PRODUCE something to pay this massive debt that we owe the rest of the world. Thats why businesses need engineers and technologists ,programmers and craftsmen to actually MAKE something. Sad to say , a mass of soft arts majors producing more soft arts majors is a luxury that this economy can no longer afford. Sorry.
Shananeeeeee Fananeeeeeeee
October 11th, 2009
2:02 pm
Of course they are. Money well spent. They are people with Master degrees that are unemployed. A couple of months ago I heard a story from a very good source: A restaurant opened in New York and they put out an ad looking for servers and a couple of hundred people inquired about the job. The owner of the restaurant was completely shock at the people who were showing up. Most of them had no experience in the restaurant buisness and knew nothing about serving. These people had Master’s degrees and Law degrees and had been working as proffesionals as lawyers, accountants, and bankers. They could not find a job anywhere so they decided to basically switch careers and get any job they could. Oh, but our Government says the recession is over, so they should be able to find jobs now……………I don’t think so.
Cisinc
October 11th, 2009
2:12 pm
In the recession of the early 1980s I was selling large computers and in Altanta we used a company who specialized in moving them. Every man on there team was young and had a PhD….and it wasn’t in moving science
John
October 11th, 2009
4:02 pm
I found it interesting that their family has 6 kids. What is it with these people that think it is their personal obligation to repopulate the earth? Then after cranking out 6 kids the parents are separated. But who cares, right ? They did their part by procreating, now it is time for everyone else to pay to educate these kids via our fabulous socialized educational system where everybody else pays to educate your kids and sometimes also feed and house them. Great. Now they have ventured out into the world and find that it is overpopulated with millions of similar people that are all scrambling to get to the top of the heap and survive. Pretty soon these twins will probably land someone that will get them pregnant over and over again (maybe because they have a longing for the large family they remember so fondly) so the whole cycle repeats itself. Or maybe it will be prodded on by some religion like the catholic church telling them that they have an obligation to spawn, spawn spawn and birth control is BAD. Yes it is a great world we live in. Good luck in your job search.
27 year old College Grad
October 11th, 2009
4:41 pm
The twins have already proved that they suck at math… $2,900 a month rent + 17 months without any type of career building job and only making $800 a month at the bar… they seem tied to New York for no reason. Look for jobs in other states/cities that have a lower cost of living and better opportunities. I moved over 1500 miles from Atlanta for a job, paid for my own move, and because of it I make 3 times what I would have made in Atlanta. It’s not rocket science… go where the jobs are… and yes there are jobs out there if you’re willing to move.
Ripdog
October 11th, 2009
5:00 pm
I hate to say this but young people really need to change their way of thinking when it comes to college. By that, I mean take ownership of your career and not look to trends of employments. In this case, a young person witha journalism degree isn’t going to get a job when the industry is laying off people because of lack of subscribers. Unless kids come from wealthy families, they will have to realize that passion and prestige don’t always equal financial stability. Also, make good decisions about money. In order to be financially stable, the decisions you make about your everyday finances is just as important as your GPA, major, and school. In this example, these kids are broke but still eating out regularly and going to Starbucks. I have a six figure income and I bring my lunch to work everyday. Own your situation. There are things in our control like how much you spend, making money independently of a job, and making decisions that make sense.
27 year old College Grad
October 11th, 2009
5:12 pm
Hey Ripdog… I’m right there with you, I’m up over 90k and I still bring PB&J to work… and my co-workers dont understand it.
JGG2385
October 11th, 2009
5:45 pm
Travel a mere 100-150 miles north of NYC and you find the place where just about everyone, self included would die to make 41K, and this is the reason we are all looking for jobs in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, etc. I personally can’t wait to get out of NY and move to Atlanta where my career prospects are much better, pay for what I do is double what I am making now and cost of living is quite similar to Upstate New York. Atlanta is smart enough to embrace young people and offer a public education option that is affordable.
