26 (almost 27) with a master's, stuck with part time retail.

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I'd like to believe this is just a feature of our current economy, but I've had a master's degree for almost 2 years and just 9 months of decent employment (meaning anything that required more than being 16 years old and having cashier skills)

I felt like I did something that made me stand out (in a negative way) at my last job. Any advice on what to do nexT?

What major does your degree cover? Do you have any experience in the the field of your major? When I say experience, I'm covering anything from hobbyist, volunteering, and self employment as well as being an employee. The reason I ask is because "I have been there and done that." I also want to point out that nobody really took me seriously until I turned thirty. You also might want to consider self employment. If you are good in your field and end up becoming a competitor to those who will not hire you, you will probably find your job prospects getting much better. When you work from home (don't fall for the work at home scams), your overhead is much lower than working out of a store front.

I have some experience, volunteer/hobby within my field, research. And some more general experience with proof-reading PowerPoint in employment. But I guess I don't count the hobby experience at the same level as my actual work.

I think that the economy is a big factor. My sister has a masters and she has been doing entry level work since she graduated. In fact, she was unemployed for nearly a year after she finished her degree (she does not have AS or anything else that might be making things difficult for her). Her two flatmates for her last year were doing MAs and both of them do not have graduate jobs. Since the crash in 2008 I have worked beside a lot of highly qualified graduates in entry level jobs (I have no qualifications so I belong there) and I've seen how frustrating it is for them. It is a disaster for people like me too as suddenly I am competing for entry level jobs with graduates. It is a terrible situation for everyone.

Of course I can't say for certain that you haven't given a negative impression in some way, but I think you should bear in mind that you may just have been very unlucky. In the meantime if you can do voluntary work in your spare time in the correct field, or even a few weeks work placement in your holidays that may all help. I hope that things improve for you soon.

Another question is 'can you move'. A piece of advise my grandfather gave me during the recession in the early 1990's was; move whereever the economic boom is, you will always find work.

Admittedly, few places are 'booming' right now, but there are some. Williston North Dakota is experienceing a shale oil 'boom', they have a actual shortage of workers for almost every concevable trade and profession. I saw a news story recently about people hitchhiking across the country to get there, and when they arrived thay had a job withing a few hours; even though they have no place to live other than inside their car or in a tent.

If you really want work, it can be found but it will mean hard choices! Here's a link to the booming North Dakota economy:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEi0b7CFDHI&feature=related[/youtube]

Good luck!

What is your masters in? It's no secret that all degrees are not created equal when it comes to finding a job unfortunately.

You know what I hate? When people come on here talking about how they have some sort of degree and can't find employment, yet refuse to inform anyone on what kind of degree they hold, where they went, how long they went, etc. Just saying that you "did stuff" in "something" with "some kind of qualifications" is kind of annoying. It's not even like I come on here to help anyone really, I just want to know what's going on with peoples lives in our community, and in some cases just entertain myself. I guess there is the matter of privacy, and the possibility that user to user discussion took place at some point outside of this thread, but regardless I'm still left in the dark. Please tell me, anyone, what the hell is going on with this man's life.

Sorry to hear about this. I'm in a similar position myself, except 25, and I only have a BA in English. One of my former professors posted a rude comment on facebook saying that I'm lazy and lack ambition, and that's why I'm working for minimum wage. Really, it's a combination of the economy and where I live. If I could move, I would, but I don't know where is good job market for English majors, and I would be living out of my car in the meantime. So I have no good advice to offer.

Maybe because those people are sick and tired of having their degrees denigrated because they're not in a STEM field? I think anyone who took the time and made the effort to attain a degree should have a decent-paying job....I don't care if the degree was in puppetry.

Haha, I'm just imagining a guy with a master's in puppetry with some Judy and Punch dolls.

I can see someone not wanting to open up about what kind of degree they have, especially if it's in something traditionally more controversial like stem cell research or bioengineering (or something potentially embarrassing or in any other way not well received). However, unfortunately even those who have degrees aren't going to be able to find jobs if there's no market for them. Some students go to college right out of high school and end up with a Philosophy or Political Science or Music Studies degree and sometimes there just isn't a market for those skills, especially if you're prone to any kind of social or functional problems.

My boyfriend's friend got a degree in music. He was in debt for 10 years (finished paying it off this year), and he's been working at The Gas Company in various positions for the last 5+ years. He regrets the choice of degree (to a "degree" ) especially because of the financial burden it imposed, but he does love music.

I wouldn't disregard the economy as a reason for lack of employment right now. The general economy hasn't gotten much better since our little recession 3+ years ago. Unemployment in my county is at about 16%, and one thing that I find flawed about that is number that it doesn't take into account the people that have been searching so long that they've just given up.

Any employer is going to require you to have some sort of skill with which you can help them operate their business/organisation, usually with a view to making profit. Some degrees really do not help in the real world. Certainly, anyone getting a degree will have demonstrated the ability to take in a lot of information and regurgitate it onto an exam paper, but there are a lot of degrees which basically equate to "The holder of this certificate is very good at their hobby". In many cases, after the graduation ceremony they may as well swap their mortar board for a Macdonalds hat.

I do not agree with what you say here but on the other hand I believe you were given incorrect information as to how the work world works as was I. I do believe you are owed the truth about how the world work works. I do believe you should be provided on suggestions on how to proceed from here. I believe your parents,teachers, and society itself is at fault by providing information which was not accurate. Guess what? This isn't just you or aspies either. There is a whole crop of NT graduates who can't get jobs either. They were told the similar information and given similar advice. You have said your parents pressured you to go and do it in four years in another thread. If you truthfully can't get a job my advice is to go ahead and claim SSDI, SSI, and food stamps. Contrary to what these responsibility advocates say there is no shame in claiming SSDI,SSI, and food stamps. I'm not going to promise you anything but I am attempting to give those with aspergers like myself and yourself a better future. I'm attempting to put things into place. If you get SSDI or SSI make sure you pay your parents rent and make sure you report that to Social Security. Before things can get better this whole notion of this extreme internal locus of control and this extreme self-responsibility has to be challenged head on.

I'm not saying people with liberal arts degrees should make as much as people with STEM degrees (at least not to start out), but geez, can't we at least have jobs that pay enough to live on? Is that really too much to ask? There's people who've never been to college a day in their lives who get that! Are us liberal arts majors really as bad or worse than people who never went to college at all? (for the record, my degree's not in puppetry lol).



The bold statement is key...I know people with liberal arts degrees who do just fine, but the difference is they have better social skills and are able to network in their field.



Oh, I have a job...just a crappy low-paying one Still, it took me over a year (after graduation, I mean) to even get that.

I tried to get SSI, but they said I was too high-functioning...I didn't bother appealing it because by then, I had started my job.

My BA is in Political Science, and my Master's is in Demographics (which has some math, but not enough to garner the acceptance of most people in an actual math/science field, or even get more than a derisive snort from the Sheldoneese.)

My work is full time for the summer now, but just minimjum wage retail still.

You're not the only one these days... bad economic times.

Sometimes degrees don't outweigh experience to employers.

Have you tried internships or entry-level jobs to apply to in your field?

A master's plus no experience sometimes is worse than a lot of job experience and no master's.

What do you mean sometimes?