Computer science graduate cannot find employment after $37K degree

[SF49erfan]

http://www.businessinsider.com/profile-of-corinthian-student-michael-adorno-2015-4

Saw this today.

 

[jedishrfu]

Yes, this is very sad. I've heard many of these stories. One woman got a psychology degree from a school that promised it would be accredited before she graduated and it never happened so her degree is worthless. She can't be a practicing psychologist without the accreditation.

 

[jedishrfu]

One issue I have with the article is that he should have then gone to a community college, transferred as many courses as he could and gotten a degree from there. That would have opened up the chance for a 4 year school. It seems he didn't want it bad enough to continue and yet he's still interviewing for entry-level positions.

 

[Loststudent22]

I felt it was more he was taken advantage of by a predatory institution. This happens frequently with for profit universities. This is a big problem with many law schools also. You have to be careful with how you invest your money to be trained. It's important to take time to research what skills you need for the job you want and the best way to achieve that while minimizing the cost.

 

[Locrian]

For profit colleges + gov't student loans = disaster.

 

[Choppy]

I agree this is an unfortunate situation.

There is a part of me that wants to stand on the "buyer beware" side of the fence. I mean, he attended the full course of study and appears to be raising the complaint now that he's graduated. If he had a problem with the course content he could have looked for another college as soon as he saw the course calendar or set of syllabuses (syllabi?) for his first semester. The problem is that assumes that he should know what he should be learning to become educated in his field. Students don't always know this - that's why they're students.

The other issue is one of hiring. Education is only a single factor that plays a role in getting a job, and it is never a guarantee of one. Without knowing anything else about the person in question, we can't know that Best Buy rejected him specifically because of his education. It could be that they had 100 applicants for 2 positions, some of whom had more experience. It could be that he has pictures of himself "partying hard" on his Facebook page, or that his resume has spelling errors on it.

With all of that said though, I have to look at the other side. Did the institution in question provide a fair and reasonable service or did they take advantage of ignorant students?

Students have a right to demand a high degree of quality from their educators. Particularly in community colleges where the education is specifically oriented towards entering into a specifc field of employment they have a right to up-to-date material.

Buyer beware has a limit when the buyers can't be aware until after they have bought.

I hope things turn around for the guy.

 

[jedishrfu]

There is the stringer of the guaranteed promise of getting a job after you graduate. That might be enough although weren't there prior graduates who came back and complained to give him a clue as to what was happening.

 

[ModusPwnd]

I'm not crying for the guy... I think he did better with his degree than I did with mine. I spent more time and money than him for two physics degrees and was denied a job at a gas station. When I finally did get a job it was at the kind of place that he thought college would get him out of - a pizza place. If he has govt. backed loans then he doesn't have to pay them back unless he makes enough money. The guy did get offered a job and he turned it down because its not good enough for him... Give me a break... Times must not be that tough.

 

[jedishrfu]

One thing to keep in mind is that you can be overqualified for a job and thus not get it. Why because the HR people get measured on successful placements that is the candidate must be good and the candidate must stay around. So clearly if you're overqualified and you're underpaid, you're going to enticed with better offers to switch jobs.

I had a friend tell me the story of not getting hired at some small company and he pleaded with HR to hire him that he wasn't going to jump as he had no other job offers. And then out of the blue IBM made an offer that he just couldn't refuse and the HR guy was mad realizing he should have trusted his instincts.

 

[ModusPwnd]

He did get offered a job though. He turned it down.

Headline: Can't get job at best buy!
In the article: Turned down job offer at Xerox...

Your anectdote makes sense. I always downplayed that problem until I got a job and saw it happen to others. But I don't think the original poster's problem will be soved by an offer from IBM that he cannot refuse. In any case, the solution to the overqualificaiton problem is to tone down your qualfications on your resume. That is how I got my first job out of college.

 

[jedishrfu]

I mentioned the anecdote to show the reasoning behind being overqualified from an HR perspective. Basically you have to understand your skills and where they can best be used to get the job you want. In general, HR is good at matching candidates up to company jobs but sometimes things you say can give them a reason to reject you.

The best strategy is to only stress the skills they are looking for. And customize your resume for each job. You should also keep track of what resume you sent to where so you know what they will ask you should you get an interview.

 

[SF49erfan]

What do you guys think of schools like ITT Tech that offer technical job skills, but aren't the traditional 4-year college comprehensive education type things?

 

[Locrian]

My opinion is that ITT tech is a really bad investment for most of the students there.

 

[jedishrfu]

As it seems the thread has run its course, I am closing it pending further moderation. Thank you all for contributing.