Also, I agree with ripdog in some respects, however I think it takes parents to say to teenagers with minimal grasp of money and a lack of knowledge in the burden of 10s of thousands of dollars in debt – that certain schools are just not affordable. I graduated with more than 39K in debt but knew I’d be capable of paying it off based on what I do for a living. However, if I could have some do-overs I would have changed my thinking
dumbfounded
October 12th, 2009
1:39 pm
To those people suggesting that high school graduates get vocational training, instead of college degrees, have the posters taken a look at what prospective employers are asking as the basic qualification to be considered for an entry level job in a good company? It is a 4 year degree, not a vocational certificate from a school that is not recognized outside of Georgia and creditibility questionable. They want a four year degree and additional certification in the field of expertise. So it stands to reason that some of the posters are way behind the power curve.
If a greater portion of recent and future high school graduates all get vocational training, are they going to be stuck living in Georgia with the vocational training certificates from some of these schools that do offer these training and empolyers in other states have no way of even verifying the quality of the training? How are they going to even consider moving out of Georgia with these vocational training certificates, and compete for jobs in other states when they are competing for jobs with people who do have 4 year degrees? I am so tired of hearing this one dimensional suggestion even for supposed educators, because it limits opportunities for the work force. I am beginning to think that the suggestions that most graduates get vocational training rather than a 4 year degree is just another way to ensure the old boy network stays the privileged few and on top.
The suggestion of cancelling one’s internet and cell phone subscription is in its face ludicrus. Prosepective employers and college alumni are posting jobs in social networking engines such as Linked In and interviewers are asking if prospective employees have websites or facebook accounts. Prospective employers need to be able to contact the applicant easily, if there is not quick and easy contact (i.e. via a cellphone or email) one might lose out on the opportunity to get an interview, because the prospective employer will move to the next candidate they make easy and quick personal contact with.
Even the Georgia Department of Labor now wants one to have internet access because one can file for weekly unemployment benefits via the internet, additionally, they too communicate with the people getting unemployment benefits via e-mail. It saves driving over to the DOL’s office which involves burning gas (additional cost on limited funds).
Please do not suggest going to the library, in Gwinnett County the time limit on a computer is 30 minutes. If the umployed do cancel their internet access, think about the lengthy wait time to use a computer. It takes more than 30 mintues just to do the online application for a job with the Federal Government! In Gwinnett County the libraries are no loner open on Sundays and Mondays. This also involves driving if one does not live in an area with public transportation, again incurring costs of burning gas and wear and tear on vehicles, these costs should be saved for interviews not applications for jobs.
In modern times, prospective appliants are expected to walk into an interview having done research on the company. Without internet access at home, if one gets a call say at 5:30 pm from a prospective employer to come in for an interview at 9:00 am in the next day the applicant now as a problem. Since the library now closes at 7:00 pm, if one has to drive over there, wait while a computer becomes free, it is now almost closing time, my question to the posters, is how much time will that give one to get information on the prospective employer that is accurate? Window of opportunity to doing good research is minimized. Another cost to the unemployed!
I do agree that when one is unemployed or underemployed one should make lots of sacrifices, like not eating out, sticking to needs, stop shopping, stop going to Starbucks and the bars, and moving to a cheaper state if one can etc. The real cost to the unemplyed who opts to move, is where is the unemployed person going to get the additional funds to dismantle one’s current home, rent a moving van and gas, find the security deposits on a rental unit in the new location and start the job search? I know the article focused on the twins living in New York. However, on a broader spectrum, but today’s reality, the suggestions of moving to a cheaper state assume that the recent college graduate is without a family to uproot.
As to why some students are graduating with such high debts, these same out of touch posters should take a look at the costs, even in the public colleges, it is not just a matter of the graduates making bad decisions, it is the current trend of living today! When I was in college, some of my books cost upwards of $100.00 and that is for used books.
Again, it is fair to say that some of the poeple posting are either retired, way over 60 years old, long tenures working with goverment agencies or the school systems, or industries that are paper driven. They are way behind the power curve as to the current trends in gaining employment and the search engines one has to use to get employed. Some of the suggestions are somewhat disingenuous. How many of us had the life skills when we were in our 20’s and even early 30’s that we have now, to make good decisions continually? How many had their parents and grandparents to float them until they found gainful employment and started making sound financial decisions?