I just tore up my degrees

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You're an NT, so you may not understand, but I think most Aspies would be better off in the job market if employers valued education and intelligence as much as they do social skills and "who you know."

That depends on the field, actually. If a computer programmer can write good code, that programmer would probably be hired irregardless of social skills. A job at McDonald's is a little bit different.

All I know is that I earned two degrees, worked hard, made good grades, and earned scholarships. And what's my reward? Squat. Unemployment. Poverty. You want to argue that I'm not entitled to anything just for going to college and grad school? Okay fine, but all these high school grads getting good-paying jobs aren't entitled either.

It is a shame that the United States has come to devalue education so much and it is another sign that we truly are a dying empire.

You answer your own question.

would it be at all possible to lie on an app? wtf say you only have a high school degree. you worked your ass off now your have nothing. unless there is some way to find out that your a grad student. that sucks man all the work for nothing.

If he said he didn't have his degrees, then how would he account for the 6 years he was in school?

I wonder this every time someone tells me to take education off my resume. I did have a job in grad school, but it was school related. I would need to take it off too.

Give me one example. It's barely even possible to live on your own with only a high school diploma, much less comfortably. I don't know of anyone with only a diploma who gets paid more than $10/hour.

i guess thats where a good friend comes in. but idk i guess that friend should be good enough for a job. i'm sure something can be figured out.

I strongly suspect that these highschool grads went to trade school or at the very least went through a certification program. People on the college track lose sight if the other non-college education options, some of which lead more quickly and surely to jobs. I strongly advise anyone having job troubles to go that route if at all possible.

Like you, I don't believe for one minute that somebody can get a good- paying job with nothing but a highschool diploma. That's why I think there's something beyond a highschool diploma that isn't college but is more job training education and is off the radar of people who are miffed that it can be possible to get these jobs without a college degree.

Of course, to rise in the ranks once hired, the college degree is very useful. That's why I wrote those other posts urging unemployed degree holders to put some job-specific education on top of that, get in a certificate program or trade school and then get hired and then once hired, be more eligible for promotions because of the college degree.

I'm standing by that advice because I did it myself when the "go-go 80's" turned into the somber 90's.

I read about them in the newspaper, and I know many personally.



This happens some, but it's not anywhere near the majority of cases. Here's what happens in my experience....

1. People get union factory jobs right out of high school, thus making a good salary

2. People start out at < $10/hr. jobs right out of high school, yes, but they gradually move up in the company (or use their experience to get a better job somewhere else) and so by the time I've wasted years getting a degree, they're making 35 grand or more. They don't need a certification...they just need the work experience that employers value far, far more than education.



Well, I can't even get an entry-level job, so that doesn't help me.

I wonder if a better way to word this would be to say that a college degree can increase your likelihood of making more money, but not the same as guaranteeing that you'll have a job or make more. The reason why I wonder is I look at graphs like this:

Median 2003 Income by Educational Level


Then after hearing all these experiences like SadAspy's, I wonder if it's at all possible that those in the lower earning 25th percentile of the group getting a college degree make very little money and if those in the 75th percentile of the group only graduating from high school make a lot?

For all those here who know what a boxplot graph is, I would be curious what boxplots for something like this would look like. Or maybe a probability density plot where you can compare the normal bell curve of a high school degree and bachelor's side by side to visualize if there are any patterns.


(Source for that above graph: - Salary.com webpage)

Not the Peace Corps because it doesn't really pay anything, but the others yes. The public sector is even less interested in me than the private sector. It sucks. I've yet to even land an interview for a government job.




Since that graph is MEDIAN and not MEAN, it accounts for people making well below and well above the average, so that's not it.

I don't know what to think of these graphs. Maybe it OLDER people are skewing it....because getting a degree was much more important in decades past than now. I remember reading once that someone graduating with a bachelors in my field can expect to start out at $40,000 a year....I can't find anywhere near that even with a master's.

NEVER undersell. Spin it - OK. Leave a six year hole? Never.

Government isn't hiring anyone. That is nothing personal.

Political Science has long been something you pursue for yourself, because you love it, and not because you think it will get you a job. Time to put it in it's place and move on.

I'm the gal with the practical degree and too many unfollowed dreams and interests, and I'd like my kids to take your route if that is where their hearts are and we can swing it, but I will make sure they have eyes wide open.

Many careers require social skills because doing the job well requires social skills. I tanked at my waitressing job, and even my first entry level job in my profession. I'm not a fast, happy little robot, and a lot of entry level work requires that you be one. Starting IS going to be rough, until you can get to the levels where your talents have a chance of adding more value than your weaknesses detract. Just accept that going in, adjust your expectations, and move on.

You are going to have to prove yourself, and get a better handle on how your strengths and weaknesses fit into the workplace, by taking on internships or volunteer work. I know it's hard to keep running the "I'm investing in my future" race when you've already spent 6 years in advanced education, and you think the finish line was supposed to be at point D, but many people have to, it isn't just you, so accept the reality and deal with it. When all the pieces are in place, your degrees WILL have value, but all the pieces are not in place yet. Yeah, it would be nice if they told you that before you started school, but either they don't or no one hears it, and so it goes.

I am sorry you are so frustrated, I really am. Hopefully your destruction party got some anger out and now you are ready to figure out something actionable.

The problem, actually, is that the wrong kind of education has become valued. Employers need skills that add value to their end product, always have, always will. Sometimes that comes from simply exercising your mind and learning how to think; sometimes that comes from digging in to work hands on. If you have a career in sight, you've got to make sure the education fits the needs of that career.

You've got the perfect education if you were the child of an independently wealthy family that wants to be influential in politics. If that isn't who you are, it isn't something that will transfer well into an accounting firm or other typical educated middle class occupations.

Hey, are you a good writer? That is a job skill. Start looking at the components of what you have done, and how each could be used in the work force ... Or not used.

I think I may have been misinterpreted. I'm actually referring to the "spread", not the "average", of how much people make.

Remember in school when you learned about the standard deviation? Likewise, in the case of college graduates making money, I would think not all are going to make exactly the median of $43,000 a year, but there are going to be a lot making $20 K or even $10 a year, or even unemployed. That's what I meant by saying the median and average aren't going to say the whole story, because these graphs don't say how much people are spread out in how much money they make.

That's why I said I would be curious about a graph with boxplots, or one of those probability density plots comparing the educational levels side-by-side.